RLS ?? knee pain d/t PLMD

February 16, 1999

Hello All,

I find the knee pain question interesting because I was one with

" growing pains " in the knees and also, before this hip pain started, it

was my knee on my primary RLS leg that was really giving me a hard

time.It wasn't until after going to P.T. for my knee and lower back,

that the hip started. I also would have really bad " knee " days when my

kicking was at it's worst. My husband often complained about me kicking

in my sleep and he couldn't understand it because it seemed like such a

deliberate act, ie; laying on my stomach with a leg hanging over the

side of the bed just kicking away, and/or kicking him over and over

again. That has disapated since the use of Neurontin, but every now and

then, he'll wake up tired because of my nocturnal movements-sometimes he

notices my movements other times he doesn't. We don't have the money to

buy seperate beds at this time, but we're going to have to.

I actually have been afraid to sleep in the bed because I wake up with

migraines/or they wake me up. I also have terrible stiffness and back

pain, not to mention something like " sleep paralysis " and other assorted

goodies. It seems as though I do better when I have less sleep vs

more.Plus, I always have in the back of my mind the possibility of

disrupting hubby's sleep.

Speaking of nighttime cramps, sometimes they're caused by an imbalance

of one's electrolytes. Sodium,magnisium,zinc,etc., these can be checked

via blood work by your MD. Also, Quinine has been known to greatly

relieve those types of cramps-of course check with your Dr.

Have a nice day le R.I.

February 17, 1999

Hi to Everyone,

I have been reading all of the discussion on RLS and knee pain.

Although I had mild RLS as a child (my father also had it), it more or

less went away (I'd have it once in a while) until about 10 yrs. ago

when it reappeared. It is now chronic, every night, during the day,

getting worse or at least it takes more Sinimet + Mirapex.

I developed arthritis in both knees in my thirties. I have had two

operations at this point but neither helped and one left me with

neurological damage in my right leg. The only thing that can touch

the arthritis pain is narcotic pain killers (Percodan, Vicodin) or

high levels of Prednisone (taken twice for bronchitis). I know that

these drugs can help some with my RLS. The narcotics probably are

just relaxing me. Perhaps the effect of Prednisone on the

inflammation, etc. helps my RLS. I just wonder if there is a

connection between RLS and arthritis. Also I wonder if the nerve

damage done to my right leg by the open-knee surgery could have caused

my RLS to return with such a vengance. The problem I have (from the

surgery) is that my right leg sometimes does not receive the message

from my brain to move so I'll be walking and then all of a sudden my

brain thinks my right leg is moving forward but my leg doesn't move or

it buckles. I fell quite a bit at first but you learn to react real

fast.

This never happened prior to the open-knee surgery. I have been told

by a neurologist that I have definite symptoms of neuropathy in my legs.

I'll tell you one thing when you have to move your legs due to RLS and

it hurts to move your legs due to rheumatoid arthritis ... well, it's

very depressing. In fact I am being treated for depression and anxiety.

Anyone out there with similar experiences or with any advice, perhaps

in terms of exercise, home treatments or remedies or just plain words

of encouragement.

Until I joined this group I had never spoken to anyone who had RLS

(other than my father) and no one (other than doctors) who had heard

of it. My attempts to explain it to people did not go over well.

Restlesss legs sounds so innocuous. My boyfriend (now-ex) never

really believed that there was anything to it and disapproved of my

taking Sinimet, etc. He would get so angry at me for fidgiting.

Also, have any of you experienced loss of effectiveness of Sinimet? I

get very little if anything from the Mirapex. I am scared to death

that the Sinimet will stop working and I won't know what to do.

Thanks for listening and being there,

Jane janegf@...>

---rachelle belcastro wrote:

>

> Hello All,

> I find the knee pain question interesting because I was one with

> " growing pains " in the knees and also, before this hip pain started,

it

> was my knee on my primary RLS leg that was really giving me a hard

> time.It wasn't until after going to P.T. for my knee and lower back,

> that the hip started. I also would have really bad " knee " days when

my

> kicking was at it's worst. My husband often complained about me

kicking

> in my sleep and he couldn't understand it because it seemed like

such a

> deliberate act, ie; laying on my stomach with a leg hanging over the

> side of the bed just kicking away, and/or kicking him over and over

> again. That has disapated since the use of Neurontin, but every now

and

> then, he'll wake up tired because of my nocturnal

movements-sometimes he

> notices my movements other times he doesn't. We don't have the money

to

> buy seperate beds at this time, but we're going to have to.

> I actually have been afraid to sleep in the bed because I wake up

with

> migraines/or they wake me up. I also have terrible stiffness and back

> pain, not to mention something like " sleep paralysis " and other

assorted

> goodies. It seems as though I do better when I have less sleep vs

> more.Plus, I always have in the back of my mind the possibility of

> disrupting hubby's sleep.

> Speaking of nighttime cramps, sometimes they're caused by an

imbalance

> of one's electrolytes. Sodium,magnisium,zinc,etc., these can be

checked

> via blood work by your MD. Also, Quinine has been known to greatly

> relieve those types of cramps-of course check with your Dr.

>

> Have a nice day le R.I.

>

------------------------------------------------------------------------

>

February 17, 1999