Question on Painful RLS

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pamhb
Posts: 103
Joined: Tue May 01, 2007 1:11 am
Location: Canada

Question on Painful RLS

Post by pamhb »

Hi -- I'm not exactly new -- I'm an old, old member that hasn't been on the Board for a very long time.

I have had RLS for a number of years now, and my symptoms have been progressing over time. When under-medicated, my symptoms affect not only my legs but also my torso and arms. I've been through about 4 different drug regimens, and am currently taking gabapentin and pramipexole. The switch to gabapentin is relatively recent -- I was on clonazapam as a secondary drug before then, but was experiencing very disruptive sleep patterns.

I also have osteoarthritis, which causes me significant muscle pain -- the osteo in my hip has resulted in musculature imbalances creating strain on muscles that weren't intended to carry the load. When my muscles are overloaded, it seems to make my RLS significantly worse in the evening -- I have a lot more involuntary spasms in my lower extremities that is poorly controlled by the medications.

More lately, I have noticed general muscle pain and a sensation like rapid firing of my pain receptors. It seems to be brought on by muscle overload -- if I get too much exercise, even in the early morning, my legs will feel tingly and by evening are painful as described above, combined with muscle spasming in my feet. I will be seeing my doctor to sort out what might be the cause, but I'm interested in knowing whether anyone else experiences general muscle pain and the "rapid firing" sensation that I do as part of their RLS symptoms. Thanks!

ViewsAskew
Moderator
Posts: 16570
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 6:37 am
Location: Los Angeles

Re: Question on Painful RLS

Post by ViewsAskew »

Hi Pam - welcome back. I have no pain and I don't have any pain issues aside from some knee issues....so take this in that light. Over the years, we've seen several people with WED/RLS who also have neuropathy. For some of them, they have ONLY had neuropathy that we misidentified as WED. But, for most, they had both and the RLS/WED hid the neuropathy. Neuropathy can be caused by so many things, it's not surprising that many of us would have it.

When you say rapid firing sensation, I immediately think of neuropathy. Might not be at all!

Hope your doc can get it all sorted and that someone else here might have more specific info.
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

Managing Your RLS

Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

Polar Bear
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Posts: 8797
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 4:34 pm
Location: United Kingdom

Re: Question on Painful RLS

Post by Polar Bear »

Welcome back Pam - sorry you are suffering at present.

I also have osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia and they are an ordeal in themselves - they aren't great friends with the WED.
My GP thought that my hip pain (of some 20 years) might be a bursa caused by the arthritis and gave me a steroid injection which did indeed take the edge off the pain.
I can empathise with the WED symptoms in the arms and shoulder and I do have occasional random 'jerks' but not the rapid fire sensations that you speak of. It does sound like nerve endings.
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation

pamhb
Posts: 103
Joined: Tue May 01, 2007 1:11 am
Location: Canada

Re: Question on Painful RLS

Post by pamhb »

Thanks for the replies. My symptoms have been pretty well controlled for a number of years now -- however we're still fiddling with the dosage with this recent switch to gabapentin, which makes it all more bothersome than it normally is. I really hope I don't have another disease such as neuropathy to add to my growing pile of aches and pains!

It's really only in the past few years that I've made the connection between my osteoarthritis and my WED. The osteo causes my hip and leg muscles to tense up -- and the more tension I carry in these muscles, the greater my WED symptoms. So my evenings are spent getting those muscles to relax.... I watch a lot of Netflix as I'm rolling around on the floor with my foam roller ;)

It is interesting to see how the Board has changed since I first started. Far more educated patients, and I suspect far more educated doctors. Cheers everyone, and sleep well!

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