I currently have a chest infection and a dry cough (NOT Coronavirus !), I am on antibiotics as well as my usual bucket full of meds. Last night my legs and arms were really bad. About the worst that I have ever had. So I am not sure if it is the chest infection &/or the antibiotics that have made the difference. I had gone to bed early - about 21:45 - and woke at 02:20 thinking that it was morning. My bed clothes were all over the floor and my legs excruciatingly painful. I tried to take a sip of water from the glass beside the bed and ended up spilling quite a bit in the bed. So had to try and resume sleep in a wet bed !!
Today my legs and arms feel like I have just had a full work out in the gym. Due to my various illnesses I have not been to a gym for over 17 years !!
Now I wonder what will be in store for me tonight.
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Kentish_Man
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Antibiotics are not known to make RLS worse so I hope tonight will be better for you and you recover soon from the chest infection
Oh dear, I hope you have a better night tonight.
As Elisse says, it's unlikely that any increase in your RLS symptoms is due to taking an antibiotic.
The exacerbation could be due to all sorts of factors which might have stimulated your nervous system generally. This could be anything from low oxygen levels due to your chest infection, temperature, to increased anxiety. These are all "stressors".
Since as you say, you take a lot of meds and possibly have several other health issues, they may also be a factor.
They may all be interacting and I wouldn't necessarily attribute all the issues you had last night solely to RLS.
Lets hope things improve, but if they don't, it might be worthwhile looking at the other meds you're taking and the other health issues you have to see if they're contributing to a worsening of your RLS.
Hi, I am still recovering from a not too bad infection. Strangely, my legs feel painful and heavy. I don't feel completely well yet but hopefully will improve inbthe next few days.
Hey there Kentish_man, Jerold here in Citrus Park, Florida. I am so sorry to hear about your awful night last night. After I have a horrible night like that, I swear I am going to punch out the next person that makes fun of the disease by saying "Restless legs?, I have restless xxxx" where xxxx is usually something sexually inappropriate. For those of us that suffer nightly, this disease can be devastating. I can get it to the point where I want to run naked down the street at 0200 screaming. I do not want to join the two people I knew with RLS who ended their lives, rather than deal with it.
I feel the same way when I pick up my medications to take them each morning and there are somewhere on the high side of 10 medications and over the counter products that I have to take for my RLS, blood pressure. I look at these and realize that some are treating side effects of the side effects on other medications. It is discouraging.
The only thing that gets me by is using some of the tools I have learned in AA and OA (overeaters anonymous). I say the serenity prayer a hundred times a day, some days. I also remember the axiom, "What can't be cured, must be endured". I have learned to take the days one day at a time and sometimes one minute at a time. Although I am not perfect, I try not to think outside the present and to do "anxiety rehearsals" over what may be coming tonight.
Getting the RLS in places other than the arms and legs is creepy for me. If I thought RLS was hard to describe in my arms and legs, I have no words to describe it in my face, shoulders or back.
I have to do the best I can for my health: no unprescribed drugs or substances, eating healthy (which is not always easy with an overeating disorder along the same vein as alcoholism), moderately working out (jeez, I hate that one) and finding ways of helping others (volunteering at my UU church, etc,) and not having caffeine or sugar or eating before bed, etc,. I have not had a cigarette in almost 40 years
Those nights when it is terrible, I abandon sleep in my bed and catch a few winks where I can. I have a new jacuzzi that I keep at 90 or so which is perfect as the bubbles can overdrive the sensations and I have been known to sleep 6 hours in it (unless I am catapulted out by an unexpected late night, Florida thunderstorm). Fortunately, I will go to sleep and not move from my sitting position all night. I get up and do something useful or fun like clean the garage, read, watch a video or TV (rarely as I am not a TV watcher), work on my model trains, etc. I discuss it only on a limited basis with husband as I am sure he would be sick of listening to me go on and on. Fortunately (for me), he will get mild RLS about once a month or thereabouts, so he does understand to some degree why I hate car trips in the evening and that I may need a nap during the day.. I try to get moderate walking in or the like.
You are not alone alone - don't forget that. We are good people with a horrid disease.
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Wow, I envy your jacuzzi and model trains!
But not your RLS in your arms, face shoulders and back.
I too used to get it all over, any time of day and within a few seconds. Not any more!
It was augmentation due to taking a dopamine agonist (DA). If one of your ten medicines is a DA, then it might be worth considering stopping it.
Also perhaps some others, of the ten, might be making your RLS worse. I hope you're aware that quite a few common medicines do this.
I am not a great TV watcher, but tend to watch programmes on history or travel or nature programmes. I am very interested in modern history (the last 150 years), which is surprising as it was a subject that I hated in school. I will soon be purchasing a 'man cave' which I will have placed half way up my back garden. It will not really be seen from the house and it is somewhere that I can set up my model trains.
The last few days sleep has been a bit better and RLS although still very present has subsided a bit. I have tried staying up later - as recommended by my GP - no difference so far but will carry on doing that to give it a reasonable chance.
My arms today feel like they have been put through the wringer ! Legs are a bit wobbly too. Balance is also not too good.
As for Meds. I take over 22,000 pills a year and thank God I do not have to pay for them.
Thanks for your input. Thanks also to Manerva & Road Runner 44
I also noticed that the days I was on an antibiotic for a sinus infection my legs were over the top bad/worse. Many people replied saying antibiotics should not affect the severity but I really noticed the increase in movement and absolutely got no sleep whatsoever during the week i was taking them so there is in my mind a connection
And to add...I did not take any antihistimines so cant blame it on that. In my case I feel the antibiotic played a role in making a bad situation even worse. And also before the iron subject come up. Ive had 2 different neurologists tell me mine is fine and does not appear to be the cause of my misery
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Restless Legs and Arms
RLS or something else? 
Cannibis and the Relaxis Pad = relief
SYMPTOMS MOVING TO REST OF THE BODY 
