RLS is sometimes caused by certain SSRI antidepressants. I had RLS terribly until my doc changed my SSRI med then it was gone immediately. My friend takes Savella for sharp, stabbing pains and she says it helps. Your nighttime jerks may be caused by sleep apnea.

PLMD and restless legs are not the same thing. Restless leg you can have any time day or night...PLMD is only at night. By the way, how do I go about getting a copy of Night Walkers for myself? Thanks.....

Correction to inquiry about PLMD. I got the meds wrong for PLMD, or restless leg. Requip is the brand name and Ropinirole is the generic. There are other meds that other persons find helpful for the PLMD but that is the only one that helps me. By the way, I got my quarterly magazine called Night Walkers from the Restless Leg Assoc. and the latest research is showing that PLMD is mainly caused by the spinal problems. There are many forms of restless leg and others are related to the iron and dopamine in the brain.

Yes, I have PLMD, which is a form of restless leg. When they did a sleep study test, they found that my legs jerked 259 times during the night and it was keeping me from getting REM, the restful sleep, during which time your immune system is in high gear. My doctor put me on requip (generic), Neurotin (brand name). Now I get a lot better sleep. It is progressive. Mine got worse as years went by. I didn't take meds for many years until it got unbearable. I have found that massaging my legs with a massager to get the knots out seems to stop some of my jerking that I have in the evening before I go to bed. The massager needs to be a deep massager. The chills seem to go along with the jerking. This illness is caused by a deficiency of iron in the brain. The brain has to have iron to produce dopamine that controls movement in your body. Make sure you are not anemic. Join the Restless Leg Association. They have a lot of free booklets on this illness. Also, check the National Institutes of Health. Best of luck to you. Let me know how you find is the problem.

I have the nighttime jerks really bad at times. Tizinidine seems to help, but taking it 30 minutes before I retire is difficult for me, so I end up taking it AT bedtime. So I still have some leg thrashing and occasionally arm thrashes/jerks.