Restless leg syndrome with antipsychotics

I've had restless leg syndrome for several years. Tingling, a feeling like ants crawling on my legs, and an incessant need to move my legs while sitting or laying down are some of the symptoms. The tingling and formication comes and goes. I can't stand still because it hurts my feet, so I pace when waiting. It's one more reason I have trouble sleeping.
I read today that it can be caused by antipsychotics. I take small doses of Seroquel and Risperdal for bp 2. Until April I took 400 mg of Seroquel a day, now I'm down to 100 mg of Seroquel with 1.0 mg Risperdal. It's not listed as a side effect of either drug.
Does anyone else have this problem?

I've never had restless leg syndrome, but have had akathisia from certain (not all) antipsychotics. Do you know you have restless legs syndrome, and not akathisia? Or do you have both?

Forgive me if you know the difference well, but for anyone that doesn't:

"Akathisia and restless legs syndrome (RLS) share some common clinical features and a common relationship with dopamine dysfunction. However, the underlying causes and appropriate treatments for akathisia and RLS are different. " from Asenapine-Induced Restless Legs Syndrome: Differentiation from Akathisia

Have you tried taking magnesium supplements? I take calcium with it too (because of osteopenia) but the doctor suggested the calcium absorption would be helped by taking it with magnesium. I have heard many other people just taking the magnesium alone for it (anemia can cause restless leg syndrome too), though calcium is supposed to promote sleep. Once I got on it, I realized it stopped my restless leg syndrome. It's worked so well, I even forgot I had restless leg syndrome until I had emergency surgery in 2018, spent a week in the hospital, probably another week, week and a half a home not taking it (on several antibiotics, stomach meds, pain meds), and suddenly the restless leg syndrome was back. Got myself back on the calcium/magnesium, and the restless legs stopped maybe the next night or so.

Though be careful with how much magnesium you take. Different people react differently to the doses. It will act as a laxative if you take too much, so I'd probably start with the 250 mg. I take 400 mg, but if H takes that much, he is in the bathroom all morning, and he is around 100 lb. more than I am.

For me, I had the RLS both on and off meds, but I only developed the problem after being on meds though I can't remember what meds I had been on before. I know I was on Risperdal, not sure about Seroquel. I got RLS before I was pregnant with my daughter, and that was over 12 yr. ago.

I've noticed some RLS myself, especially while sitting watching a movie or having dinner. at night in bed it gets worse. I don't get tingling though. have you thought of getting looked at for neuropathy? my mother has that and she complains about the same issues and she has RLS just as bad. they prescribed her gabapentin.

I was on a low dose of zyprexa and had some hypomania and she increased it to 15 mg and the restless legs came back.
sigh
she discontinued it altogether.
bizi

Everyone is making great points!

Thank you BirdDancer for the distinguishing info. Although I realize there is a difference btw the 2 conditions, I'd be hard pressed to actually define them.

I agree with Blueberrybook, in a general sense, about people reporting achieving relief from RLS by taking magnesium.

Akathisia is a different beast. It can feel like torture, depending on the severity. I have experienced this before with Zyprexa. It was severe. It did not stop when we'd stopped the drug. It was very scary that it had continued for approx 2 months.

Yet another issue I have experienced is a kind of "kindling" of peripheral neuropathy. I am prone to neuropathy and this might be why I have had this experience. Some psych meds kick-off another bout of active/acute neuropathy for me. Those symptoms for me are: burning, tingling, prickling mostly. There is eventual "numbness," yet this is when the nerve damage has already been done.

A very interesting and an educational topic! Thanks to all contributing!

Some of my past akathisia was like torture, too. At its worst, I didn't even want to stand, let alone walk or pace. I wouldn't even say that my legs were such an issue, at my worst with akathisia. I was often in bed rocking back and forth from my hip area. Sometimes it got so bad that I even screamed out, a bit. At its worst, the beastly condition was most affecting my brain in that I was so tortured, mentally, from it. I don't even recall my legs, themselves, experiencing any odd feelings. If they did, it was far secondary to my mental torture. During a lot of that time, I was clearly stable, mentally, and yet the anguish was similar in a slight way to a severe mixed episode. But again, I wasn't depressed or manic then. The difference was clear.

I had to go off the medications that caused my akathisia. Cogentin (benzotropine) was helpful, but I couldn't take it because of severe constipation. If you can't "go" at all, you have a different major problem, too. My beta blocker didn't help. If it did, it sure as heck didn't help much. I was taking Ativan on top of Klonopin, per my psychiatrist's direction. However, though it helped while it was strongly in my system, its helpfulness would wear off and I had to keep taking more. I remember my akathisia at its worst in the morning, especially 9 am was always the start of the worst. It took about 1 hour before my Ativan would bring relief. That cycle repeated itself daily.

I have never in my life been so miserable, when stable, as I was when I had akathisia. Perhaps my most painful type side effect yet. I have a fear that someday it will return. When it eventually faded away after going off the main culprit (a particular antipsychotic), it was so liberating. But during the process I also dealt with antipsychotic withdrawal syndrome and then benzo withdrawal. The weaning off was slow because as I went off, my moods destabilized. I thank goodness for Seroquel XR for helping me through the process. I've been akathisia free for about 2 1/2 years.

Thanks for your answers everyone. I'm going to ask my doctor about akathisia.

I was given low dose seriquel for sleep and developed leg cramps from it. It would start within 30 minutes of taking the seriquel so it was definitely related. I stopped the seriquel and never again had the problem. Been on other APs and never had that problem, just seriquel.

hi. seroquel gave me nightmares and i woke up with sore muscles. maybe something similar? I was on...100mgs, I think.

combining antipsychotics can lead to an increase in side effects without any additional improvement. and yet...now and then, it works well, for some people. i try to avoid it, personally.

I had extremely bad restless legs and akathisia on seroquel when I started it. I've experienced RLS before but this was like pure torture. It eventually went away though over time and I don't experience it anymore, I still take the seroquel

Yes, Nammu ~ Same here. I had to lower my dose of Seroquel significantly. Some nights I just have to get up and rock in my recliner to get the blood flow to my legs, due to either cramping or restless legs. And yes, I noticed the effects within 30 minutes as well.

One other thing I would do is, in bed, I would turn over on my side and tuck my legs up under me as tight as I could comfortably and that seemed to let me go back to sleep. For some reason that worked for me.

Birdie

Saphris did it to me. Up literally all night with the worst RLS of my life (have had it on and off since childhood). Couldn't walk it off at all because the med had me walking funky (walking into walls, anyone?!). Only took one dose -- no sleep and that kind of torture just wasn't worth it.