Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

I was wondering if anyone else has lower back pain which increases their RLS..I seem to have more trouble with my legs when I have back pain.

I've totally got my chiropractor stumped!

I take carbidopa/levodopa usually once a day to control, but seems i just need to take more and more.

Thanks for any input!

Susan
San Francisco

whiskypie wrote:I was wondering if anyone else has lower back pain which increases their RLS..I seem to have more trouble with my legs when I have back pain.

I've totally got my chiropractor stumped!

I take carbidopa/levodopa usually once a day to control, but seems i just need to take more and more.

Thanks for any input!

Susan
San Francisco

Hi Susan

You may be going through augmentation from the carbidopa/levodopa (i.e. Augmentation is an increase in RLS problems in general, not just as the drug's effects are wearing off) and may need to switch to another drug.

Below are a couple of links to very helpful websites about RLS treatments, one about drugs, one about no drugs:

http://www.rlshelp.org/rlsrx.htm
http://www.rlsrebel.com

As for your back, it could be RLS symptoms in your back itself, or else you've twisted the muscles at an awkward angle when you've been "arguing" with your legs; then again it could be something else entirely. A good massage might help.

Take care
Nadia
28/Qld/Aust

was wondering if anyone else has lower back pain which increases their RLS..I seem to have more trouble with my legs when I have back pain.

Now that you mention it Susan, in the last two days I have more discomfort (euphemism for pain loved by doctors ) not only in my right knee (I sleep on my right side) but it shoots up and is also located in the hip area. In the past I usually assigned it to sciatica type of pain that certainly could coexist with RLS I guess.

My doctor put me on one tablet of hydrocodone (5 mg/500 mg) taken in the evening eight days ago. It is certainly insufficient to control the symptoms. What may contribute to my problem is that I am an early riser, so I am up when the RLS symptoms are at their lowest due to the circadian nature of the beast.

Nadia is probably right on the button with augmentation. Perhaps this is why my doctor is hesitant to let me graduate to taking dopamine agonists?

Sorry for the duplication.

Hi, it's Ruby. I was glad (not because of your pain ) to see that I am not the only one with back pain. It isn't always there but I have started tracking it and when my RLS is at it's most hideous, my lower back hurts like #!*?. It actually feels like my backbone is dislocated from my hips. After a few days, when I get the RLS back under control, it gets better. Which causes which? Don't have a clue but I am convinced that they are related. On the days of the back pain, I haven't done any heavy lifting, twisting etc. so I don't feel tha back pain is due to that. It is strange. I have not gone to a chiro mainly because the two i went to long ago scared the bejesus out of my with their roughness. I have had massages twice and that helps quite abit but since my insurance doesn't pay for it, can't do that again. While we are on the subject of symptoms, does anyone else have problems during the day with extremely tired legs? I mean, they just don't want to walk. Feels like I have walked miles and miles. Or they are stiff and sore during the day. This happens even when I "think" I have slept well. Please let me know.

Hi, Ruby! This is your friend Mr. Owl. I may be able to contribute some on the muscle fatigue as my daughter has had severe fibromyalgia for almost a decade and I have been trying to research her problem.

It seems that the pituitary gland is not very active in adults especially during day time. However, when one is deep asleep (delta phase) the gland becomes quite active and secretes various growth hormones and precursors. Supposedtly these substances do muscle repair at night so that we wake up roaring to go.

When one's sleep is disturbed (one disturbance is the frequent alpha wave intrusion in the delta phase sleep), this does not happen and the muscles wake up tired as if they are saturated with lactic acid.

It does not take much stretch of imagination that in RLS our muscles do not get enough rest or even repair! No wonder people used to think RLS is secondary to circulatory problems as the same happens when the muscles do not get enough blood supply.

I used to be able to walk miles with springy steps. Now when I go for a walk with my daughter, who is driving a golf cart, after a half a mile it feels like I want to get on the golf cart myself.

I am also beginning to show signs of narcolepsy during afternoon hours probably because I do not get enough restful sleep.

Now that I know a bit more I would not dream of going to a chiropractor as this is probably not a question of adjustment but chemical imbalance resulting from abnormal sleep pattern. Even though my son-in-law is one.

Well, restfull sleep to you all, you hear!

Mr. Owl, I am SO glad you joined this site I had never heard the info you just gave me. It certainly makes sense. It doesn't help the problem but at least I know that there is a reason for it. Thanks for your input. Now, how about the lower back pain? It does seem to me that RLS has a lot of the same symptoms as fibro. Just not as severe. Is this a fair assumption? Since you are familiar with both, what do you think?

Hey there Ruby and Jumpy

I've been wondering about all of these different ailments myself...

My mum has had both chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia for nearly 30 years. She's not the "give up" type person either and gets out of bed each morning and soldiers on with whatever she can manage for the day (including teaching high-school kids as a substitute teacher!)

I know that I have familial/primary RLS; and a severe case of it. I also have a nice case of Raynaud's Disease. Fibromyalgia has been a topic which has been bounced around me for a while now but i'm not sure if/how/why/what if I should ask the questions again. I tentatively broached the subject with my GP before my RLS "kicked in" last June, but he pretty much dismissed the idea. Which brings me to my next pondering....is Fibro genetic?

I do have a problem with the small of my back (the inward curved part at the bottom), but have not been able to relate it to my RLS symptoms (but then again, my RLS is more of a constant than an on/off thing).

Ruby, I'm glad someone else has finally described their legs as "extremely tired".....almost like you've done a Forrest Gump walk across a continent. This is the only way I can describe mine, BUT, now on top of the extremely tired I have the "gotta stretches" in my hamstrings and calf muscles. Not a good combination really!!

I slept for 10hrs last night (with drug help), and it was a deep restful sleep for my body, but, not for anything from my hips down. This morning the backs of my legs feel like they've been stretched out and down round the corner to the next block lol. The "rest" of my legs just feel oh so tired and my hips, well, they're just completely worn out. Wriggling my legs will just make them feel more tired, and although i'd love to stretch those muscles out again, they're just toooooo sore. So i'm keeping my brain as active as possible and not thinking about it!! (When I sign off from here i'll go back to doing some scrapbooking) We live in a two-story house....and stairs.....are not my friends!!

Enough from me - time to go and do something creative with all these photos!

Take care guys
Nadia

Nadia, I am going to start a new catagory on symptoms. I know everyone is different but I really think there may be more going on with some of us than RLS. Just curious, I guess.

I know this is an old thread but I just found it. This is Jan and I have back pain, too. AND, my legs hardly hold me up in the morning. Regarding my back, the small of my back hurts so badly sometimes, I can hardly turn over in bed. I'm on Mirapex and Klonopin which helps the RLS, but I have to take 2 500 mg. of Tylenol 2x daily for pain (I have an ulcer and can't take aspirin or Advil). And, in the morning, stairs are my enemy. I'm 56 but feel 80 sometimes. It takes a good half hour for me to limber up. I used to be so active. But, I'm so stiff and sore and it's getting worse. It's just been this way I'd say for thelast six months. It feels like I've run a marathan every night. I do sleep (although I do wake up pretty often, but manage to go back to sleep better than I used to). If any of you actually read this anymore, is that what you experience? Please reply if you read this.

Thanks.

Jan