Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

Saw my neurologist yesterday; we were tweaking what I'm doing.
He suggested the above drug (it rings a distant bell)....said it was a low dose, would take a couple of weeks to work. But I stayed up until 3 a.m. I was also upset about something, so I don't know the cause. But I'd rather not stay up all night again if the drug is to blame. Do you know about it??

That's a tricyclic anti-depressant, a drug of a class that commonly worsens WED symptoms. What was he prescribing it for? Not WED, ,I hope. And if you need an AD, there are better ones for WED than that -

Thanks so much. I won't take it again. Also, I'll let him know.....he does have other WED patients, but none as old or bad as I am. I try to keep him up on stuff -- and he knows that I consider this discussion board the ultimate authority!!!

Why did he want you to take it?

I'd say that the people here have 80/20 experiences - 80% negative, 20% positive. It definitely HAS worked for some people. If you didn't have actual WED symptoms, it may work for you.

As Beth said, if it's as an AD, I'd suggest trying others first. But, without knowing why he wanted you to try it, it's hard to say if it's worth continuing.

It was for WED. He keeps looking around for remedies, but like everyone else, doesn't know where to look. I have high hopes for the wonderful team at Johns Hopkins.

There's no one, to my knowledge, who takes this for WED successfully. They do take it to help them sleep and it may not bother WED, but it doesn't help, unfortunately.

This really sucks at times, doesn't it?????

what else are you taking now, doety?

Nortriptyline is mentioned in dr B's book as POSSIBLY RLS friendly; not a remedy for RLS.

Corrie

Nortriptyline is the active metabolite of Amitriptyline, an other tricyclic AD. They say Nortriptyline is a 2nd generation tricyclic and it should come with less side effects then the 1st generation of tricyclic ADs. Amitriptyline is well known to cause RLS/WED symptoms, even in people who do not have RLS/WED at all. I don't know about Nortriptyline but because of the effects Amitriptyline can have on RLS/WED I wouldn't be surprised if Nortriptyline is going to trigger RLS/WED symptoms.

In general I would stay away from tricyclic ADs if you have WED and go with the newer AD (Venlafaxine, Bupropione, Duloxetine) and if these don't work consider a SSRi who sometimes worsen WED.