Worms in Legs

[MJDK]

Hello, I've been living with RLS for decades and now my 41 year old son is having some issues which are similar - would appreciate anyone's input on his situation. He started taking Zoloft for OCD and anxiety about 2 months ago. He had unpleasant side effects so he stopped the Zoloft, then started back, then stopped again over about 6-8 weeks. Now he has developed a sensation of worms in his calves (painless twitches) whenever he sits or lays down. It starts about 30 seconds to a minute after he tries to relax. He does not have the sensation when he is active, and if he gets up and moves the twitches go away. Wondering what he might be dealing with. RLS triggered by the Zoloft? Discontinuation syndrome? Some other weird neurological disorder? He has had no other symptoms of RLS other than insomnia. Any comments will be appreciated. Thank you.

[Rustsmith]

RLS-like symptoms are a common side effect of almost all of the anti-depressants. Whether his symptoms are strictly due to the Zoloft or if the Zoloft triggered RLS that just hadn't appeared yet in his life is something that only time will tell. Either way, he needs a doctor who will be willing to treat both his OCD/anxiety as well as the RLS (or RLS-like) symptoms.

Also, he needs to be very careful going on and off of any anti-depressant. Stopping these meds can make things far worse and sometimes the symptoms of quitting too quickly can be much worse than withdrawal from meds like the dopamine agonists or even opioids.

[badnights]

Your son might try taking iron - - advise patience since it takes 3-4 weeks to kick in, if it's going to help. Also he needs to be sure he's not one of the people in danger of iron overload.

It's possible that over time, if he avoids the Zoloft, the WED/RLS symptoms will go away. How is he now?

My son (in his 30's) also has WED/RLS at times, although it's been quiet recently, perhaps because he cleaned up his lifestyle. He also has serious anxiety and more than a touch of OCD.