RA: Restless knees and pain at night

Hi @jamesm,

Thank you so much for opening up about your experience. That sounds incredibly difficult, especially with your nights being plagued by spasms. Sleep is already hard enough with RA, so adding restless knee syndrome into the mix must be exhausting. We’ve given your discussion a clearer title to make it easier for others to find and join the conversation.

It’s also great to hear that you’re staying active with walks, that’s a smart and gentle way to keep those joints moving. Many members here have also shared that being sedentary for too long tends to make their symptoms worse, so you're definitely not alone in that. You might also want to ask your GP if a sleep study or further neurological check-up could help, since spasms might sometimes point to deeper causes.

We would love to hear from other members, have you experienced restless knees syndrome with rheumatoid arthritis or anything like it? What helps you manage nighttime pain or spasms?

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Thanks again for sharing, James. You're doing your best with a heavy burden, and that deserves recognition.

Warmly,

Somya from the Carenity team 🌼

I have this, it's horrible, but someone once told me that drinking tonic water just before settling down helps and yes, it does! I've been buying own brand slimline tonic and some rhubarb syrup from Amazon for over 5 years now and it's really helped.

For breakthrough pain (I am already on powerful opioids) my GP prescribed Oramorph and I only take it when I really can't sleep due to pain in my hips or legs in general. I don't, and never have, get a high from opioids or morphine though, so it doesn't affect me in any way, just makes it a pain free nights sleep!