So many factors no answers

[crazylegs1963]

I started with symptoms of RLS when I was pregnant with my daughter, but thought it was due to being off work where I was on my feet 50-60 hours a week. It went away for years and slowly came back over the next few years. I was finally diagnosed in 2004 and put on ropinirole. Boy did that help. but then it got stronger and they would up the dose. I am currently on 4 mg every night. Recently I was put on an antidepressant and at the same time I am trying to get off morphine sulphate and going with medical marijuana. My RLS has been going CRAZY. It now is most of the day. I am also diabetic, hypothyroid and have issues with low iron. I know certain medications affect RLS. Does anyone know if medical marijuana can affect RLS?

[Madlegs1]

Firstly, you probably got rls due to low iron levels, if it appeared during pregnancy. ( Blame the baby for stealing your iron!🥰)

However, you are now in a bit of a pickle by being prescribed Ropinerol, a DA, and having to up the dose to get more relief (check out Augmentation,)

On top of that, you have been put on an antidepressant, which generally exacerbates rls .

First, you need to find a knowledgeable doctor and with their help get off the Rop. This will be a slow process, the slower the better.

There are alternative antidepressants thatmay work for you. Check

rls-uk.org

Or

rlshelp.org

Both are good sites. You can print out info for your Dr. Keep it short- they don't have much time to be reading a load of bumf.

Get your ferritin checked-- it needs to be at least 100. Consider supplements or infusions, with medical advice.

See a recent post on this subject.

There may be pinned posts somewhere on this page ,on augmentation etc.

See "silkyreg" about 7 posts ago.

There's more, but I think you have enough on your plate, to digest all this.

Now go out and bash your kids!🤪🤪

Good luck.

[Hidden]

Several factors affect the severity of RL, as Madlegs points out

These include

Low iron,

Antidepressants,

Hypothyroidism,

Diabetic neuropathy.

Opiate withrawal

Augmentation due to a Dopamine Agonist e.g. Ropinirole.

Hence it's understandable why you have severe RLS.

Rather than adding another complication i.e. Marijuana, you may get more benefit from dealing with above.

[Joolsg]

Triple whammy- augmentation on high dose of Ropinirole; anti depressants make RLS much worse & opioid withdrawal causes RLS.

Take things a step at a time. Trazodone and Wellbutrin are antidepressants that are safe for RLS so speak to your doctor and see if you could switch. Also, consider staying on the morphine sulphate as that is used for RLS at low dose and you may need it to help you through Ropinirole withdrawal.

If the RLS doesn’t settle after switching anti depressants, you will have to consider reducing the Ropinirole slowly- 0.25mg every week/ two weeks. Read all you can about augmentation and withdrawal. It took me 3/4 months to get off Ropinirole and withdrawal is brutal- hence the suggestion you stay on morphine.

Raising iron will help your RLS and May reduce the withdrawal symptoms.

Finally medical marijuana- it doesn’t worsen RLS and will help the withdrawal from Ropinirole.

I suspect you may find you are someone whose RLS disappears once off Ropinirole and anti depressants by raising serum ferritin above 100.

I presume you’re in the USA- there are many RLS centres of excellence there and if you can see someone you’ll get the help you need getting off Ropinirole and getting an iron infusion.