Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

I know that there are many studies indicating Seroquel can be the CAUSE of RLS. Has anyone found success with treating their RLS w/ Seroquel though? I found a couple studies showing it can possibly help and wanted to get the communities input.

Currently I'm taking 900mg Gabapentin 3x/day with Carbidop/L-Dopa (25/100) 1-2 pills at night and my RLS is keeping me up on most nights still. I augmented on Mirapex and havent tried going back because it only took a year before augmentation ensued. I'm obviously trying to look for a long term fix (as anyone else on this site) and would appreciate your thoughts on the Seroquel and/or any suggestions otherwise.

I do not have any personal experience with Seroquel, but I would be very skeptical of anything that says that it is beneficial when treating RLS. Remember that you can find documentation to say just about anything, including in the medical literature. We frequently say that "everyone is different", so given the right person with mild RLS and who has a psychiatric condition that requires Seroquel, I guess that it is possible that they might benefit, especially if the Seroquel provided psychiatric relief that allowed the person to get more sleep and that the improved rest then reduced their RLS symptoms. But if Seroquel provided any sort of RLS treatment other than something like that, I am sure that we would see many more publications about its use. Since Restlessness is sometimes listed as a side effect of Seroquel, I would personally be highly skeptical of anything that says that it helps.

Gavin84 wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 24, 2022 9:50 pm

I know that there are many studies indicating Seroquel can be the CAUSE of RLS. Has anyone found success with treating their RLS w/ Seroquel though? I found a couple studies showing it can possibly help and wanted to get the communities input.

Currently I'm taking 900mg Gabapentin 3x/day with Carbidop/L-Dopa (25/100) 1-2 pills at night and my RLS is keeping me up on most nights still. I augmented on Mirapex and havent tried going back because it only took a year before augmentation ensued. I'm obviously trying to look for a long term fix (as anyone else on this site) and would appreciate your thoughts on the Seroquel and/or any suggestions otherwise.

Sorry I'm late seeing your post Gavin84.

You may be augmented on the levocarbidopa. Did you have a sufficiently long wash-out period with no medications, or at least with no dopamine-type meds, after you augmented on Mirapex? It was sufficient if your symptoms reduced dramatically compared to their augmented state, especially if they reduced to pre-Mirapex levels. But if you jumped right in to the levocarb, you probably remained augmented. How long have you been taking 1-2 pills of 25/100 every night? I take levo-carb but never more than 3x per week and never more than two days in a day, because it causes augmentation even faster than Mirapex and Requip. Even if you haven't augmented on it, you may want to stop taking it every day, to ensure you never do augment on it.

Sounds like you need something more effective, though. Steve has spoken about Seroquel already; I will add that (from what I've read) it is far more likely to increase your WED/RLS symptoms than to decrease them. The realistic options I know of are to try another anti-convulsant (Horizant might be more effective than gabapentin, which is absorbed erratically; or Lyrica/pregabalin might work better... won't know unless you try), or add a moderately potent opioid to the gabapentin you already take.

Gavin84 wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 24, 2022 9:50 pm

I found a couple studies showing it can possibly help and wanted to get the communities input.

Could you please link to those?

In general: with the way Seroquel and all the other antipsychotics work it is very unlikely that any of them help with RLS. I can see how low doses of Seroquel or similar drugs are tolerated in milder cases of RLS and maybe there are singular cases where paradox reactions can improve symptoms but I would be skeptical. I've taken Seroquel for years and every time I did it caused RLS symptoms and only when they stopped I was finally able to fall asleep.