Restless Leg Syndrome

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.

@suscros68 - have your RLS symptoms become worse as the years progress? Mine have. . . and I sincerely hope they've reached a plateau by now. I've had symptoms beginning with slightly aggravating and occasional to nightly and much more intense. I used to take Requip, but it stopped working and I had to start increasing to larger doses which then had side effects that made it difficult to function the next day. Now, I'm taking Neupro, a transdermal patch that is 'in the same family' as Requip, and so far I'm up to 3 mg and that dosage seems to work for me. I'm sensitive to many medications as well, and I was told by a fibromyalgia doctor at Mayo that it is common for people with fibro to have many sensitivities. I only mention fibro in case you might have that diagnosis or condition also.

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.

Sorry @barbarn - I realized that I hadn't responded to one of your last posts. I may not be "much younger" than you since I am 67 . . . . I can't remember if I mentioned that my RLS have always kind of been there but mild at first, but they have been increasing severe for the past 20 years or so. I do believe, and my Sleep Center doctor confirmed it, that 'any pain below the waist aggravates RLS." So you are right about that . . . now that my surgery is done, and I'm feeling better physically, and the pain is minimized in the lumbar area (although now the doctors think I may have some bone-on-bone in my hip area . . . so this is 'another level of pain' that might need to be addressed). It could also be sciatica. I don't know if fibro contributes to RLS - I do think that lack of sleep can make people more exhausted, and with fibro it does complicate the whole healing process. Thanks for your good wishes . . . . I hope so with the Neupro too. Like you mentioned earlier . . . I am hoping if not, I can switch between Neupro and Requip since the latter worked for nine years but then stopped, pretty abruptly.

@suscros68 - have your RLS symptoms become worse as the years progress? Mine have. . . and I sincerely hope they've reached a plateau by now. I've had symptoms beginning with slightly aggravating and occasional to nightly and much more intense. I used to take Requip, but it stopped working and I had to start increasing to larger doses which then had side effects that made it difficult to function the next day. Now, I'm taking Neupro, a transdermal patch that is 'in the same family' as Requip, and so far I'm up to 3 mg and that dosage seems to work for me. I'm sensitive to many medications as well, and I was told by a fibromyalgia doctor at Mayo that it is common for people with fibro to have many sensitivities. I only mention fibro in case you might have that diagnosis or condition also.

@suscros68 @susan2018 @suecreader What a wonderful group of people on this discussion. I am learning so much about how other "chemicals" (caffeine, alcohol) affect the RLS. Thank you all for sharing your RLS struggles. Right now the Vit D3 has totally controlled the RLS but yes, this seems to be an age related issue and I expect as time goes on, the D3 might not do the job and I will have to move to "real drugs" to control it. Years ago (2010) I was put on Requip and other drugs usually prescribed for Parkinson's disease and those drugs made me so ill that I preferred the RLS! And that says a lot! But it looks like there are new meds now available that weren't available then.

BTW, I have found if I don't want to have wine with dinner, I enjoy tonic with a squeeze of lime in a pretty stemmed glass. It seems to fill the "something to sip on" desire.

Good luck to all of you ladies. You certainly have gone through a lot and I am learning from your experiences. I hope you find the perfect resolution that works for you to control RLS. It is a horrible syndrome.

@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!!!

@degarden_girl I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of tonic and lime (without the gin!) A perfect glass and perfect clear ice cubes add to the happy hour vibe. Although I’ve heard about low iron I hadnt heard about VitD.

@suecreader, yes! I switched to Wellbutrin also. Even though I have a history of anxiety more than depression and I understand Wellbutrin wouldn’t normally be the med of choice for that, I seem to be doing OK on it. As for alcohol, I joke that I should have my happy hour at 11 a.m. rather than 5 p.m. i know what you mean about after effects not being worth it. I ask myself that everytime I enjoy a glass of wine. I’m not sure about the effect of caffeine for me. I do drink coffee, usually only before 2p.m. I don’t know if I could bear the experiment of going without to see if it would make a difference. I did try Requip but it stopped working and after a time made my RLS much,much worse. Recently I saw a sleep medicine doctor for insomnia and he prescribed one to two 100 mg tabs of Gabapentin for RLS at bedtime. I’ve been taking one and am sleeping pretty much through the night for the first time in years. Best to you!

@suscros68 @susan2018 @suecreader What a wonderful group of people on this discussion. I am learning so much about how other "chemicals" (caffeine, alcohol) affect the RLS. Thank you all for sharing your RLS struggles. Right now the Vit D3 has totally controlled the RLS but yes, this seems to be an age related issue and I expect as time goes on, the D3 might not do the job and I will have to move to "real drugs" to control it. Years ago (2010) I was put on Requip and other drugs usually prescribed for Parkinson's disease and those drugs made me so ill that I preferred the RLS! And that says a lot! But it looks like there are new meds now available that weren't available then.

BTW, I have found if I don't want to have wine with dinner, I enjoy tonic with a squeeze of lime in a pretty stemmed glass. It seems to fill the "something to sip on" desire.

Good luck to all of you ladies. You certainly have gone through a lot and I am learning from your experiences. I hope you find the perfect resolution that works for you to control RLS. It is a horrible syndrome.