Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

I just went too my doctor yesterday and told him that i was still jerking and that i was fine till about 11:00am but then i would get really tired. So he gave me a pill called Provigil, keeps you awake. I am taking .5mg of klonopin at night for my legs and it calmed my legs down to a small twitch rather than a jerk according to my husband. Has anyone else had this problem where they were still tired during the day and the doctor gave them something to stay awake? Im ready to scream.

Hi Jan, Provigil is commonly given to RLSers. My doc wouldn't give it to me, so I'm not personally familiar with it, but others who have taken it like it a lot.

If you can find a sub for the Klonopin, that might help, too, and then you wouldn't need the Provigil. Klonopin has an exceptionally long 1/2 life and some people find it makes them too tired the next day. If you haven't been to rlshelp.org, please look at the doctor's list of drugs. If you need a benzo, there are others that might be better tolerated.

Ann

Yes I understand what your saying and I did go to the rlsorg site and there they say they don't recommend klonopin to a patient with rls and daytime sleepiness which I had prior to any drugs. So I am frustrated of it all. I also am taking ditropan for my bladder and I see on the rlsorg site there is a issue with it worsening rls. So it bothers me that the docs dont bother to even look at what else I am on and prescribe accoridly.

Heres what rlsorg says about klonopin.

The drug has a rapid onset of action (less than 30 min) but it has a very long half-life (30-40 hours) causing a duration of action of 8-12 hours or longer. Daytime sleepiness can be a problem in a large percentage of patients on Klonopin. We therefore do not recommend this drug for most patients with RLS. It is, however, very commonly prescribed for RLS due to its early association with the treatment of RLS. It may work well in patients who do have morning RLS and do not get drowsy or sleepy due to the long lasting nature of this drug (which may persist at high levels in the morning causing daytime sleepiness).

So you can see my frustration since Oct 2004 I went from no drugs to 6 now its starting to make me crazy.

Jan, I do understand how frustrating it is. Do you have any way to 'shop' for a new doctor? Will your doctors listen to the info if you bring it in - such as copying information from the many good sites we have? Finding someone who listens, someone that is willing to learn new stuff, meds tha work for us. . .these are all so difficult but important. It takes years for some of us to get it all right. In the meantime, that's one of the many reasons we hang out here!!! It helps deal with the frustration of it all.

Ann

Yeah I know I got to call my family doc and I am going to talk to him because right now with the other issues I have going on. All of these meds counter act with one another and I walk around like a zombie.

try adding 4 rum and cokes with your meds. If this does not work ... well i guess your screwed.

7 stitches 1962
broken collarbone 1979
diagnosed moron 1980
hemeroids 1982
yeast infection 1990
prolapsed anus 1999

LEAVE NOW

Well my family doc put me back on the mirapex but gave me .5mg. Well I spent all night tossing and turning and my legs hurt so bad I could hardly stand it. So I guess it's another phone call. This is driving me crazy.

Guest I love the rum and coke idea if I could joke down a rum

Penguinrocks do you mean leave the doc that prescribed the day pill with the klonopin? If you are refering to him I'm not going back to him. My family doctor couldn't belive he gave me something to keep me awake.

I guess now we got to find something that works and the way my luck goes we probably won't.

No J,
This person who was posting as "guest" was making me a tad angry over some of the comments "they" were making on this site. "Go to the doctor moron" listing their stitches and the year. RLS is not funny. It hurts it's painful and the majority of us HAVE been to the doctor and what have the doctors done for us? I'm sorry if I have offended anyone, but I have to defend myself on a daily basis and I thought coming to this site was different. I've been on WE Move and had to notify the administrator there when some one who is inconsiderate wrote: "mine was cured when I had sex with a child" Not necessary.
Again, my appologies and I wish you all the best of luck in your futures
Good bye
Penguin

Oh I see Penguin. You didn't offend me either. I'm glad there is someone out there to drive the bad ones out. Well two nights with horrible sleep. I'm going to go crazy if something doesn't straighten out soon.

Hi Jan,
I just wanted to ask .....if are you in pain? The answer being yes, that is a seperate issue for your doc to take care of.
I have the same problem, in that my RLS hurts. REally hurts, everyday. Now during an over the top attack, I walk like a hundred yr. old woman. It's horrible.
When you talk to the doc. this is my advice. Taking specific issues is easier on the doc. to help you with.
Mine are RLS
sleeping
Pain.
When you break down the issues and take the top three as things to address I think you'll find that they try hard to help. Too much general information gives them no direction.
You may need pain medication. Mirapex was what I took for almost three yrs. and it didn't cover me for pain. So we would up the dose and try it again.......for 6 months, 3 if I got lucky. I learned that I had to give medications a chance and unless I really had a bad reaction, I took them. Now, a bad reaction get a phone call right away. If time is been given and something doesn't work I call as well.........I am still having *______issue* Could we try something else.
When you learn about the medications, it's easier to call and say hey can I try this.
Again if pain is your issue and they ignore it, make it a point to address it with the doc.. If they start to ignore it again, tell them we need to address the pain. You should at least get an answer as to why it's being passed over or why it's not an issue for them. It's not always easy when your there in the office, but it's worth it to you.
Hugs to all.

Thanks becat. And yes pain is a issue but the lack of sleep right now is even more of a issue. Through the years of this if I didn't get enough sleep then I would hurt more. Well I have had three nights of very restless sleep and my doc wants me to give it some time for the pill to work, but I think its just going to get worse. I'm about ready to quit taking it all together as I was better off prior to all the drugs.