Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

Hi, I am a new member here.
It's been over a month now where I have good sleep for the first 3 hours then wake up suddenly with a racing heartbeat.
After waking up, I just can't go back to sleep so I spend the rest of the night laying on the bed.

Is this a common symptom of a PLMD?
This forum has a lot of great information of RLS, but seems to lack that of PLMD. I don't have RLS.

If so, is there any medications you recommend that has worked well for PLMD?

Looking for your valued inputs, thanks in advance!

For some reason, there is very little research that has been done into PLMD, which is strange since it is more easily studied using sleep studies.

Recently, there have been suggestions by some RLS/PLMD researchers who are looking at genetics that suggest that PLMD is a genetic subset of RLS. That may be why the treatments used for RLS are also frequently used to treat PLMD. What you might want to do is talk to your medical provider about doing blood work to measure your iron levels and consider trying gabapentin as a treatment for your PLMD.

Thanks Steve. Just met a neurologist today, but he prescribed me a pramipexole. I am worried about taking pramipexole after reading many posts in this forum about augmentations.
I asked the doctor if we could try pregabalin but he dismissed me saying it is not suitable for treating PLMD, which is quite frustrating for me.
Any idea under what circumstances gabapentin should be used opposed to pregabalin?
I read in many of the posts that pregabalin is the go-to choice.

The reason why pregabalin is often preferred is because dosing of gabapentin is inconsistent. It is not adsorbed consistently by the short length of the intestinal tract that picks it up, so sometimes it works and other times it doesn't. Pregabalin and Horizant do not have this issue, so some doctors prefer it. But the advantage of gabapentin is that it is very cheap because it is a very old drug that has been a generic for many years. Gabapentin is also used to treat many neurological conditions, so it is also almost always available.

You might want to talk to your primary Doctor about your racing heart rate

Hi, when you wake up, how long does your racing heart last? Is it a few minutes or hours? I had this happen to me and I don't think it is due to RLS or PLMD. You will need to see a cardiologist and they will probably have you wear a heart monitor for a week to see what your heart is doing during that time. If your symptoms don't occur during that week, they may have you wear it longer or put in one that can be monitored for a few years. I had to have one implanted, a Reveal, as they couldn't catch it until I went on vacation, but if you are having these every night then I am sure wearing a monitor for a week they will be able to see what is going on. The new monitors are easy to wear too, I just had to wear one for another issue due to a slow resting heart rate. I was put on pregabalin and it was slowing my heart to 40-44 beats per minute and I was falling asleep during the day, mid-afternoon, mid-evening, and at night. I couldn't keep awake, couldn't drive, I am not sure why it affected me the way it did but I would just fall asleep all the time.
Please see a cardiologist! Good luck. Lissa

Hi Wesleepbetter. I used to wake up with a racing heart. I am a physician and was thinking of all sorts of cardiac problems it might be but ultimately it turned out to be obstructive sleep apnea. I didn't snore or wake up with a gasp, I woke up with my heart pounding and racing, like someone had just pushed me in front of a bus and then pulled me back---like a near-death experience. Which I guess it was as far as my heart and brain were concerned. For me the racing, pounding heart calmed after a few moments and then returned every time I fell asleep. Don't know if your symptoms are anything like this, but just saying--it might be a respiratory problem, not a cardiac problem. Does it only happen when sleeping on your back? Try sleeping on your side. And if you are lucky, you might even be able to get a sleep study.

Paul

I would also suggest checking for sleep apnea. I woke with racing heart but also gasping. It was quite frightening. I was found to have sleep apnea and now use a cpap machine. Great success.