WHAT ANTI-DEPRESSANT IS OKAY FOR PEOPLE WITH RLS ?

[sweetiepye]

As I am decreasing Cymbalta with the intention of completely going off of it , I've noticed my depression is coming back . I am now taking 20 mg and it's time for another decrease . I know it's a question for my doctor, but I am curious could I start another anti depressant before I completely finish with the Cymbalta ? What is the anti - depressant that is compatible with RLS ?

[Eryl]

It has been found that a high carb diet can increase the likelyhood of depression and anxiety. I've found that a high carb diet was partially the cause of my rls. As a result I've given up eating bread and other processed foods and avoid refined grain oils because they cause oxidative stress which can cause chronic inflammation.

[sweetiepye in reply to Eryl]

Thank you for responding . I do eat a high carb diet although I have eliminated processed foods . Would you mind telling me what you do eat on a normal day ? At this point I do think diet is the way I need to go. My doctors haven't mentioned it and I've ignored it up till a few weeks ago. Time to change . I'm really stuck on what to eat for breakfast.

[Eryl in reply to sweetiepye]

To list everything I eat would take a small book, but what I don't eat is anything with added sugar and no bread although I do eat a small ammount of pastry crust. I don't drink fruit juice or alcoholic drinks. For breakfast I have a bowl of porridge with full fat milk (I have goats milk because I have an issue with cows milk) and either an avocado or a couple of rashers of bacon and a pickled beetroot for the nitrates (nitric oxide dilates blood vessels to lower blood pressure, improve circulation and improve muscle function). If you avoid having the carbs in toast and /or fruit juice you won't get strong hunger pangs which make you want to snack.

[Hidden]

Hi,

You will have to ask your doctor if cymbalta interacts with any other antidepressant you may try. It's really a medical question.

Trazodone, Nefazodone and Buproprion (Welbutrin) will probably be all suggested to you as being "RLS safe" i.e. not making RLS worse.

Welbutrin may actually improve RLS symptoms.

However, none of these are particularly good at treating depression!

A quote -

"if you are very depressed, even if a medicine may worsen your RLS symptoms, it is very important to treat your depression and try the medication if you’ve already explored nondrug treatments. You should not worry about whether or not the medicine will worsen your RLS"

rlsfoundation.blogspot.com/...

The SSRIs then, sertraline or citalopram are suggested, but they are NOT RLS safe.

A lot does depend on what the source of the depression is. RLS itself, can cause depression so firstly it's important to treat your RLS effectively.

There are non-drug therapies for depression and these should also be tried. Anti-depressants are rarely a good long term solution for depression.

There are some "organic" factors that affect depression and diet may be one of them, so it's good to pay attention to your general health too.

I hope you find the link abaove helpful.

[sweetiepye in reply to Hidden]

Thank you. I am really reluctant to take any drug I may have to withdraw from in future . This is my second withdrawal and I'm sick of it. I will check out the web site. This is where I get the most useful information .

[Hidden in reply to sweetiepye]

I'm with you. Never take a drug unless you really must.

BUT, if it comes to having to take an AD then those two appear to be recommended

I've had citalopram three times, but each time, within weeks I had psychotherapy or counselling.

[marsha2306]

I used to take Citalopram before I realized it makes RLS worse. I’ve been on Bupropion (Wellbutrin) and it works great and does not make RLS worse.

[Joolsg]

This is from the US foundation and you'll see they list 'safe' anti depressants.

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[sweetiepye in reply to Joolsg]

Thank you Joolsg.