beware. Naproxen!

[purple-flowers]

I am now taking 10mg Oxycodone having come off of 1800 mg per day of gabapentin which didn’t help my severe RLS. I have two questions. Severe itching is a common side effect of oxycodone. I take Loratadine 10 mg but it doesn’t help much. I have read that other antihistamines contain an ingredient that makes RLS worse. Any suggestions? I have arthritis in the toes on my right foot. I could not put weight on the foot for months until I took Naproxen 200mg twice. A miracle! No pain. Before I took it I looked up to see if naproxen makes RLS worse. The article said it does not. Unfortunately it made it much worse and for two nights I was back to the days before taking Oxycodone walking around to try to relieve the discomfort. My ferritin level was 56 and I’ve been prescribed a supplement for three months to try to take the level up to 70. I should be grateful if anyone could give me advice on alternative medications for itching and arthritis

[Madlegs1]

I certainly haven't found naproxen to be a trigger for RLS.

I get Vimovo, which is 500mg of naproxen and also has a PPI which protects the stomach.

If you have got the same med, then it could well be the ppi part that is affecting you.

[purple-flowers in reply to Madlegs1]

I take Omeprazole as I have a hiatus hernia. Any suggestions what I could take instead ? TIA.

[Madlegs1 in reply to purple-flowers]

That's what is likely causing your symptoms.

I don't know of any safe PPIs.

[purple-flowers in reply to Madlegs1]

Thankyou

[Joolsg]

Loratedine is a safe antihistamine for RLS. Opioid itching is a common side effect.Omeprazole is listed as an RLS trigger, so you might want to try gaviscon advance or discuss new surgical options for the hiatus hernia. There is apparently a new technique involving magnets.

Your serum ferritin should ideally be above 200ųg.( even though 75ųg is often mentioned on RLS websites). If you have a hiatus hernia, you may have problems absorbing iron. Omeprazole is known to block iron absorption. An iron infusion would by pass these problems.

[purple-flowers in reply to Joolsg]

Thankyou.

[SueJohnson]

Desloratadine is a prescription antihistamine and is much stronger. Cetirizine and allegra (Fexofenadine, Telfast) are OTC which you could try.

For the arthritis there are a prescription medicines you could try. Ask your doctor.

[purple-flowers in reply to SueJohnson]

Thanks Sue!

[Nikos64]

I also take oxycodone (5mg) for RLS. But I also frequently take naproxen for arthritis and back pain. For me, naproxen does not make my RLS worse. It is very helpful for arthritis and back pain flair ups and lasts a long time.

My recommendation: ask your RLS specialist if an IV iron infusion is appropriate. These are typically done at a hospital and last for 45m. I found this was quite helpful. It seems to me your ferritin is very low .

Good luck

[purple-flowers in reply to Nikos64]

Thankyou

[Moonwalker1967]

Naxopren has been a trigger for me as well. I came off it.

[Munroist]

Esomaprazole had been mentioned once or twice as a PPI which doesn't make RLS worse. If you do try it it would be really useful if you could feed back your experience either way. Thanks.

[purple-flowers in reply to Munroist]

Thank you

[purple-flowers in reply to Munroist]

I have just read that esomaprazole is as bad as omeprazole. Seeing GP on Friday apparently Gaviscon Advance Doesn’t make RLS worse. I will try it.

[Munroist in reply to purple-flowers]

Good luck. At least one person here is ok with esomaprezole but Gaviscon Advance works differently and should be ok.