Posted on 03/11/2025 6:02:23 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Patients prescribed drugs for movement disorders - including restless leg syndrome (RLS) - say doctors did not warn them about serious side effects that led them to seek out risky sexual behaviour.
Twenty women have told the BBC that the drugs - given to them for RLS, which causes an irresistible urge to move - ruined their lives.
A report by drugs firm GSK - seen by the BBC - shows it learned in 2003 of a link between the medicines, known as dopamine agonist drugs, and what it described as "deviant" sexual behaviour.
While there is no explicit reference to this side effect in patient leaflets, the UK medicines regulator told us there was a general warning about increased libido and harmful behaviour. GSK says a risk of "altered" sexual interest is also referred to in the leaflets.
Some of the women who described being drawn to risky sexual behaviour told us they had no idea of what was causing it. Others said they felt compelled to gamble or shop with no history of such activities. One accumulated debts of more than £150,000.
Like many women, Claire first developed RLS during her pregnancies. The relentless need to move was often accompanied by sleeplessness and a crawling sensation under her skin.
The condition persisted after giving birth and she was prescribed the dopamine agonist drug Ropinirole. She says she was not warned by doctors of any side effects. It initially worked wonders for her RLS, she says, but after a year or so she began feeling unprecedented sexual urges.
"The only way I could describe it is it was just deviant," she tells us - using that word without any knowledge of the GSK research which had established a link with such behaviour.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
I was taking 6 meds daily for various conditions. I went off them one by one. I told my doctor I was the one asking for the meds. I’m a lot healthier without the meds. Sometimes you just have to put up with it. I have had RLS at times. I get up and walk around. Stops it.
Sounds like a serious problem. I think we should form a GSK support group. Be there when needed.
I'm up for that.
so to speak...
Agreed. I mean, really, is she supposedly going to sue because a drug made her want sex more often?
Marketing genius!
“I think we should form a GSK support group. Be there when needed.”
I’m in, only if it involves some sort of screening process, similar to a police lineup.
A man’s got to have standards.
Supposedly benadryl ingredient can help with restless leg syndrome.
I wish that getting up and walking around would help me. It doesn’t stop it, at least for me.
Also, I move my legs in my sleep and sometimes kick my husband. I have no idea I’m doing that. So for his sake, I take the lowest dosage ropinirole. It does help me settle down.
It is the only prescription I take.
Everyone who had it no doubt. I did a sleep,study once, and it showed definate restless leg syndrome, and I would wake up with blankets strewn all over the floor from kicking and moving legs while asleep. It is a condition that is verifiable with testing.
“Honey, I got some new vitamins for you to take...”
Theyntried Chantix on me to quit smoking- wow did it give me violent dreams- brutal violent dreams. I had to quit taking it. Eventually quit cold turkey, but too late unfortunately.
Quinine is supposed to help rls- tonic water contains enough to calm it- don’t have to drink much-
Also that Irish Riverdancing
That is always a possibility :)
Moving in your sleep? Well, yeah.
Those weren’t dreams. You’re wanted in five states.
Me.
I had a broken ankle, and while in the hospital, the nurses reported that I quit breathing frequently during my sleep. So the doctor sent me to a sleep study to count how many times I quit breathing. I’m lucky, I don’t need a CPAP machine.
The sleep study also showed that I had restless legs and kicked and twitched during the night, something both my husband and I were aware of. So I was prescribed ropinirole to help with that.
I’ve been on the lowest dose for 20 years, without problems.
Another success for the American healthcare industry!
Lol I missed my calling apparently
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