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Cause or contribution factor to RLS

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Boomiesmom
Boomiesmom

Has anyone seen any research or scientific information regarding why RLS hits during resting or trying to go to sleep.  I've read that dopamine (a brain chemical)  is a contributor to RLS.  Just don't know how or why.  I have no problems as long as I am up and moving - no matter how late.  But to lie down to rest or to go to sleep and BAM it hits with a vengance.  Often, even if I've taken meds that seem to be working, once I turn off the light while lying in bed and begin to fall asleep the twitching begins and gets worse, the aching starts and I'm making pilgrimages to the medicine cabinet to increase my med intake to try and stop it.  Just wondering if anything has been written about what the corrolation is between rest/sleep and the onset of the RLS symptoms.

0 likes, 22 replies

22 Replies

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  • beagle
    beagle Boomiesmom

    Posted

    RLS by Buchfuhrer, Hening etc is a good book if you want to understand it better. We all need to become our own experts as GP's are unlikely to have the knowledge.

  • trevor09910
    trevor09910 Boomiesmom

    Posted

    I see a specialist who also suffers from RLS and he admits they have no real idea of the cause. And I also suspect that you might have PLMD (Periodic Limb Movement Disorder) more than RLS, if it only affects you when resting. I am similar and I have PLMD.

    Recently, I started taking Schuessler Tissue Salts which is Magnesium Phosphate and that seems to have eliminated my RLS and I was a big nocturnal kicker. If you need or want to know more, let me know.

  • Hazel_Kennedy
    Hazel_Kennedy Boomiesmom

    Posted

     I have had RLS since 1986, after trying various tablets from the doctor, I found that dihyrocodeine tablets work for me.. I take 2 around 6pm every day. Occasionally the restlessness develops earlier in the afternoon if I am not busy. I know researchers say it is due to a lack of dopamine in the brain but the one thing that confuses me is if I am totally distracted, e.g. Watching a very good film, the restlessness starts as soon as the film has finished. 
  • NooNooHead1981
    NooNooHead1981 Boomiesmom

    Posted

    Hi guys

    I have tardive dyskinesia, caused by a dopamine antagonist drug (antipsychotic) and have had this for about 18 months. If this wasn't bloody annoying enough with the involuntary movements of my face (lip smacking etc), I am now starting to get the restless legs symptoms too. These are not limited to my legs, they are in my amrs and sometimes my face - almost a mild form of akathesia.

    I know that TD is caused by the antipsychotic blocking the uptake of dopamine, therefore my educated guess would be my dopamine levels have become very messed up, hence the TD and now RLS. I also think I have a predisposition to any condition dopamine related as I was born prematurely from my birth mum being a drug addict and taking heroin (which I believe can affect an unborn foetus' neurotransmitter levels and most likely has affected my dopamine levels from birth).

    Lucky ol' me, aye? Anything I take meds-wise like dpoamine agonists to combat RLS means it will probably exacerbate my TD, therefore I guess I am limited to natural remedies. Having said that, once I took a calcium vitamin pill that set my dystonia and dyskinetic movements off something rotten within about half an hour, so I really DO have to be so careful...

    Any advice? I have seen five neurologists about my TD and they were mostly all useless, so I'm turning to the internet now in desperation...

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