Hi all,
I woke up from an extensive surgery years ago with what turned out to be RLS. For several years I just learned to live with it, but when I was finally exhausted from lack of sleep --- and grouchy besides --- and my husband slept on the couch practically every night, because I was kicking the heck out of him, I went to the Dr. I have been on prescription meds ever since. I have not tried any of the ones advertised --- my doctor advised against Requip --- because what I'm taking, although not the drug of choice, is working for me. You know the old adage --- 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. Without taking prescription drugs, you might want to add some extra magnesium to your diet as that helped my daughter and I take it in addition to the Rx meds. There is no one perfect answer for this malady as each person reacts differently to different treatments. There are RLS support groups in many parts of the U.S.
Good luck. I sure do empathize with you. It'll drive you nuts until you get it under control.