Interesting medicine effect

[LeRoy]

My wife did not have an RLS episode for 12 years. (They just stopped on their own.) Then recently, suddenly they started - lasted 10 days - and then went away. And I know why.

She has been on Aricept and Namenda for 3 years. To try to track down some unexplained nausea, it was suggested she get off them for 10 days -- which she did. On the second day off the medications she had a mild RLS episode (first time in 12 years). For the next 8 days she had very intense episodes every evening (she says the worst RLS she's ever had). The day after restarting her medications, she had a mild episode. Since then (two months) not even a hint of an episode.

I'm certainly not suggesting anyone try these medications to reduce RLS. But perhaps some researcher might find this of interest.

[ViewsAskew]

Fascinating! This is great anecdotal evidence.

What are these drugs for?

[Chipmunk]

Aricept - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donepezil

Donepezil
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Donepezil, marketed under the trade name Aricept by its developer Eisai and partner Pfizer, is a centrally acting reversible acetylcholinesterase inhibitor.[1] Its main therapeutic use is in the palliative treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.[2] Common side effects include gastrointestinal upset. It has an oral bioavailability of 100% and easily crosses the blood-brain barrier. Because it has a half-life of about 70 hours, it can be taken once a day.

Namenda - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memantine

Memantine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Memantine is the first in a novel class of Alzheimer's disease medications acting on the glutamatergic system by blocking NMDA glutamate receptors. It was first synthesized by Eli Lilly and Company in 1968. Memantine is marketed under the brands Axura and Akatinol by Merz, Namenda by Forest, Ebixa and Abixa by Lundbeck and Memox by Unipharm. Despite years of research, there is little evidence of effect in mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.

Too bad she didn't stop one at a time so we know which one (or both) helps with her RLS/WED.

[ViewsAskew]

Interesting that they both are drugs that work on the brain and that at least one crosses the blood brain barrier.

[Chipmunk]

Yes, if I were going to guess which one made the difference, I would bet on the first one.

[badnights]

fyi some other things donepezil has been tried for (from wikipedia also):

<<<<<<<<<<<<<Donepezil has been tested in other cognitive disorders (and is sometimes used off label) including Lewy body dementia[8] and vascular dementia,[9] but it is not currently approved for these indications. Donepezil has also been found to improve sleep apnea in Alzheimer's patients.[10]

Donepezil has also been studied in patients with mild cognitive impairment, schizophrenia, attention deficit disorder, post-coronary bypass cognitive impairment, cognitive impairment associated with multiple sclerosis, CADASIL syndrome, and Down syndrome. A 3 year National Institutes of Health (NIH) trial in patients with mild cognitive impairment reported that donepezil was superior to placebo in delaying rate of progression to dementia during the initial 18 months of the study but this was not sustained at 36 months. In a secondary analysis, a subgroup of individuals with the apolipoprotein E4 genotype showed sustained benefits with donepezil throughout the study(Citation? Petersen 2005). However at this time donepezil is not indicated for prevention of dementia.

Recent studies suggest that donepezil can improve speech in children with autism. The studies found that speech of autistic children who were mild to moderately affected appeared to improve from the use of donepezil.>>>>>>>>>>>>>