Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

I'm glad I found this group. I have RLS, take Mirapex and use a cpap. I know we are told that RLS has nothing to do with Parkinsons, but I seems to share some of the problems like weakness in the legs, shuffling and falling. Even with 8 hours of sleep with a cpap, I am very tired from the need to move beginning late afternoon. I am wondering if anyone else deals with these leg symptoms?

You are correct that the symptoms of RLS and Parkinsons have a lot in common. Both appear to involve an insufficient production of dopamine in a specific portion of the brain. As I understand it, the difference is that in Parkinsons the dopamine producing cells start to die off while in RLS either the cells simply do not produce enough or there is some other issue that limits the amount of dopamine produced. And ferritin iron is important for us because it plays a role in the production of dopamine.

With that said and after reading your other post http://bb.rls.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9577, I suspect that you may need to be a bit more patient before expecting to recover from your severe sleep deprivation. It takes more than a week of getting a full night's sleep for your body to recover from all of the stresses that you experienced from long term sleep deprivation. I cannot say that I experienced issues with leg weakness before I started getting more sleep, but I am a runner so I probably would not have noticed.

Hi. I too use a cpap, and I used to take Mirapex. Couple things about your legs... Have you had any follow-up sleep studies since being on Mirapex while using cpap? It could be that your medication is not controlling your legs enough to give you the sleep you need. The sleep clinic ending up having me use my cpap as usual and monitored my sleep. It was the only way to know what was going on during my usual night's sleep. What is your dose of Mirapex? Another consideration is if you could possibly have augmentation (in general reduced effectiveness and worsening of symptoms) on the med. There's lots of threads on this forum on the topic. I developed augmentation and lots of others have too. Is there somebody who observes you while sleeping who could say how your legs are acting? I once videotaped mine - was quite surprised at how active my legs were. Good luck going forward and figuring things out.

I'd like to give an update on my situation in case it would help someone else. I have made a few adjustments since I last wrote.
1. I am faithful with my cpap and my sleep schedule.
2. I have stopped my 1/2 pill of Mirapex in the morning so I can feel more alert. My legs began to jump in late afternoon so I continued my other 1/2 Mirapex but not until 6 p.m. Then I take a whole Mirapex at 9 p.m. in preparation for bedtime.
3. I found that it is the trigger points in my legs that make them jump, not a "funny feeling" as so many describe so I did a lot of research on those pains. What worked for me is to alternate several of my favorite stretches. I found the suggestion about heat and I now wrap my heating pad around my calf when it begins to jump and tie it on with 2 large handkerchiefs. The moderate heat feels very good and removes the leg jumping.
4. I often stretch just by putting my toes on the coffee table and performing a quick stretch. And of course walking brings it altogether.
5. The last change I made was to increase my Zoloft by increasing by 50 mg and taking it in the morning. This way even if I am heavy-lided with sinus, my brain receives a little more awakening and my eyes are open.
I pray for all of you who have suffered more severely and longer than I have. I don't think I'll ever be as alert as I used to be, but life is now very good for me.

Thanks, Finally Retired! It sure pays to try different things, doesn't it? If you're persistent and patient, and maybe a bit lucky too, eventually you build up an arsenal of tricks to keep it at bay. I'm glad life feels good - it's irrelevant to compare ourselves to how we used to be pre-WED/RLS, and it's just plain wonderful when life feels good.

Yes, you are so right. And I forgot one more thing.
6. I alternate ibuprophen and Aleve each night.