Restless Legs

Janet · Post by **Janet** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 6:44 pm

I am new to this site. I have been using a CPAP for a year now and have experienced a return all my old symptoms of extreme fatigue, shortness of breath and muscle weakness the past two months. I was also diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension (PH) a year ago which I was told was secondary to the sleep apnea. When I had a follow-up echo cardiogram this past April there was no sign of the PH. Now I feel the PH is back. Last night I had another sleep study. My pressure was kept the same but a lot of restless leg problems were observed. Can anyone help me understand this and what treatments have been helpful to others? I was somewhat aware of the problem. I have a twitching occasionally when awake. It seemed much worse last night. I had a very difficult time falling asleep which is not usual for me. Does this have any relatiohship to the PH? I will get a report from the sleep study Doc in about a week.

Titrator · Post by **Titrator** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 9:29 am

Greetings Janet,

While working as a sleep tech, I witnessed as much Restless Leg Syndrome as I did Severe OSA.

Restless Leg Syndrome is a Neurologicle issue, that is treated with medication. I have heard of people using Neurontin and Klonopin.

The Cardiologist that was the medical director of our sleep lab told me that sometimes RSL can be caused by too much caffiene. We are the coffee generation, that's for sure.

When watching a patient on the control room monitor, RSL is very hard to see. You can see a twitch from the EMG reading on your computer monitor, and you can see EEG arousals, but you can't always see a patient's leg twitching, RLS can be very sublte.

Does anyone else have RLS?

Regards,

Titrator

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 11:05 am

I am still fairly new to the Apnea world -- still trying to find a reasonable (online?) DME provider that my insurance company will allow. I have also been diagnosed with RLS, but I don't think my doctor really knows what it is. I was put on Sinemet (about a year now) which is actually an anti-Parkinson's treatment. It is difficult to say if it is working, but when I don't take it, my RLS seems to be a little worse. I also suffer from chronic insomnia, so I can relate to the person who was having "difficulty in falling asleep". The problem is that I also take sleeping pills (Traizalom) which I have recently heard others here say is not a very good idea for people who also have OSA.

I have seen other people metnion RLS along with OSA in other postings. I wonder if there is any correlation between the two.

Titrator · Post by **Titrator** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 2:43 pm

Hi Folks,

Here is an article about Restless Leg Syndrome.

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/66/ ... 31713CA348}

loonlvr · Post by **loonlvr** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 3:18 pm

I have experienced this on and off for a long time. My brother has it pretty bad. I was prescribed sinemet also which he tried. It seems to work best. He also feels like it may be tied to trazadone which he took for a sleep aid.

Lana · Post by **Lana** » Sat Oct 30, 2004 7:25 pm

My RLS stopped when I started using cpap. I was also given RX for Parkinsons (not Sinemet) which I have dismissed imediatelly because I do not want to be on any meds. I wander if improvement in body oxigenation has helped me? Would be interesting to hear from Janet after she gets her results back if she was in need of higher pressure level.

rock and roll · Post by **rock and roll** » Mon Nov 01, 2004 7:40 pm

I had RLS bad and I was given Mirapex and it went away immediately. And stayed away. I wish me sleep apnea and imsomnia was as easy to cure

Sleepy-me · Post by **Sleepy-me** » Tue Nov 02, 2004 10:52 am

I've had restless legs since age 8, in my day they called it growing pains. OK, I'm 69 years young.
In my 20, started using a calcium (Fosfree) only one that works for me, and now have added pill called Leg Cramps with Quinine. As long as I take both daily my legs are fine. Night time is when my legs give me problems.

I'm a couple months on cpap, and still not doing very good with my nasal mask. Can't seem to keep my mouth from opening at night, that's when I wake up.

Jan

Snuffle-nose · Post by **Snuffle-nose** » Tue Nov 02, 2004 5:25 pm

Hi

I too have restless leg symdrome, it effect my sleep very badly....it was diagnoised at a sleep lab. It made me sleeply during the day cos my legs were jumping at night whist I was trying to sleep.

I got treated by my sleep dr. He put on some anti Parkinson's type of med to stop the legs from jumping and twitching at night, Madopar. I tried to stop the meds once but the twitching and jumping came back again to hinder my quality of sleep at night.

The Madopar works okay on my so far. It has stopped most the legs from twitching and jumping, it is a shocking feeling when your legs jump at night and wake you up during the night. It is this tight, jumpy sensation really feels bad. Very annoying when it happens at night as messes up my sleep.

smelville · Post by **smelville** » Fri Nov 05, 2004 8:06 pm

Hi to everyone!

I just got my results from my second sleep test and need to start CPAP.
In the last paragraph of my report they wrote the following: There were numerous episodes of Periodic Leg Movements of Sleep (PLMS), a disorder that can occur as a primary sleep disorder, but is also seen in individuals with other sleep disoders, especially narcolepsy and sleep apnea, and which also contributes to the overall sleep fragmentation. If the patient still experiences excessive daytime sleepiness after 4 weeks on CPAP, treatment for periodic Leg Movements of Sleep should be considered.

The tecnician did tell me that PLMS is sometimes caused by sleep apnea and sometimes is a sleep disorder by itself. I'm hoping that aafter I start the CPAP that the PLMS will go away.

This is my first posting but I have been reading and learning while waiting for my tests. The information is great and your posts have answered alot of my questions!

KEEP ON SLEEPINGzzzzzzzzz

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