u/planit82

I ran out of blood pressure med, Lisinopril, last night and didn't know it until midnight, so I went to bed without it. And I had no restless legs - it was the best night in over ten years. I got the refill today and took the Lisinopril at 1:30 pm and took a nap at 3:30 pm, during which I had restless legs. This surprised me since I only have restless legs during the day when I eat something with a color additive, such as Red Velvet Cake or Cherry Limeade. First question - do any of you get restless legs from food additives?

Second question - Could Linsinopil trigger restless legs or was it the "iron Oxide-Red" the drug company used to coat the outside of the pill red that did it?

I have restless legs syndrome and the sleep clinic doc told me to get off Lexapro because that medicine can trigger restless legs. Over two months, I have decreased from 20 mg Lexapro to 10 mg Lexapro a day. Next step is to go to 5 mg a day.

Question 1 - have any of you ever had restless legs go away when you drop to 5 mg a day of Lexapro?

Question 2 - have any of you developed restless legs while on a daily dose of 5 mg Lexapro?

I'm working on one theory at a time as to why I have restless legs. It could be Lexapro, Levothyroxine, diet, scoliosis, chronic kidney disease 3a, inherited, sleep apnea, or something unknown.

I found out I have sleep apnea and the neurologist said 71% of people with restless legs and sleep apnea who start on a CPAP machine see an improvement in restless legs in three to six months!!!!!

I've been on a CPAP for one month and will stay on it.

I'm taking 0.125 mg of Mirapex now and see the neurologist next week. Last time I saw him, he suggested I start 2.5 mg Methadone, so I think he will offer it again next week. Will that dose overdrive the withdrawal symptoms of coming off Mirapex (meaning will I not have Mirapex withdrawal symptoms)?

If I'll still have awful Mirapex withdrawal after starting Methadone, what should I ask the doctor for to help with that? Last time we were on the subject, he said something that made me think he doesn't know how hard it is to get off Mirapex. You may ask why I'm trusting him then. I'll answer it takes six months to get in to see a neurologist and I've had an Impulse Control Disorder since April 2025 and Gabapentin made me depressed when I tried it. I'm desperate.. I've even gone caffeine-free which did wonders in taming anxiety. I recommend that to anyone.

Although my sleep apnea is only mild (my score was 6.3 per hour), doc prescribed a CPAP machine and I tried hard to use it even though it was claustrophobic. Then I woke up with a panic attack that lasted almost an hour. That did it for me. I returned the machine and left my doc a message that said I would agree to lose weight and sew a tennis ball in the back of my nightgown and do anything else she wanted except the CPAP. Am I being reasonable or a diva?

I'm especially interested in hearing from people with only MILD sleep apnea.

My biggest problem is restless leg syndrome, which is why I went to the sleep clinic to begin with. I have an appointment with a neurologist soon about that. The medicine I'm taking for that is Mirapex and it has given me an Impulse Control Disorder (in my case a shopping compulsion) and that med is very, very difficult to withdraw from.

Last night I tapered my Mir@pex from 0.125 mg to 0.0625 mg and lived to tell the tale. I was so afraid to try and finally did it. I did not sleep a wink but I don't care. Maybe I'll sleep tonight on this lower dose. I controlled the restless legs I got last night with NIDRA bands but being new to them I was uncomfortable with the feeling of a band on each leg. And by the time you turn on the lamp and push the buttons in the right sequence, you're pretty much awake. This should get better with time.

I tried to start Gabapentin last month but it made my depression worse so I stopped. I don't know what I'll take after the Mirapex is gone. The neurologist wants me on Meth#done.

Who thinks I can get by on the NIDRA bands alone?

I had an in-clinic sleep study last week and the lady hinted I have sleep apnea but said the Dr had to read the test. She did say I did not reach REM sleep. Hmm? No wonder I have brain fog between no REM sleep and my meds.

I have a goal of going through my meds and reducing as much as possible the ones that create brain fog. And I want to get off Lexapro and Klonopin, as the Sleep Doctor advised in our first session. The Mayo Clinic says "All antidepressants, with the exception of Bupropion, exacerbate RLS."

I will say I was lost in dealing with this disease until I left general practitioners and got in with the Carilion Clinic specialists in southwest Virginia. The problem was I had to wait over six months to get in and three months between appointments. If you're new to this, do your research and never take a dopamine agonist.

I'm working with a sleep clinic on my restless legs and the first thing they did was a sleep apnea test. I desperately need to get off 0.125 mg of Miropex. The sleep test found my oxygen dropped to 84 for an hour and a half one of the three nights but I didn't have sleep apnea. The Internet says go to the ER if your oxygen drops that low but I was taking a home test for three nights so I didn't know it had dropped. Could this be a clue that could lead to a solution for my restless legs?

Otherwise I'm on the verge of being prescribed Methadone or Buprenorphine AND using NIDRA bands AND/OR more iron infusions. Gaba and Probagslin are off the table. I have an Impulse Control Disorder from dopamine agonists and I hate them and can't believe how hard it was to get an appointment with a specialist and the follow-up appointments.

(If you've followed my story, the iron infusion only stopped the ICD for six weeks and the neurologist refused to give another infusion unless I try Methodone. And I was putting that off until I got the sleep apnea results. And now I've gotten this low oxygen result. Can you hear me screaming and crying for over a year?)

So what's with the low oxygen finding? Is it an important clue? I'll ask the doc when I see her in two weeks.

God bless us all and help us find answers. I wish you all well. Thanks for listening.