My Wife (49) Has Involuntary Movements Of Her Legs And

Posted on Fri, 21 Dec 2018

Question: My wife (49) has involuntary movements of her legs and feet. This is accompanied by muscle cramping and/or caused by it. It usually happens at night but occasionally during the day. Sometimes her legs will twitch and jerk and sometimes it includes her foot and toes as well. When I place my hand on her legs or ankles, I can feel the muscles cramping and relaxing (accompanied by the involuntary movement). I first noticed a couple years ago when she would kick me during sleep (she was unaware). Now, it’s a daily occurrence and prevents her from sleeping. Her former neurologist (we have moved) prescribed Clonezapam and performed numerous tests but she has never had an MRI. Since she hasn’t seen him in awhile, he won’t refill her Clonezapam (about 10 days now) and the twitching, jerking is interfering with her sleep leaving her quite confused and agitated.

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Erion Spaho (57 minutes later)

I believe I already asked but it isn%E2%80%99t showing up on screen. She is convinced she has Parkinson%E2%80%99s Disease as this has been getting worse and she also suffers from severe constipation. She currently is on 25 mg of Desvenlafaxine ER. We have spent close to $25,000 trying to get a diagnosis from one of the top medical systems in the nation with no sucess. I am very concerned for her as sometimes she will literally flail her legs an feet uncontrollably. Likely the Clonezapam allowed her to sleep through it. Without, she is having symptoms during the day. She has a doctor%E2%80%99s appointment next week but I fear the same run-around. She isn%E2%80%99t in the %E2%80%9Chigh risk%E2%80%9D category due to age and sex but I%E2%80%99m wondering if we should insist on an MRI to rule out.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Erion Spaho (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Restless legs syndrome to consider.

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to 'Ask a Doctor' service.

I have gone through your query and here is my advice...

In my opinion, restless legs syndrome combined with periodic limbs movement of sleep should be considered and evaluated further.

Risk factors that should be evaluated are peripheral neuropathy, iron deficiency ( even without anaemia), kidney failure, etc.

In my opinion, Parkinson's disease is not the condition that is causing such symptoms.

I think that MRI of the spinal cord may help in excluding spinal conditions such as stenosis, for example, that may cause similar symptoms.

Treatment for restless legs syndrome and periodic limbs movement includes dopamine agonists, antiepileptic drugs, iron supplements, etc. besides clonazepam.

Please discuss with her Neurologist for these issues.

Hope you found the answer helpful.

Let me know if I can assist you further.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee