Restless Legs

[MrDay]

Before I got my PD I hade Restless Legs(RL). When I started medicating PD my RL symtomer dissapeared. Is there any connection between RL and PD?

[shasha]

i too had rl - but have not had it since taking meds for pd - so i guess there must be a link - infact i am sure i have read it somewhere xx

[KokoLu]

Yes, I also read that...

[drew410]

The connection is not with PD specifically but with PD meds i.e. Mirapexin. There is another med specifically for epileptic fits - I cannot remember the name - which is also used for RLS. I tried it but had a bad reaction hence mirapexin.

Another example of medication having a double life as it were. Diazapam (valium) is used for panic/anxiety attacks but it is also a muscle relaxant so can be helpful with cramp. Quinine is used to ward off malaria from mosquita bites but also relaxes muscles. So while a medication is evolved for a particular medical complaint they sometimes can help in other ways.

[shasha in reply to drew410]

hey i have just remembered ( Duh ) that i was pescribed QUININE FOR my rls back in the uk but here in france they did not have the sane stuff -- so then i decided to get parkie and since thenhave not had RLS !!

[ronn]

Mr Day, I may be wrong, but I have been led to believe that restless leg syndrome is a symptom unto itself, involving a lack of dopamine from the basal ganglia and often occurring in Parkinson patients. I have experienced RLS while takng my present med and while taking no meds at all. I seem to remember also that dyskinesia is a term for involuntary muscle movement, anywhere in the body, which may be caused by medications. Please let me know if I am in error on this. (my brain is a bit mushy lately)..

[Dennis in reply to ronn]

This post helped me as I get the symptoms of RSL not only in my legs on a regular basis and coupled with dyskinesia it makes for a difficult or at least part of the day is difficult and I do not yet know what to do about it. Dennis

[Court]

I also have suffered with restless legs for a number of years. I mentioned it when I went to the Parkinsons clinic and they told me that restless legs are a classic symptom of Parkinsons.

Having said that my legs are not so much restless now as turning red and hot to the touch. I don't know which is worse.

[Anemone]

I have been led to believe by my movement disorder neurologist (and other neurologists) that RLS and PD are most certainly related. After using Sinement my RLS came back in full force and I began taking Requip in the evening about 7:00. That has helped tremendously. Once in a while I am bothered by RLS, but for now with Sinement throughout the day and Sinement CR at night along with the Requip, it's better. Good luck.

[srarndt]

Google requip, you'll find lots about it being used in RL management.

Side note; I neve really had RL until my neurologist had me stop taking Requip due to bad side effects. She took me off of it cold turkey and I had miserable RL issues for about a week or 2. Then all gone again (Thank god!!)

Steve (Bisbee, AZ)

[ma4PDcure]

There is a correlation between RLS and PD. There have been some medical reports in the past that have pinpointed a link between the two in that one could possibly lead to the other. But this is not absolute, meaning that one will not necessarily end up with PD if they had or have RLS but that there have been patients who have been diagnosed with PD and who had experienced RLS symptoms before. Additionally, both entities can be treated with the same type of medications: dopamine agonist such as Mirapex or Requip. I, myself, remember experiencing some degree of RLS on my left leg at bedtime a few years prior to being diagnosed with PD.