Restless Leg Syndrome and It's Medicine's Side Effects

[meQal]

My wife was recently diagnosed with Restless Leg Syndrome and prescribed the drug Ropinirole. This has caused her to develop some fear because the side effects of the drug sound worse than the RLS itself.
This disorder causes her to kick all night in her sleep and seldom does she wake up rested because of it. So she is always in a state of chronic exhaustion. This also makes it impossible for me to sleep in the same bed with her because of the kicking. Commonly the disorder is caused by low iron in the body. This she also has and has to undergo iron treatments.
The frightening part about that is often iron deficiency is caused by yet another disorder which could be anything from poor diet to colon cancer. Currently we don't know but I hope it's nothing major to correct this problem.
As far as the drug they gave her for the RLS, this stuff has some side effects that can be odd. The mildest ones being nausea, sudden droppin blood pressure when standing, and dizziness. From there they list gets a bit odd. Other side effect can be hallucinations, sudden sleep attacks during the day, compulsive gambling and hypersexuality.
This is why she has some fears about taking the meds. She fears it might turn her into a narcoleptic, chronic gambling, nympho. I told her not to worry because I seriously doubt that would happen but she is fearful of the stuff anyway. I tried tot ell her that if the meds were going to do that to everyone then it would not of been approved for medical use and that the only reason it's listed is because a minute percentage of patients in the test developed those side effects. I also added that it's possible that they already had another condition which resulted in their showing those side effects more but were there prior to taking the meds. She's still scared by the list of side effects anyway.
So I was wondering if anyone here has any experience with Restless Leg Syndrome and the medicines prescribed for it. I would like to be able to try to put her fears to rest by pointing out cases where people took the meds for it without the more severe side effects she fears.

[Derf]

I'm a life-long RLS sufferer. In my case, it's genetic; out of eight kids in my family, only one doesn't have it to some degree. I was diagnosed before Ropinirole was available and have been taking Mirapex for several years. It works great, with the main side effect being that it makes you a little sleepy when you first start taking it. Mirapex is technically a Parkinson's medication, so some neurologists won't prescribe it for RLS, but apparently (as I understand it), RLS originates in the same part of the brain as Parkinson's, although it is not related to Parkinson's and will not turn into Parkinson's. Basically, it means that RLS is a neurological problem, not a muscular problem: The brain misfires and signals the leg to move involuntarily.

Since I take a different medication, I can't speak to the side effects of Ropinirole. However, a couple of my siblings take it. The gambling and hypersexuality usually occur only if there is a prior propensity toward those behaviors (even if it is suppressed). It's kind of like, you secretly want to gamble or whatever, but you keep that desire in check. The medication lowers those inhibitions, so you give in to the desires more readily. If the desire isn't there, the behavioral side effect won't likely occur. Most in my family suffer from depression, and they complained that the medication made them more depressed. So it seems to be a mood/behavior amplifier. If your wife is already a closet narcoleptic nympho gambler, then the medication may bring that behavior to the forefront.

Check with your doctor: Mirapex is commonly prescribed for RLS, and the side effects are minimal unless she has liver problems or is susceptible to liver problems (I do blood work twice a year to ensure that everything is fine).

[Rev. Powell]

I've taken Ropinirole with no side effects, although it was just a couple of those sample bottles. 

An interesting thing about the drug is that it's used for both Parkinson's patients and patients with RLS ,and the two groups have different side effects.  Therefore some of her fears may be baseless.

Here's an article that breaks down the side effects by percentages: http://restless-legs-syndrome.emedtv.com/requip/side-effects-of-requip-for-restless-legs-syndrome.html.  It's three pages long, but you'll see hallucinations aren't even mentioned; that may be something that affects the Parkinson's patients.

She can always try the medicine and discontinue it if the side effects are bad. 

If there were a drug that consistently caused hypersexuality in women, believe me, I'd know about it. 

[meQal]

I've told her the same thing Derf said regarding those side effects. I agree it has to be that those behaviors were there but controlled prior to the use of the medication. I think she read the possible side effects and became worried because I have to deal with a lot of side effects from some medicines I take(namely the IV antibiotics). She fears that because I am dealing with them she might have some from any new medicines she takes as well. I tell her often that just cause I have them from some meds does not mean she will because our bodies are different.

[RCMerchant]

Tara Sue had RLS too. She died of colon cancer.
My prayers are with you.