if you go to
www.rlshelp.org and click on RLS treatments and then scroll down to "Other RLS/plmd Treatments" Then scroll down to number 7 "Pregnancy and RLS. you will find this info..
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copied/pasted from
www.rlshelp.org
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7) Pregnancy and RLS
Pregnancy can cause a worsening of RLS (in at least 50% of patients who have RLS and become pregnant) or be the first time that a patient experiences RLS symptoms. It usually occurs in the third trimester and has been reported in up to 12% of all pregnancies. 10% of women will have their first experience with RLS during pregnancy. The RLS symptoms will usually go away after the pregnancy, then often come back later in life. Various problems such as iron or folate deficiency have been postulated as causes, but the real reason why RLS worsens with pregnancy is unknown.
If the symptoms are severe enough to warrant drug therapy, then the sedative category of medication has been used for treatment (with the approval of the patient's obstetrician). Many RLS specialists will prescribe the opioid category of medication during pregnancy, due to their safety in pregnancy.
The risk of RLS medication in pregnancy is as follows (Category A,B,C,D,X, where A is the best and X is the worst and should never be taken during pregnancy; Category A drugs are quite safe and have a proven track record in pregnancy, Category B drugs have limited data and experience and should be used only if clearly needed, Category C drugs generally have no adequate or well controlled studies in pregnant women and should be used only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus):
Pregnancy Risk Category
Drug Name
A
None
B
Pergolide (but limited data), Ambien, Percodan (short term use), Dostinex, Ambien, methadone (low dose), Percocet, Percodan, OxyContin
C
Mirapex, Requip, Sinemet, Ultram, Darvon (short term use), codeine (short term use), Vicodin or Lortab (for short term use), Sonata, Lunesta, Tegretol, Neurontin, Catapress
D
Xanax, Klonopin (and most benzodiazepine sedatives),
Darvon, codeine, Vicodin, Percodan, all for long term use, methadone (higher doses)
X
Restoril
Pregnant women should be checked for anemia and proper iron supplementation as indicated. Magnesium (used for treatment of toxemia of pregnancy) has recently been looked at for treating RLS, but this is only in the preliminary stages.
Nursing mothers can be treated with Darvocet (Darvon). Small levels of this drug will get into the breast milk, but no adverse effects have been noted in the infants getting the breast milk. Sedatives do get into the breast milk and can cause lethargy in the infants, so this class of medication should be avoided in nursing mothers. Dopamine agents may decrease lactation (milk production).
For more information on the risks of drugs in pregnancy or with breast feeding check out Motherisk Program or the Organization of Teratology.
(8) Quinine
This drug rarely (less than 5%) helps RLS and is only included on this page to help avoid RLS sufferers from receiving this drug for their disorder. It is probably one of the most common drugs prescribed by doctors unfamiliar with RLS when they hear the RLS complaints of their patients. This inappropriate treatment occurs because the RLS symptoms are confused with leg cramps for which quinine is the correct treatment.
We have received several reports from RLS sufferers that quinine has helped them, but we cannot be sure whether they have RLS and leg cramps, or in fact only leg cramps. I have treated several patients who definitely had RLS and found that quinine helped (sometimes very significantly) their RLS, but this is still a very small minority of RLS sufferers. As with many of the treatments above, some remedies seem to help only a few RLS patients and therefore cannot be recommended to the majority.
(9) Other RLS Information and Associations
Summer RLS
Many patients have found that there is a seasonal variation in their RLS. They do fairly well for most of the year, then start to have worsening of their RLS symptoms in the late spring or early summer. This generally will occur with a change in the weather to hotter and more humid. There is of course, no understanding of why this phenomenon occurs.
The treatment of this increased RLS in the summer is to increased the dose of current medication. If that does not suffice, then addition of other classes of medications may be necessary until the fall months.
Menstrual Cycle RLS
There is a subset of female RLS sufferers who find that their RLS symptoms wax and wane with their menstrual cycles. Generally the RLS will worsen before menstrual flow and abate several days after. This seems to follow the pattern of PMS. This association is not understood at all and brings up the question if RLS is associated or related to PMS or other hormonal conditions (such as RLS in pregnancy).
We have also seen changes during the onset of menopause and after menopause. This can vary quite a bit amongst female patients with RLS. Some RLS sufferers will have their RLS complaints get better with menopause, and some have even noted worsening if placed on estrogen
hope this is helpful to you, there is alot of great rls info on this the listed web site.