Acupuncture for Restless Legs Syndrome in Patients Previously Treated with Dopaminergic Drugs

Abstract

The readers may be interested to learn about my success in using acupuncture to treat patients with restless legs syndrome and about the reduced responses in patients who have already received dopaminergic drugs. Restless legs syndrome (RLS) can wreck people's lives by preventing them from sitting down for long to do anything in the afternoons and evenings and disrupting their sleep every night. It is not an insignificant condition, but it is often regarded as something of a Cinderella with many patients not reporting it and many doctors not treating it – often regarding it as minor, trivial or psychological or not realising that treatments are available. Although there is considerable anecdotal evidence of the benefit of acupuncture in RLS, a Cochrane review in 20081 found only two trials that met their selection criteria and concluded that ‘there is insufficient evidence to support the use of acupuncture for the symptomatic treatment of restless legs syndrome’. Having practised acupuncture since 1990 (since 1996 with an NHS contract for patients referred), …