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Anyone here use cpap mainly for rls?
#1
Anyone here use cpap mainly for rls?
Has it helped?

I have rls and mild sleep apnea (ahi 6 on my side, and 9 on my back). My doc said it's my rls that's interfering with my sleep. We started with meds but that hasn't helped much. Now she has me on cpap. It's only been 4 days so far and I haven't noticed a big difference. I'm hoping with more time it'll help.

The machine says i've been avging an ahi of 2.1 which apparently is good. However it feels like I'm always slightly awake. Is it possible that I'm just not falling completely asleep because I am conscious of having the mask on?

I'm not sure what else is next if cpap doesn't work. It feels like I barely get any sleep at night. I still wake up 2-3+ times a night. Sometimes I'll even fall asleep again during the day after taking modafinil or drinking coffee.
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#2
RE: Anyone here use cpap mainly for rls?
CPAP can help with Periodic Leg Movement Disorder/Syndrome but I've not heard it helping with Restless Leg Syndrome. RLS has nothing to do with sleep apnea while PLMD can if the movement happens at the same time as an apnea event.

My PLMD dropped significantly when I started using CPAP. I do still twitch at times but not as often and certainly not as violently.

I have not noticed any change at all in my RLS and would never expect to. I am not on medication for it although I do up my potassium intake whenever it gets really bad.
PaulaO

Take a deep breath and count to zen.




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#3
RE: Anyone here use cpap mainly for rls?
My sleep medicine doctor diagnosed my wife with RLS and told her that CPAP would be useless for it.

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#4
RE: Anyone here use cpap mainly for rls?
I have periodic leg movement disorder (the subset/cousin of RLS). This hasn't improved on CPAP, nor has my fatigue, so I have just been started on Sifrol to see if that helps my sleep quality.

If the CPAP doesn't help, all is not lost. Fatigue can be caused by multiple different things, and it still might be your RLS (though sleep apnoea treatment is still worthwhile)
Documentation of what's going on with RLS/PLM is a problem as there is no such thing as home EEG and EMG, and assessment of outcomes is questionairre based rather than on data.
If the CPAP doesn't help you, maybe get a cheap IR camera that streams to a computer along with some video capture software (cheap IR cameras usually don't allow local/closed network continuous video storage) to see if your meds are helping what presumably is a PLM component of your RLS contributing to sleep disturbance.
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