Do you know of a condition “which causes such suffering that it should be known by every physician”?(1) That is what Ekbom, the neurologist who described this condition, said in 1960.
This condition, used to be known as anxietas tibiarum (the anxiety of the shin bone), is now called RLS or Restless Leg Syndrome.
RLS is seen in several medical conditions such as iron deficiency, chronic kidney disease and peripheral neuropathy, all of which are also associated with higher frequency of depression. Antidepressant use can also precede new-onset or worsening of RLS in some cases, though a clear-cut causal association is still controversial (2).
Different antidepressants have varying strength of association with RLS.
This figure, based on 2 reviews (3, 4), provides a quick summary.
Have you ever come across antidepressant related RLS? How did you manage it? Add your comments below!
References:
(1) Winkelman, J. Restless Legs Syndrome. History of Neurology: Seminal Citations. Arch Neurol. 1999;56(12):1526-1527.
(2) Dunvald AC, Henriksen DP, Hallas J, Christensen MM, Lund LC. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and the risk of restless legs syndrome: a symmetry analysis. European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 2020 Feb 16:1-4.