extreme restlessness

Hi All,

I’m so glad to have this group with the wealth of experience that you all have. I’ve posted a few times and really appreciate all of your responses.

My husband was diagnosed 9/06. His staging surgery at Mayo was node positive 11/06, to make a long story short.

We had a recent bout in the hospital and subsequent ERCP at Penn early June.

I began to notice some involuntary movements of my husband’s shoulders the end of May. He had an occasional restless night and always seemed to have restless legs by evening. The symptoms have really gotten worse. Most nights, he seems to move constantly even lifting off of the pillow. By morning, he may be sideways,and the pillows are all on the floor. I’ve had to move to another room just to get rest.

One physician felt it might be the Fentanyl Patches. He’s on 500, but that’s been the dose for several months. He really functions ok during the day, but he’s tired and sleeps in late. I suspect the sleep he gets is not good. He’s also a Type 1 diabetic and has had really low blood sugars through the night.

We’re leaving for a mini vacation in the Keys this Friday, and we will try to get some help with this through his physicians when we get back, as it really seems to be getting worse.

Is this a symptom/ side effect that any of you have experienced. I just never know whether to blame this stuff on the disease or the meds we try to combat it with.

Thanks , Pam