Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

I have had restelss leg syndrome all my life though I have not had much problem with it in recent years. Two weeks ago, I had gall bladder surgery. Since then I have had several bouts of restless leg which have been more severe than any I have experienced before. Has anyone else ever seen this correlation? Any ideas what causes it? Suggestions on how to remedy it?

Thanks.

One very sleepy English professor.

There is another discusson about primary and secondary reasons for RLS. It's funny, I was just writing about a severe fall I had, being on hormones and how it flared up at that time. However, what I forgot was I also had my gallbladder removed around that time too! Who knows which one or a combination of all caused the RLS? Interesting that you pose that question.

Laurie

Surgery often makes it worse. As Corrie wrote, trauma to the body can make it worse. Kris has written how much worse hers was after her foot problems and Becat's got much worse also after an injury.

These could all still be primary, though. Primary just means that it is ideopathic - no known cause - and from research so far, is likely to occur because of a problem in the brain's ability to uptake iron in the substantia nigra. This leads to other problems, resulting in RLS. It usually starts before the age of 45, runs in families, and may progress over time.

Secondary is RLS that occurs because of another condition. They are not sure why most of these conditions cause it, but if the condition goes away, so does the RLS. Pregnancy, renal failure, back trauma or surgery, Parkinson's, fibro, Lupus, etc.

Ann

oh my gosh you mean my rls will probably get worse after i have my hysterectemy in oct. oh am i surely not looking forward to that.

New to this and just found your post, it's funny because my latest round of what I think might be RLS started just after having a gall bladder attack, it went away and I have not slept since because of RLS. I was also hospitalized for a few weeks with a gall bladder attack, and it happened again then as well. wierd, I never connected it to that before as I only get RLS on and off.

I wanted to pass on this info. to those who suffer greatly with rls. I have had 2 surgerys and with the first one I did not take my rls medicine and boy did I suffer. I had a real problem when I was coming out of it. My legs were so bad I could hardly take it. The second time I had surgery I doubled up on my medicine before I had the surgery. I did not have any problem with my rls. I know they tell you not to take any medicine but this is one medicine you do need to take. I hope this information helps someone out.

Hey Glad to see you made it to the board.
Surgery and RLS can be a nightmare.
I found that talking to the doctor is helpful and important, but the person who is doing the anesthesia is the one to really talk to.
Glad you brought it up, so many people never know to talk about it and the meds they give you can make RLS worse.
Welcome.
Lynne

Hi Mcarlin and welcome to this board. So glad to see you are posting. Thanks for sharing this info with us.

Have a good day and will be talking to you.