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No - I do not get burning feet symptoms. That does not ring a bell with me at all. People with RLS have awful feelings in their legs like bugs crawling under the skin - twitching of legs when trying to relax - pains in muscles of legs - the absolute necessity of having to move or walk in order to get relief. It is impossible to rest or sleep when these sensations occur. RLS probably is genetic as most of the sufferers I am in contact with have several close relatives with it. It often starts in childhood and called "growing Pains" or "the heebie-jeebies." RLS is hard to treat and at present everything goes. Some patients are tried on Sinemet and this helps a lot - for awhile - but Sinemet has a rebound reaction and soon RLS symptoms occur in the morning and often every time Sinemet drug level starts to go down. Some sleep specialist/neurologists are trying Permax (pergolide) alone on patients with just RLS. So far that seems o.k., but patients with PD/RLS need Sinemet (levadopa/carbidopa) and the addition of Permax might allow a lower dose of Sinemet which might ease the tendency to rebound. Most people with RLS do not have Parkinson's Disease. There is a guess that ll million people in the USA suffer from various degrees of RLS. We think there are l million PD sufferers. I know of only four people with PD and RLS together. All kinds of drugs are being tried for relief. Antiepileptic drugs. Muscle relaxants. Tranquilizers. Antidepressants. Opiates (especially codeine). Other nostrums have been tried with little if any relief (accupuncture - quinine - massage - cold water baths - hot tubs - lots of exercise - no exercise - diets - vitamins - herbs) It is a very frustrating disease and difficult if not impossible to treat. We try everything for relief. Methadone is suggested by one. Another swears by marijuana. I have heard that suicide is high in RLS sufferers. One man wondered what would happen if he was in a body cast and couldn't move around when RLS struck (usually in the evening). Another patients jokingly (I think) said he would like to get his legs cut off. RLS is a big cause of insomnia. My feelings are that countless alcoholics and street people suffer from severe RLS and could not sleep, hold a job or enjoy a movie or take a plane trip. Being drunk all the time is the only way they can stand the *pain* of RLS. Those of us who are looking for long term relief are trying combinations of treatments. Since I have PD as well my PD/RLS routine is more or less as follows: Sinemet CR 25/100 at 6 a.m. - l0 a.m. - 2 p.m. - 6 p.m. - l0 p.m. Sinemet 1/2 regular once during the night when I wake up. Permax 0.05 mg at 6 p.m. - l0 p.m. - and usually at 3 a.m. BusPar 5 mg three times a day. Oxycodone 5 mg usually at bedtime. I have tried each drug alone with the Sinemet. The results were not good. Sinemet worked well alone at a total of 800-900 mg a day for about a week and then rebound set in and all hell broke loose and the twitching horrors started. Lowering the Sinemet dose didn't take care of RLS. The best result is a drug combo. I don't drink alcohol and I'd like to try marijuana (in a brownie as I don't smoke either - but I could learn pretty fast if it worked). Again, I don't believe your dad has RLS. I do think he should be tested for diabetes however. Good luck with your big task. PD is no fun even by itself. Barbara Yacos, RN <[log in to unmask]>