Restless Legs Syndrome Associated with Quetiapine in Elderly Patient

Abstract

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a sleep-related disorder characterized by abnormal sensations in the legs at rest in which the patients feel an urge to move the legs; beginning or worsening during inactivity; relief by movement; preponderance in evening or night. The drugs implicated were mainly psychotropic, especially neuroleptics and many others. Drug induced RLS generally resolves when the dose is reduced or the drug is withdrawn. We report a case of bipolar mood disorder presented to our emergency department with insomnia and we added quetiapine 100mg at bed time for his disturbed sleep, patient reported on third day complaining with "itchy", "Pins and needles", "creepy crawly" feeling in the legs. The sensations are usually worse at rest and night due to which he is unable to sleep. Awareness and proper diagnosis by all primary care practitioners is necessary for effective management of RLS as well as clinicians are encourage to be aware of the potential for quetiapine to cause RLS.

Why Are Women Prone to Restless Legs Syndrome?

“…There is considerable comorbidity of RLS with diseases that are particularly common in women [40][41][42][43][44], notably migraine, sleep disorder, depression, and anxiety [3][4][5]44]. The drugs that treat these disorders may, in fact, be the culprits [45][46][47][48][49], as is shown by the fact that RLS symptoms start within days of initiating treatment.…”