Restless Leg Syndrome Drugs Gave These Women ‘Deviant’ Sexual Urges

Common drugs used for restless leg syndrome (RLS) allegedly cause irresistible urges in different areas of their life—namely sex.

According to BBC, 20 women came to the outlet claiming to experience life-ruining side effects. Many of them said the drugs caused them to seek out risky sexual encounters or led to other harmful behavior. 

“The only way I could describe it is it was just deviant,” one woman named Claire told the outlet of her experience. She added that her doctor failed to mention this side effect.

The side effects grew so extreme that Claire sought out sex in the early morning hours by engaging in crude and oftentimes dangerous behavior, despite having a committed partner. 

“There remains an element in your head that knows what you’re doing is wrong, but it affects you to the point that you don’t know you’re doing it.”

Now that she understands why she behaved in this manner while on her medication, she said she feels “shame” and is “mortified” by her actions.

Drugs Used for Restless Leg Syndrome Often Cause ‘Deviant,’ Life-Ruining Sexual Urges

Another woman named Sarah told BBC that she began to sell used underwear and videos of sexual acts online, take part in phone sex with strangers, and shop compulsively, which left her with £30,000 of debt.

“Previously I’d have had no interest if Brad Pitt walked in the room naked,” she told the outlet. “But it turned me into this raging woman who kept taking sexual addiction further.”

One of the most heartbreaking parts of Sarah’s story is that the urges—which she didn’t realize were side effects of the drugs—led her to self-medicate with opioids and sleeping pills, eventually landing her in rehab, stripping her of her driving license and job.

“I turned to things that weren’t healthy—I knew that the behavior wasn’t me, but I couldn’t control it,” she told BBC.

According to the outlet, a drug firm called GSK released a report detailing a connection between the dopamine agonist drugs and “deviant” sexual behavior. What’s wild is that Claire also described her own actions on the drugs as “deviant,” though she hadn’t yet heard of this report.

The report also noted a disturbing case of a man who sexually assaulted a child while he was taking the drug for Parkinson’s disease. 

While leaflets for these types of drugs have listed side effects including impulsive behaviors, doctors often fail to warn patients just how prevalent these effects are. Valerie Voon, a professor of neuropsychiatry at the University of Cambridge, believes these side effects go under-reported.

“There’s a lot of stigma and shame attached to it, and people don’t realize that it’s associated with a medication,” she said.