Hydroxyzine Hydrochloride in Restless Legs Syndrome

Abstract

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a chronic condition, with onset at any age, characterized by urgency to move the legs and unpleasant sensations, worsening at rest and in the evening and relieved by the movement. Pharmacological approaches, including benzodiazepines, dopaminoagonists, levodopa and antiepileptics, showed substantial inter-individual variability of efficacy and side effects. We report the case of a woman who did not respond to any previous pharmacological treatment, successfully treated with hydroxyzine hydrochloride. The efficacy of this first-generation antihistamine with potent anticholinergic properties in our RLS case may resemble the action of several anticholinergic drugs in Parkinson Disease, reasserting the possibility of a common pathophysiological background shared by these two distinct clinical entities.