Periodic Leg Movement and Sleep Apnea

During my sleep study it was revealed that along with sleep apnea I also had periodic leg movement/jerking hundreds of times a night, I also experienced two seizures due to low oxygen levels. Neurologist ruled out any possible Epilepsy and said CPAP should stop the nighttime seizures. My Dr gave me Ropinirole for the leg jerking, it's also used for Parkinsons disease which thank God I don't have. Since I loathe having to take one more medication I'm wondering if treating the apnea with CPAP might resolve the PLM. My sleep Dr is a man of few words and I always feel somewhat rushed when I have my appts so I didn't get a lot of info from him, just the prescription. Has anyone had PLM resolved by CPAP therapy ? I would be interested in hearing your experiences.

I have three (distant) relatives with PLM and they all take something for it. 2 of them use cpap. I'm guessing it is an additional thing on top of OSA.

My wife had a similar problem as yours .... and for her Cpap did stop the leg movement.

There is this Old Wives Tale that you can cure restless leg syndrome by putting a bar of soap under your sheets where your feet go. It sounds totally crazy, but it seems to work for some people. There is a theory that when you move your legs you will keep bumping into the soap with your feet, and that changes something and your nervous system stops making your legs twitch. It doesn't have to be soap, just something roughly that size and shape. It's basically free, totally safe, and worth a try...

There is a difference between the presence of periodic limb movements and meeting diagnostic criteria for Periodic Limb Movement Disorder. I've read of limb movements resolving with CPAP treatment, but if those movements met the diagnostic criteria for PLMD, I'm guessing the likelihood it not so good. I've read more often, and has been my experience, that CPAP has not helped PLMD. Only way to know is use CPAP and see what the legs do. Did your doctor test your ferritin level before putting you on the med? Did they look at your magnesium level, at the very least, and discuss non pharmaceutical things you could try just to see if it helps? Some do well on a small dose of a dopamine agonist, others find the side effects intolerable. You may have some sorting things out ahead of you. Good luck with it all.

I agree with kteague. Your sleep doctor should test your ferritin level.

My sleep study showed severe PLMD. I have mixed feelings about my sleep doctor, but she did do some extensive blood tests and told me to take iron supplements. I will see her again in March and at that time she'll determine whether or not I need to go on pramipexole.

I should have known that there was an issue. One of my beloved pugs is nine years old and has slept in my bed with no problems since he was a puppy. About a year ago he started being restless in the middle of the night and jumped out of my bed at around 2am, waking me up. I now know that I was kicking him in my sleep .

PLMD and restless legs are two different conditions - should not be confused.

1. My sister tried the bar of soap in the bed thing. I didn't work, but her bed smelled better.
2. During my sleep study the Sleep Technician informed me that leg jerks is a body reflex to lack of oxygen and to elicit a breathe response. That's one reason they place sensors on the legs.

cathyf wrote:There is this Old Wives Tale that you can cure restless leg syndrome by putting a bar of soap under your sheets where your feet go. It sounds totally crazy, but it seems to work for some people. There is a theory that when you move your legs you will keep bumping into the soap with your feet, and that changes something and your nervous system stops making your legs twitch. It doesn't have to be soap, just something roughly that size and shape. It's basically free, totally safe, and worth a try...

Specifically, Ivory Soap, presumably because it had (has?) a high concentration of Magnesium Sulfate, think Epsom salt. Magnesium deficiency has been linked to RLS/PLMD.
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=re ... +magnesium
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=iv ... tless+legs

kteague wrote:There is a difference between the presence of periodic limb movements and meeting diagnostic criteria for Periodic Limb Movement Disorder. I've read of limb movements resolving with CPAP treatment, but if those movements met the diagnostic criteria for PLMD, I'm guessing the likelihood it not so good. I've read more often, and has been my experience, that CPAP has not helped PLMD. Only way to know is use CPAP and see what the legs do. Did your doctor test your ferritin level before putting you on the med? Did they look at your magnesium level, at the very least, and discuss non pharmaceutical things you could try just to see if it helps? Some do well on a small dose of a dopamine agonist, others find the side effects intolerable. You may have some sorting things out ahead of you. Good luck with it all.

No blood tests were done before giving me the prescription and no non pharmaceutical things were discussed. I actually have RLS along with the PLM but the RLS seems to not bother me as long as I keep up a regular walking schedule. Before CPAP I used to twitch alot right before falling asleep and that seems to have stopped since I started therapy.

I think I may just hold off on taking the meds for a while and see how I sleep. I'm really afraid of the side effects of taking the Ropinirole. I'll also ask for those blood tests, thanks for the reply.

Sleep studies look at things like the timing or proximity of movements in relation to breathing events. Based on what they see, respiratory related movements generally can be identified as such. One can have PLMD independent of OSA. Non respiratory related movements are generally considered neurological in nature. This field of knowledge is still evolving and it seems about as much is mystery as is known. My OSA has long been therapeutically treated with no benefit to my limb movements. I envy those who get that result.
EDIT: FYI Some medications can cause PLMD.