RLS and Adult ADD or ADHD? Anyone have both? Please help!

[tlhengel]

Hi everyone! I'm brand new to the board but it's pretty urgent I post this message first...I'll try to make it somewhat brief

I am going to a psychiatrist at the end of the month because I am almost completely sure I have ADD (obviously I'm no doctor but the signs and symptoms describe me to a T!). I have taken a long and distressing road to come to this conclusion.

Now, as far as RLS goes, I had developed it while I was pregnant (my son is now 6 months old) to a degree that it was extremely aggravating in the evenings but manageable and tolerable enough. I felt it only in my legs at that time and it went away shortly before I gave birth.

It has recently re-developed when my PCP mistakenly diagnosed me with depression and put me on the antidepressant Lexapro. Within one hour of taking my first pill I made the comment to my husband that I felt very strange. He asked me how so and I responded that my muscles felt all creepy crawly and I had the strong urge to flex them really hard. I felt it through my whole body, especially in the shoulders, back, hips and calves. I remember commenting that it reminded me vivedly of the RLS while I was pregnant. I wasn't sure what was happening, but by that evening I knew for sure that my RLS was back and it was 10 fold what I had experienced while pregnant. I was up until 3am pacing my livingroom until finally passing out on my couch from exhaustion.

Needless to say, I quit the medication immediatly...against the advice of my doctor (he probably has no idea how terrible that feeling truly is!) but the RLS is still there. The intensity has diminished considerably, but at times it's keeping me awake past midnight (I am usually in bed by 9pm because my dear son is up at 5am).

PHEW! That was a mouthful! Finally for my question! Does anyone on this site (I pray there is!) have ADD or ADHD along with the RLS? If so, do you know if the amphetamines typically prescribed for ADD/ADHD have any effect on the RLS whether it be good, bad, or neutral?

ANY INFO IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!

[ViewsAskew]

Welcome.

Not sure if any of our regular contributors have both, but over the years, some people have had.

They are looking at the possibility that in children, RLS can be mistaken for ADD/ADHD.

The drugs (edited to say specifically stimulants) used for ADD/ADHD do not conflict with RLS and in some cases actually help. Edited to add: this is from a recent conference I went to when this question came up. The doctor said stimulants often help RLS, but that they aren't pursued because most people are taking drugs to stop the RLS so they can sleep, not be awake.

So sorry about the Lexapro thing...it doesn't happen to everyone, but a percentage of people react badly to them (meaning getting or increasing RLS). And, some of them are like you - one time taking it and it's immediately much worse. That really sux.

Hopefully in time, they will continue to diminish.

[Aiken]

I know someone with adult ADD and intermittent RLS. They take Concerta and it has not noticeably increased the occurrence of RLS for them.

Everyone's potentially different. of course.

[tlhengel]

Thank you both for your responses, it's a relief to know I might actually be able to kill two birds with one stone! I was so worried the amphetamines may make the RLS worse, but I really need to do something about my ADD, it's SEVERELY affecting my daily functioning.

I seem to react badly to many medications. My PCP recently gave me a script for a muscle relaxer to help with the lingering RLS (I can't remember the name, I think it starts with a F or N?) and I ended up hallucinating from it Talk about SCARY! That was the last time for that! I sure hope I don't have any really bad side effects like that from the ADD meds!

Thanks again for the info everyone...please keep it coming! Any experiences welcome!

[ViewsAskew]

Muscle relaxers aren't known for helping RLS in any significant way. They might help someone here or there, but it's not one of the classes that is considered on the helpful list.

And, those muscle relaxers can kick heinie!

[mackjergens]

here is a link to an interesting article about rls and add/adhd

http://www.med.nyu.edu/psych/psychiatri ... tter_6.pdf

[cbpick]

The one thing I joke about is being ADD. Unfortunately its probably more true than I know. I have a brother who has severe adult ADD and takes the amephetamine scripts for it. It transformed his life. My middle son (now 20) has ADD enough that it affected his school work and study ability but he won't take meds, so he's just living life semi-unfocused (or hyperfixated on whatever is going on). Between peri-menapause which messes with attention anyways, lack of sleep due to rls and just the inability to stay on task at times, I can fully empathize.

One of the "treatments" I'm trying is plain old meditation. I'm not whacky, in fact, I'm a pastor's wife and a follower of Christ. Unfortunately the church overall has somewhat thrown the baby out with the bath when it comes to things that are "out of the box." But learning that I can settle my mind and get my focus to land somewhere has been beneficial and has helped at times with both the rls and the ADD.

Praying for you

[Neco]

I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was a kid.. The meds seemed to help for a while but I always had to increase the dose... I've been off them for well over 10 years since refusing to take them any longer but I've wondered if I might be able to benefit from them again.

Not sure if my doc will want to go down that road with me though.

[SquirmingSusan]

I've been asked by several people over the course of my lifetime if I am ADD. And it's likely that any psychiatrist would diagnose me with it. But I enjoy it, so why fix it.

There are some people who have posted here in this forum who take ADD meds to treat their RLS. Amphetamines are known to increase dopamine levels in the brain, and they usually help with, as well as the ADD, and the fatigue that accompanies RLS.

So yes, it's possible to successfully treat both conditions.