Anyone awake?

Hi Irish, I am sorry you have had a terrible night. You have a sick note. I would call the doctor. He will be able to help you. Tell your doctor what you are telling us. There is no need to apologise to us. If I was you that is what I would do.

Let us know how you go on today. First of all see your doctor.

Kaarina

Hi Ryan, i hope you have taken the advice of Kaarina, used your sick note and get to see your doctor. The anxiety needs to be addressed, you need to get that sorted out, as i have said before, its not helping. Only your doctor can help you right now. We are always here to give you our support. x

Hi Ryan, you are not a burden to us we all need a little support at sometime. Hope you are feeling a little better?...pippsx

Irish, in my experience, and just my experience, no one else's, I have found the best over the counter remedy for sleep and anxiety is something called Advil/Ibuprofen. The best prescription anti-anxiety med which also helps with sleep that I have tried is klonopin/clonazepam. The best over the counter treatment I have found for RLS is one tablet of iron bi-glysinate at night, on an empty stomach.

I have heard, but have no first hand experience, that the only antidepressant that is good for anxiety, and might be RLS friendly, is Effexor. I'm going to take a leap of faith and assume that whatever antidepressant you are on is not Effexor and is currently making your RLS worse, and therefore your anxiety, since you are not sleeping well because of it.

You may think we are helping you, but in all reality you are helping us. The results of any and all medications you try will add volumes to our understanding of RLS. Let me be the first to thank you for going out there on a limb for us all.

You are right! Forgot about that one. It's supposed to be great for anxiety, which will be relieved with small doses of it. Larger doses, which are needed to be therapeutic for clinical depression, are supposedly rarely prescribed these days for one reason or another.

Irish, are you out there? See if your doc will prescribe a "non-therapeutic" dose of the antidepressant called trazadone. It won't do much for RLS but it will reduce your anxiety. This stuff gets rave reviews for anxiety and sleep. Works quicker than Effexor too, supposedly.

Then the real work begins. Finding something that will ease your RLS. I promise you it will be an adventure. You are not a victim of RLS and anxiety, you are a scientist on a mission.

Peace out V

I wish I could tolerate the very large doses of Trazadone needed for treating clinical depression instead of being stuck on Paroxetine which makes RLS much worse,

If I took a therapeutic dose of Paxil I would have RLS from the tip of my head to my toes. I'm ultra sensitive at this point in my life to all RLS unfriendly drugs. RLS is the greatest darkness. I will put up with every other malady before that one. Like I said a million times before, one (or two if you're taking an SSRI) tablets of iron bi-glysinate will stop the RLS even if you are taking RLS provoking drugs. Albeit temporarily. But the best choice is to switch to an RLS friendly anti-depressant such as Effexor for clinical depression. Then when you're feeling good challenge yourself, knowing that you can go back on a full daily dose at will. Life is strange and always changing. You could be taking a drug for something that is over or that would be over if your RLS abated.

This is from the website rls.help.org It give the list of the anti-depressants. And which ones are RLS friendly, which gives just two. If someone can use a anti-depressant that is not RLS friendly they are lucky and i am pleased that they can.

Antidepressant Medication

This class of medications should be used with caution in RLS patients. Antidepressants can worsen RLS symptoms more often than help them. As depression is a common problem, especially in patients with severe and persistent RLS problems, antidepressants are often prescribed for RLS patients. RLS patients who are put on antidepressants and notice worsening of their symptoms should inform their physician of this problem immediately.

There are several different classes of antidepressant medication. If a medication in one class causes problems, then a medication from another class may be of more benefit. As with most RLS medications, much trial and error must take place to see if these medications are helping. Due to the long list of antidepressant medications, we will only list them in their appropriate categories.

There are no specific guidelines for using antidepressants in RLS, and generally they are used for RLS in the same doses as for depression. The oldest antidepressants, the tricyclics, tend to worsen RLS more than they help. The SSRI's will worsen RLS more often than helping but they seem better tolerated than the tricyclics. There is only one antidepressant drug, Wellbutrin, which has dopamine like effects, so it may benefit RLS. This however, has not been looked at systematically yet although there are some case reports of Wellbutrin helping RLS. Trazadone may not help RLS but it does not seem to worsen the condition.

Tricyclics & Combinations

Ascendin (Amoxepine)

Elavil (Amitriptyline)

Etrafon (Perphenazine and Amitriptyline)

Limbitrol (Chlordiazepoxide and Amitriptyline)

Norpramin (Desipramine)

Pamelor (Nortriptyline)

Sinequan (Doxepin)

Surmontil (Trimipramine)

Tofranil (Imipramine)

Triavil (Perphenazine and Amitriptyline)

Vivactil (Protriptyline)

MAO (Monoamine Oxidase) Inhibitors

Nardil (Pheneizine)

Parnate (Tranylcypromine)

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI's)

Paxil (Paroxetine)

Prozac (Fluoxetine)

Zoloft (Sertraline)

Celexa (Citalopram)

Lexapro (Escitalopram)

Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRI's)

Effexor (Venlafaxine)

Cymbalta (Duloxetine)

Tetracyclics

Ludiomil (Maprotiline)

Miscellaneous Antidepressant Medications

Desyrel (Trazadone)

Wellbutrin/Zyban (Bupropion)

Ryan, I know what you mean, and how you feel. I will wait to see if you have seen your doctor, before I post any more, but I am a veteran of panic attacks. Hope you are doing better today. One day at a time.......

Well Irish, if I were a betting type woman, my money would be on Wellbutrin if you need an antidepressant. You get three inhibitors for the price of one:

Wellbutrin = inhibits the reuptake of serotonin, norepinephrine AND dopamine

Effexor = inhibits the reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrine

Prozac, Paxil is just serotonin.

If you need an antidepressant for anxiety then Trazadone it seems is a good choice, maybe.

Always do your own homework. And your own meditation. A daily anti-depressant should be for daily anxiety - I think. For episodic anxiety then maybe an anti-anxiety med??? Or what I like to call an emergency med. That gives you an opportunity to gauge what's happening with you. Hope sleep is happening with you!

Folks,

It's disappointing that we have to ask you, again, to treat each other with respect. Nobody on this forum has all of the answers or all of the correct answers. Please take a deep breath and remember there is a real person at the other end of the line. Some of the juvenile language used above is particularly disappointing and not befitting of a help resource. If you wish to squabble please go to another website. If you appoint to give advice please try and ensure it is accurate. However by the very nature of RLS treatments what works for one person may not for another.

So please deep breaths all round!

Ryan I get burning in my calf mussials too and sickness So I take sickness pills called Prochlorrperazine they none drouzy I also get numbness in my feet arms and face So I know how you feel