Sleep Apnea and Restless Legs

[Marsengill]

I would like to relate to you who suffer with RLS and Apnea a recent experience. I make no definitive statements regarding "why" or "how". I leave that up to the self appointed experts who provide much of the comment here.

I've been bothered with Restless Legs much longer than I have been bothered with Sleep Apnea. What's new to me are problems with lower back pain caused by sciatica. Every night I tossed about with back pain, Legs jumping all over the bed and a very low tolerance for my CPAP. My orthopedic md ordered an epidural which I had July 5. It was very effective easing my back pain. Here is the news that I wanted to share. I have not had a single twitch from Restless Legs since the fifth of July. It's a pretty good guess that the easing of the RLS is somehow related to the epidural. The easing of RLS was imminent. There are some guesses that I could share but I will refrain from that. This is just for your information. Thanks for the opportunity.

[Sheriff Buford]

"self appointed" ???
Sheriff

[chunkyfrog]

Whatevs. Not surprised that the epi helped.
Some folks have had results with TENS, too--even though some in.the "medical community" poo-poo TENS usefulness.
Remember, the word "practice" is used to describe medicine for a reason.

[ChicagoGranny]

"self appointed" ???
Sheriff

Marsengill has appointed them as "self-appointed".

[SewTired]

Thanks for the post. Just like with many things, it helps some, but not others. I'm very glad it helped you. I had an epidural for 2 days as pain control after abdominal surgery. Restless legs actually worsened after that although I don't blame the epidural. So far, the only thing that has stopped my restless legs is the max dosage of Acetazolamide. Unfortunately, it causes some worse symptoms, including neuropathy which is unpleasant and only one of the many side effects.

I've reduced the dosage of that med in half and have only had one incident of restless legs, so I'm HOPING that it stays dampened down when I quit the med in September.

BTW, I read that there is supposedly a link between obesity and increased risk of restless legs. Has anybody lost weight and found that their restless legs improved? And yes, I know you can be thin and have it - I think it's multicausal.

[ChicagoGranny]

And yes, I know you can be thin and have it

Preemptive strike! (Good idea.)

[kteague]

There are some guesses that I could share but I will refrain from that....

I, for one, would be very interested in hearing your guesses - with the full understanding you are not making medical claims, just thinking out loud. I'm one who has been helped by use of TENS and like to consider the experiences of others when trying to coordinate my own thoughts on the subject.

[Marsengill]

Well, here's a "maybe". RLS is caused by something wacky with the nerves in the Legs. Sciatica is caused by irritation of the sciatic nerve (duh). Is it possible that My RLS is linked to that same irritation of the sciatic nerve? I know that the more my back hurt the worse my RLS became. Or.....an epidural is the injection of several healing drugs including steroids and whatever. Maybe there is no relationship between the two and the same medicine lnjected in my back secondarily treated the RLS. OR. Maybe I'm thinking this whole thing into the floor and should instead just be thankful for the blessings of the moment..

[Julie]

Are you not seeing an orthopod or neurologist for the sciatica? It's not a diagnosis in itself but stems from other things like spinal stenosis or piriformis syndrome, etc... and I imagine if you have RLS it would more than be involved, one aggravating the other. I think you need one doctor coordinating your investigations, diagnosis and treatment... not many with their own small mandate but not enough knowledge or understanding of the whole picture.

Now, something that came up long ago (few yrs) from some research... apparently some people with RLS were found to have Morton's neuromas (Google plse) which were found to be the cause, or at least catalyst of the RLS... but I haven't looked for more recent stuff on it, but I think you might want to look into that too (farfetched as the idea might seem).

[kteague]

I think it makes perfect sense that the injections in your back helped the RLS in your legs. The how and why is where I'm not clear. In all my readings it seems even the credentialed experts aren't sure if the issue is the legs, the brain, or somewhere in between. Kinda the same thing as with the TENS. Is it addressing the source of the problem or interrupting the signals between the lags and brain. If your back is causing the RLS though, maybe the injections actually "cured" the problem if it was inflammation at that point. My back injections didn't fix my jumpy legs. We're all so different.

[Sheffey]

RLS is caused by something wacky with the nerves in the Legs. Sciatica is caused by irritation of the sciatic nerve (duh).

That is an inaccurate description of the causes of RLS. RLS is caused by dysfunction in the central nervous system and/or dysfunction of neroutransmitters. It's not at all like sciatica.