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← Return to Restless Leg Syndrome
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Sleep Health | Last Active: Apr 1, 2023 | Replies (268)
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In case it might help someone, there are two things that I have discovered activate my RLS : wine at dinner, probably any alcohol, as well as SSRI medications. Even when avoiding these, I occasionally still experience symptoms in the evening, particularly when fatigued and relaxing in a recliner chair, but they are much less intense and more tolerable.
Replies to "In case it might help someone, there are two things that I have discovered activate my..."
@susan2018 - yup - sadly no wine, or any other alcoholic beverage for that matter, for dinner. And - curious about the recliner - I have noticed that also. Yesterday after an hour in the dentist (reclining) chair, pain and RLS were AWFUL!!!
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Amen to that @susan2018! I quickly learned as my restless legs progressed that alcohol not only started them, but it worsened through the night. You mention wine, but for me, it is any kind of alcohol. It used to be that I couldn't drink any after 6:00, and over the past years, the time has become earlier and earlier so that now, if I drink alcohol at all, it can only be one beer or one glass of wine before 3:00 p.m. I do miss the occasional glass of wine at dinner, but the after-effects are not worth it. The same is true with any product containing caffeine - chocolate, Bufferin, or coffee. As for SSRIs, they worsened my symptoms as do Ativan, Compazine, Klonapin, etc. My Sleep Center doctor suggested I use only Wellbutrin for treatment of depression since studies have shown that SSRIs especially aggravate restless legs. So, you are right about the SSRIs too . . . I was taking Celexa and when I switched to Wellbutrin, it worked even better for me than Celexa.