What Should You Know About the RLS Guidelines Change?

What is RLS?

RLS stands for restless legs syndrome which is a type of neurological movement disorder. According to research, approx. 10% of adults may suffer from this disease. Most of the affected people have to seek medical help in order to deal with the problem. If you are suffering from this problem, then don’t waste your time. You should consult the doctor who provides a physician dispensing program to help the patients as much as possible.

Few Facts

The severity of RLS increases with age. Keep in mind that one-third of patients experience the symptoms before 18 years old. According to research, it is more common in females than males. The patient can suffer from this problem due to renal failure, pregnancy, iron deficiency and use of specific medications. The symptoms can worsen at night. As the patient does not get sound sleep because of RLS, therefore, he or she can feel depressed or anxious. Most of the patients have periodic limb movements of sleep due to this condition. The overall quality of life of the patient is decreased due to depression and anxiety.

What Does the Guideline Recommend?

According to the American Academy of Neurology, the physician should provide medications if the symptoms of RLS are moderate to severe. As the problem can occur due to iron deficiency. According to the guideline, if the iron level of the patient is less than 75ng/mL, then the doctor may recommend oral iron in most cases. As per the guideline, Alpha-2-delta calcium channel ligands (pregabalin or gabapentin) are the preferred medication for the patient. If as a physician, you notice that the patient has a history of depression, drug use disorder and obesity, then you may pick dopamine agonists.

The Side Effects

You should know that dopamine agonists have very few side effects. On the other hand, other drugs have shown side effects already. People who have taken these medications are reported for shopping, eating, gambling and hypersexuality.

Keep in mind that there is a problem of dose-dependent absorption with gabapentin. If you take a higher dosage of the drug, then there is a higher possibility that you may not get a good effect at all.

Contact Us

If you want to visit the doctor and get medications under the same roof, then you should choose the specialist with a physician dispensing program. You can save both of your time and money in this way. To get a better patient experience, you can contact PD-Rx Pharmaceuticals.

**Disclaimer: The information on this page is not intended to be a doctor's advice, nor does it create any form of patient-doctor relationship.