Medications Can Cause Restless Legs Syndrome
by Denise Lynn Mann
Most days your medications keep your symptoms at bay so you can go, go, go. But what if you sit down in the evening to relax, and your legs don’t want to stop going? The overwhelming desire to move your legs or the sudden involuntary movement and pain that starts or worsens when you are resting could be caused by restless legs syndrome (RLS), which affects up to 10 percent of people in the United States. Research from Germany suggests the same pain medications that help relieve joint pain and stiffness may increase the risk of RLS, which can range from mildly annoying to debilitating.
“The range of severity is tremendous,” says Robert A. Hauser, MD, director of the Parkinson’s Disease Movement Disorders Center at the
Exactly what causes RLS is not known. One theory is that a shortage of dopamine in the brain – although less severe than the shortage in people with Parkinson’s disease – can trigger sudden movement. The recent German study reports that 75 percent of people with RLS had a history of taking analgesics on a daily or ongoing basis to treat pain. “It is reasonable to raise the question, but the link needs to be evaluated in future studies,” says Dr. Hauser. “Perhaps people with RLS take analgesics more frequently because they mentioned leg pain to their doctor.”
The good news is that you do not – and should not – have to stop your prescribed pain medication. Treatment is available for RLS, says Dr. Hauser. “The main treatments for bothersome RLS are dopamine agonists such as ropinrole (Requip) and several medications used for Parkinson’s disease that activate dopamine neurons,” he says. For mild cases, taking warm baths at night before sitting down to relax and avoiding caffeine throughout the day can help, he says.
