For the first installment of the Sleep Unplugged Book Club, we will examine Andrew Spector's new book Navigating Life with Restless Legs Syndrome. This also marks a revisiting of the topic we covered in episode #13 (Restless Legs Syndrome: You Gotta Move). In this episode we will:

• Introduce Dr. Andrew Spector, a Duke University professor of neurology and restless legs expert
• Update and supplement information from episode #13 of this podcast about restless legs syndrome (RLS)
• Explore the role of iron in RLS and how to use ferritin and transferrin levels to guide potential therapies
• Touch upon the idea that despite different causes of RLS, determining the precise reason why you have RLS may not be particularly essential for choosing therapies
• List new treatment options that are not prescription medications
• Reexamine difficulties and downsides to dopamine agonist therapies
• Cautiously look at the use of benzodiazepines and opioids in perhaps a new light
• Touch upon other prescription medications that might be useful in the disorder
• Mention the relationship between insomnia and RLS

Produced by: Maeve Winter

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• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!