Long term antibiotic treatment with Amoxicillin-Clav ( a form of augmentin. Taking a large does every day 500mg twice a day. Cause rls?

[ESRDRLS]

Let me explain. I was on dialysis for 5 and 1/2 year’s when I received a kidney transplant. For about 3 months after surgery it seemed my rls had almost gone. Then because I have a neurogenic bladder I started getting uti that required hospitalization and even got sepsis so the last time the infectious dis Dr put me on the above meds to stay on. It has kept the infections at bay but I started getting rls day and night in my abdomin which is also around my kidney. The Surg said nerve damage was done which apparently normal putting a transplanted kidney. I looked up the antibiotic and it mention a lot of side effects when taking long term. I was wondering if anyone knows about that. And the only things that calms my rls in the meds I take for pain and anxiety. I do have a lot of nerve damage pain that I have from spinal cord injury and go to a pain management dr. The pain med is OxyContin and Xanax for anxiety.

And is it possible to have rls in your stomach and not have in legs. I had it in only my legs for years. Also I am depressed. I took antidepressant for years with requiring for years and I was close to normal. Had to stop when I got on dialysis cause I got to where I could not sit still or read or do any crafts cause my rls got so bad. Does anyone know of an antidepressant that won’t cause rls? I am in the USA do I would need meds advice that is avail here please. I appreciate any help. Thanks everyone and stay safe and God bless.

[Joolsg]

I am sorry to hear about your kidney problems and the ongoing UTIs. Long term low dose antibiotics will help that and I haven't heard of antibiotics causing RLS. You can get RLS in other body parts and yours may be due to nerve damage.It's more likely that the ongoing RLS is due to antidepressants.

I attach the US list of safe anti depressants and you should discuss with your doctor and ask to switch to a safe option.

It's definitely worth joining rls.org and it'll be the best $35 you ever spend. Excellent webinars and help sheets.

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[Elffindoe]

My goodness you have had some problems and I hope you are coping with your current situation which sounds an improvment.

RLS is exacerbated in kidney disease and it's no surprise that having a transplant can help improve RLS symptoms. This is because having a healthy kidney means maintaining a better potassium balance.

Iron is also significant in RLS, iron deficiency being the main cause of it. Inflammation is also a mediating factor in RLS. Hence a healthy gut may also be signficant in the disease since it's by the gut that we absorb iron and the gut is a source of inflammation.

Gut health is partly dependent on there being sufficent natural "flora" in the gut, that is bacteria. These are essential for normal gut function.

Unfortunately despite their benefits, antibiotics can kill off these friendly bacteria. For your general health then, it's worth considering taking probiotics and to help these something like pomegranate.

It is well known that most antidepressants make RLS worse and is often suggested that some are "safe"or at least"safer" for RLS.

The RLS foundation. it seems do list some of these. I'm afraid I can't make out what these are from Jools' picture., hence it maybe worthwhile joining the RLS foundation.

The usual ADs that are said to be safe for RLS are trazadone, nefazadone and wellbutrin.

The difficulty withy these is that the first two are used more as a sleeping said and aren't that particularly effective as ADs. Wellbutrin may or may not help with depression.

I have read in a RLS foudnation blog that if soemboy with RLS really needs an AD and the consequences of not taking one outweigh the effects on RLS, then Citalopram or Sertraline are better.

Better still in the long term, for most forms of depression psychotherapy is more advisable than long term AD use. Like RLS medications, ADs only mask symptoms, they are not a cure.

Are your symptoms really RLS?

I can't say. Firstly, I do experience RLS symptoms in my abdominal muscles, (as opposed to the stomach, which is an organ), but I don't experience it ONLY in the abdomen.

I do suppose however that if there is some nerve damage around your kidney then this could cause some nerve irritation and hence RLS like symptoms. This isn't necessarily RLS.

Other symptoms of nerve damage are pain, (tingling, pins and needles or burning), numbness or loss of function.

It's worth taking up the suggestions I've offered in any event to see if this helps.

If it doesn't then you may wish to find out more about what else could be causing the symptoms OR, if they are only causing minimal discomfort, accept them.

[samcat1 in reply to Elffindoe]

I have RLS in my abdomen area the most. I have read about it. It's not so common but it does make me toss and turn and I have like a roller coaster feeling of spasms and it can be very tormenting. I have been getting relief from my doctor helping me. I take his protocol for Iron with testing and now gabapentin. The requip stopped working after 6 great months and then I got the backlash horribly. Gabapentin seems to be working along with iron and regular doctor follow ups!!

[denno]

Hi there, I thought I had RLS in both chest and stomach (legs of course) but it turned out to be psychosomatic. Only my legs is real. I don't believe in RLS being anywhere else but the extremities.

[Elffindoe in reply to denno]

It is possible to get RLS symptoms in the adominal muscles as these are skeletal muscles and hence are affected by motor nerves, i.e. nerves affected by RLS.

You cannot get RLS in your stomach. This is an organ and is made from a different kind of muscle, not affected by RLS.

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I took two courses of the same antibiotic recently. I found that within days my RLS / PLMD had gotten much worse. I had to revert to taking my full dose of pregabalin as a result.

There was no doubt in my mind that the antibiotics were the culprit.