Does anybody else get it in their arm... - Restless Legs Syn...

Restless Legs Syndrome

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Does anybody else get it in their arms as well?

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30 Replies
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emjoeroma
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30 Replies
olbas profile image
olbas

oh yes I certainly get it in my arms, when in bed my arms are up on the pillow , hanging over the side of the bed, stuck up in the air, anywhere were I can get a bit of relief, you are not on your own, I give up in the end and go and make a drink, seems to work,hope this helps. Olbas

Sometimes i get it in one arm... Its horrible, and for me, worse than having it in my legs. I do all the things that olbas does. But, i also usually get up and make a drink in the night, and for some reason that seems to make it go. I think its the moving the arm, filling the kettle, pouring the water and such, takes it away. My brother, uses a weight and lifts it up and down to wear the feeling out...

A member who left recently used to get it all over her body, she hardly got any sleep, and not one single med worked for her, dopamines or opiates, worse person i know of since ive been on these forums, and i know a lot of them

in reply to

she couldnt stop it at all, nothing she did worked, imagine it in both arms and legs at the same time, she couldnt even type when she had it, and in her neck

harryredwards profile image
harryredwards

I have had RLS for the last 6 years starting in my legs but gradually my arms became worse than my legs. This then progressed to sudden side to side jerking of the head.Life has been miserable.Sleep deprived and depressed.Thanks to an understanding GP I have been prescribed Rotigotine patches ( very expensive - probably only likely to prescribe if severe).Bliss!! A whole month of sound nights sleeping.

Pippins2 profile image
Pippins2 in reply toharryredwards

Harry , my head is affected occasionally, not side to side but a nod! Apparently an expert said it could be the neck muscles contracting.

beady3 profile image
beady3 in reply toPippins2

I would just like to tell you about my head nodding,it was when I sat down and lent my head against the chair or lay on settee withe my head down,I was at my daughters and she said do you know your head is shaking,when I asked doc his reply was cant do anything about that,if you read on paper with prescription it says that that is one of the side affects don't knoe if it was Ropinarol or Pramepixal

Pippins2 profile image
Pippins2 in reply tobeady3

Ah thanks Beady I will reread the leaflet that comes with the meds.I sent you a message yesterday ,did you get it?

as long as they work, i had them, they worked for about 18 monthe

E-bunny profile image
E-bunny

Im sat watching a movie as sleep doesnt seem to be happening !! My legs arent to bad at this koment bot OMG my arms are killing me.. And i cannot get rid of that crawly feeling in them :-( No sleep for me tonight !! Have to be up at 5am for work.. so at this point am not even going to try lol

Pete-1 profile image
Pete-1

Yes arms and legs simultaneously. Sometimes up my arm and down my leg all the way down to my foot, all in one big twinge. Although I have only had this when not medicated. I am primarily a Parkinson's Disease sufferer and I take Pramipexole (a Dopamine agonist also known as Mirapexin) in treatment for PD. This drug is given for RLS in weaker doses than for PD.

For many years I have RLS in my legs and since a couple of years it's in my arms to, it's horrible. I'm on Pramipexole now for 4 months and it helps!!!!

bc4974 profile image
bc4974

hi all,

I also get it in my legs and arms at the same time, has been quite awful., no sleep, not knowing what to do to stop it etc. However, I have found some relief, I take magnesium at night before bed, available in health food stores, and I use the power plate before I go to bed, and if it strikes again in the night, I go on the power plate again just for a few minutes, this has worked for me. Hope you find relief.

Twitcher profile image
Twitcher

occasionally I too now get it in my arms, always when I am in bed but... although I have had RLS since childhood I have never taken medication - I do use the magnet wraps under the knee which have been working for me in and out of bed - the challenge is I can't wear them on planes, theatre seats or restaurants though :( am investing in some wide leg trousers!!!

davebunny profile image
davebunny

hi it seems to be my shoulders not my arms but only one at a time same as my legs they just hurt one at a time ive got my legs under control at the moment with 0.35mg pramipexole i just get a bit of pain some nights but i still get it in my shoulders just in bed though i go and get in spare bed and that works a treat most of time

lindseypinzi profile image
lindseypinzi

I get it in my arms only sometimes, but when I do, they jerk and flail and it is probably worse than my legs. 2 Pramipexole taken in the evening works at the moment, but I'm dreading it if my body begins to win!! The side affects of pramipexole aren't so great either. My tongue and mouth get so dry that I can actually tap my tongue and it feels like leather!! I take 2 pints of water up with me every night too. Hey ho, onwards and upwards....

Chatline profile image
Chatline

In the arms and hands.....Oh yes, and that is why I say Restless Leg Syn. is misnamed....I am now taking Horizant (600mg time release gabapentin) and using the patch 3mg). Alone by themselves neither worked, although the patch helped a little. together I can finally sit and read and get some sleep most nights. BUT....I do feel it in my arms and hands 100% of the time. It just is not as bad when I take these meds. I have a new doctor and she says that with RLS, drugs must be rotated because they stop working after awhile. She will watch my progress on the present meds and will be ready for a different procedure when the time comes if necessary. I thought I had tried everything there is to try, but apparently their are combinations of things to be tried. So we shall see. And I totally agree with the word Horrible.....It is almost without words to describe the horribleness.

grandmamc profile image
grandmamc in reply toChatline

Hi ,

I was interested to read what your doctor said about rotating drugs .

I have been taking Pramipexole for ages and although it worked at first RLS starting earlier and earlier. Hope my doctor is open to that suggestion.

I too get it in my arms. thought it was just me.

What a great forum this is!!

galeraper profile image
galeraper in reply toChatline

Do you have problems with weight gain on horizant?

Patsy11011 profile image
Patsy11011

Yes you do have to either rotate meds or take a "meds holiday" it's the only way because we need to take these meds for the rest of our lives. I agree the RLS in the arms is worse than the legs. I think the reason that getting a drink, or something to eat works is because it breaks the cycle, the message not getting to the limbs. Your mind concentrates on what you are doing and I think that it gives the meds a chance to control it. Only my theory

legpain profile image
legpain

oh yes arms too.

HeathB profile image
HeathB

Yes, I do - but not only my arms but down my back and down the sides of my ribcage too - which is the very worst bit for me and drives me demented! :(

Glcooper profile image
Glcooper

Yes, my arms are not as bad as my legs. Sometimes my arms gets restless with my legs at night, but my arms are worse in the day. I try to shake it off at work, but driving home it gets so bad I don't want to hold onto the steering wheel because they are having such creepy fits. I try hitting and rubbing them. I feel like a freak with my movements I make trying to get the feeling to go away. Sometimes I swear that every ounce of energy I have is used on trying to get rid if the feelings. I am on mirapex and a sleeping pill at night which helps probably 60 percent from what my legs were a year ago, but during the day it is rough going. Thanks for reading.

Yes I get in my arms as well, it is terrible, and nothing I take for my legs seems to work on my arms, I rub them, shake them around like a wild thing, I must look a real site, shaking my legs and flinking my arms, I expect they think I am doing some sort of SUN Dance. might it may be useful, I will have to keep doing it, it may work. But all joking aside, yes when it is in my arms I really don't know what to do with myself. I sympathise, it is not nice, and as yet I have not found anything that is really helpful. It is hard at times to be cheerful, and sometimes I wish I could take a really good sleeping tablet and sleep for a couple of days as I feel so tired, sometimes I am sure that my RLS knows when I want to site down for a while and enjoy a cuppa or I have some work to do in the office, and it all seems to play up, It is good to hear that someone else suffers with it in their arms, I thought it was just myself, but having looked at some of the responses I can see I am not alone. This is what I like more than anything about being a member of this site, is that their is always someone who can relate to you and your symptons, and we are all in the same boat. I would be lost without this site, and the support it gives me. Hope you are ok and will get some relief. Take Care

Widgeylegs.

kateashby profile image
kateashby in reply to

I too throw my arms about all over when I get it in them, shaking them around frantically! It's absolutely horrible - I must look as if I am having some sort of fit as I just seem to want to jerk my arms and kick my legs simultaneously! when I have a very bad attack I imagine that it must be like having a 'conscious' fit of some kind. You are right about the site - I find it sooo hard to explain what it feels like to a non RLS sufferer and finding others who do experience this bizarre sensation is a relief in it's self.

M4gill profile image
M4gill

My symptoms started in my hands and was told it was carpol tunnel syndrome then it moved to my arms and eventually my legs

Yes I most certainly do get RLS in my arms and it drives me mad, and when the legs are playing up as well I am a bit like a Puppet on A String, I do not know what to do with myself. I have been on Ripinirol for some time and have had various strengths, but at the moment, I am getting away with only 2mg's at a time, I take one tab during the day if it starts playing up and definately take 2 x 2mg at night, and sometimes I top up during the night, I am finding that at the moment it seems to be controlling the arms and legs. I do think that some of the other meds that I take may help as well, but of course different meds for one is not always suitable for another. I hope that you have some means of controlling your Arms, as it is sooo uncomfortable and the worst is that you just do not know what to do with yourself when it is going on. Are you on any Meds for your RLS? I certainly sympathise with you, and that is what is soo good about this site as we can exchange our symptons, and sympathise with each other as we are going through the same problems. Hope you are ok,and keeping as well as possible.

Take Care

Widgeylegs.

Rubylane25 profile image
Rubylane25

Yes I get RLS in my entire body. Arms and legs are bad enough for sure but when it makes that creepy crawl up and down the back it is terrible. I was put on Mirapex which is like an answer to a dream and then became a gambling addict. I am now involved in a class action lawsuit-talk about a nightmare!

Cathy12345 profile image
Cathy12345

Yes I get in my arms and sometimes in my stomach muscles late at night. This usually wakes me up and is agonising. When my arms and hands go into spasm I am usually doing something and have to stop whatever I am doing and wait for the pain to subside.

galeraper profile image
galeraper

I have started in the arms. Gradually increasing.

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