Restlessness and Restless Leg Syndrome

[Brian T]

I have my apnea controlled, but I  have sleep restlessness and Restless Leg Syndrome. 

My physcian prescribes Lyrica and Neurontin but I am concerned about long term side effects, mostly memory loss. 

Any thoughts on this issue?  

Any natural options for restlessness and RLS?

Brian

[kiwii]

Have you had your iron checked?

First sleep doctor told my husband (who has restless legs) to get his iron checked. He said something about the amount to look for in the lab results, but I am sorry that I do not remember them.

eta: we were in the office for my appointment; this was an aside when doctor was questioning me about having restless legs - I don't, but husband does.

[PaulaO2]

Potassium if you need it. I eat a banana when my RLS is acting up. It often helps.

I used to take Neurontin for nerve pain. But we had to keep adjusting the dosage. The higher the dosage, the more I twitched. An arm, a leg, and then all of me by the time we called it quits. The hope was the twitching would stop but it only got worse.

Lyrica is another med for nerve pain, especially fibromyalgia.

[Brian T]

Thank you all, keep the ideas coming.

I wonder if I should stop the neurontin?

[Cpapian]

I am going to second the iron suggestion. I periodically have twitchy/jerky legs when trying to sleep. Sleep doctor checked my iron levels -found them a little low. Now I take ferrous fumarate 300 mg with Vitamin C.

It is cheap, over the counter. 1 hr before food or 2 hours after.

Somewhere I read the problem is the iron store in the body, as opposed to the regular iron. Just a specific blood test, rather than the usual.

[trish6hundred]

Hi Brian T,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Good luck to you as you continue CPAP therapy and hopefully, you will get the problem you are having with restlessness straightened out.
Hang in there for more responses to your post.

[fings1]

Hey Brian...I am a restless sleeper as well. Here are some thoughts you may consider as you move forward.

Have your iron checked, specifically your ferritin levels. It should be maintained around the 100 level for PLMD/RLS sufferers (that's higher than normal for 'normal' folks).

Have Magnesium, Vitamin D, and some of the B vitamins - anything related to muscle or nerve function - checked as well. Talk to your doctor about what things in addition to ferritin should be checked.

In addition to getting your body at its optimum to support good muscle and nerve health, read up on things others have done to find some relief. Warm foot soaks before bed have helped many. Some use a TENS Unit before bedtime. Work on good sleep habits as well.

[Brian T]

Thank you. Thoughts on Neuron tin therepy?

[tmoody]

What do you mean by "sleep restlessness" in addition to RLS? Generally, RLS is what people have when awake; it's PLM (periodic limb movement) when asleep. Not everyone with PLM has RLS. For example, I have PLM when asleep but no RLS when awake.

I'm wondering if "sleep restlessness" refers to spontaneous arousals or something else.

[Mosquitobait]

As a chronic sufferer of RLS, I agree that there is reason to be concerned about the drugs available for this. Some of them can cause permanent change to the brain (according to some studies), so it's a risk vs. benefit thing.

The FDA has approved only 4 drugs for RLS. I've tried gabapentin, but I can't drive the next day when I take it. It leaves me feeling dopey much of the next day. It did help though.
ropinirole (Requip)
pramipexole (Mirapex)
gabapentin enacarbil (Horizant)
rotigotine (Neupro)

My trigger for RLS is legs that are too hot. I found gel packs to help with it. My sister has RLS when her legs are too cold, so she switched from nightgowns to flannel pjs and that helped. Try to determine if you have a trigger and maybe someone here can help you find a solution to at least control it, since elimination seems pretty difficult. Also, if you are overweight, weight loss can reduce/eliminate RLS, but it's like sleep apnea - works for some, not for most.

FWIW, maximum dose of acetazolomide will eliminate restless legs after a few weeks. Worked great. However, the side effects are severe so I don't recommend this option (and your doc sure won't prescribe it!). I was taking it for another condition to prevent blindness.