Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

Hi everyone,

I have had RLS for about 40 years, started when I was in my 30s. My Mother and Grandmother had it too.

Has anyone had a Restless Leg Syndrome attack during a Cardiac Catheterization proccedure?

I have been feeling some heart angina the last few months.

I had recently had a Cardiac Catheterization performed through my right wrist. It was very painful during the procedure and told it will take another 2-weeks to get better use of my hand. The procedure was stopped due to an Restless Leg Syndrome attacked.

The Dr is going to have an anesthesiologist during the 2nd attempt to do procedure because I had an attack of Restless Leg Syndrome during the 1st attempted procedure. Ugh!

Has anyone had a Restless Leg Syndrome attack during a Cardiac Catheterization?

Thank you.

Eugenia

No but I just had a colonoscopy, and I explained my issue with restless legs ahead of time both to my doctor and to the anaesthesiologist. The anesthesiologist assured me that the med. he was using would also cover my legs, and it did. I was very pleasantly surprised.

An anaesthesiologist will bend over backwards to not have any problems during a procedure. I know from experience when anesthesia during a tonsillectomy went wrong before I knew about RLS. I didn't know, so was unable to tell the anaesthesiologist ahead of time. For my next two operations I was able to tell them that I didn't know why but had a bad reaction before and was extremely sensitive to anesthetics as were family members. The doctors were on full alert and everything went well. Now I can take literature from the Foundation before a procedure.

Anytime that we get certain sedatives, antihistamines, or other drugs, it will set off an attack. My first one during a procedure was when I had my wisdom teeth removed. They must have given me Benadryl, in retrospect, but I had no idea that caused RLS at the time. The doctor was terrified when I started kicking (PLMS) while sedated and awakened me to find out if I had epilepsy. He even called me at home that night to check on me - I didn't have a name for it at the time - just my jumpy legs - and he didn't know, either.

The Foundation has a brochure for members of the surgical team. Give a copy to every person on the team: the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, and the recovery room nurse are the most important ones. It is titled "Surgery and RLS for the Patient". You need to be a member of the Foundation to download it. Go to http://willis-ekbom.org/members-only/member-pubs and scroll down to find it.

I did this for my knee operation - because I started having symptoms during a previous knee operation while under spinal anesthesia and it was dreadful. So I talked and talked and made sure everybody knew, and I tried to get my records sent but the wrong ones were sent - but the anesthesiologist believed me and everything went well.