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Restless leg syndrome taking mirtazapine, but only on days Methylphenidate has been used earlier??

JohnBoy2000

JohnBoy2000

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My understanding of restless leg syndrome (RLS) is dopamine under activation?

So DA agonists are prescribed to treat it.

Ritalin boosts dopamine, but when I use mirtazapine at night where I've used ritalin that day, I reliably get decent restless leg.

Could it be mirtazapine displacing dopamine activity induced via ritalin, causing restless leg syndrome to emerge?

It only happens on higher doses of mirtazapine also, 30+ mg.

So, the doses serotonin and noradrenaline become relevant.

No listed interactions but could one transmitter be displacing the other?

Any thoughts?

There are case reports that mirtazapine can induce RLS in monotherapy also, it's hardly just coincidence?
 
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Mirtazapine Aggravates Restless Leg Syndrome:A Case Report

Text: Presentation of an uncommon disorder of Mirtazapine Aggravates Restless Leg SyndromeA case report.Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a sensori-motor disorder that interferes with the sleep of the sufferers. This syndrome is characterized by four major ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Just looking at this:

Disruption in dopamine transmission in brain is hypothesized for this problem as it frequently responds to dopaminergic therapy.
Click to expand...

Some component of mirtazapine could disrupt methylphenidate induced activity?

But again, could just be a side effect anyways?
 
I would have thought Mirtazapine would be something that's the same dose every day. No?

This isn't exactly answering your question, but my father is diagnosed with RLS and some sort of anxiety/panic disorder. I do NOT suffer from these things to the extent he does, but I DO know that I have the potential for it. And that's it's in me like a caged animal. I've noticed that restless legs and nighttime panic attacks can be triggered if I consume too many stimulants throughout the day. I have a made-up diagnosis for myself: stimulant induced panic disorder. I could add RLS to that because it usually occurs in conjunction with my panicky nights.

Back to your Mirtazapine. Some anti-depressants can act similar to stimulants, so I wonder if there's a parallel there.
 
Have you had your iron levels checked? Iron deficiency is one very common cause of RLS. I had RLS on an SSRI and the underlying cause was iron deficiency
 
RLS from APs can generally be overcome by exercise.

Every time I've experienced it, going for a jog cured it. You can also try to consume more dopamine precursors or releasers, but this is a temporary fix.
 
I was prescribed mirtazapine for insomnia and had to stop taking it because it gave me such bad restless legs. As it happens I was taking methylphenidate at the time but I don't know if the two were connected, I just assumed it was the mirtazapine.
 
Shinji Ikari said:
I was prescribed mirtazapine for insomnia and had to stop taking it because it gave me such bad restless legs. As it happens I was taking methylphenidate at the time but I don't know if the two were connected, I just assumed it was the mirtazapine.
Click to expand...
Yeah that is interesting.

Curious whether it would happen anyway, or more so cause the ritalin combination.

I assume you were on a 15 mg dose if it was for insomnia?
 
Update:

It only happens when I go over 20 mg of methylphenidate.

30 mg + mirtazapine = I get RLS.

20 mg = no problem mixing the two.

Methylphenidate can be prescribed up to 60 mg a day, but taken in divided doses of 20 mg per dose.

Unsure of the pharmacology, but evidently over 20 mg + mirtazapine causes DA displacement = RLS.
 
Curious if that were the case, how amphetamine or meth responds when combined with a decent dose of mirtazapine.

As they effect DA more so?
 
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