Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

Hi tea4me, According to the ingredient list: m two of the three primary ingredients of Vicks Vaporub are topical analgesics - Camphor and Menthol. A possible explanation of the RLS/WED-reducing effects of applying these to the soles of the feet can be found in my etiological hypotheses for RLS/WED: ...

Last month I added a summary of my etiological hypotheses to this page: m RLSD stands for "Restless Limbs Sensorimotor Disorder", which I suggest as the best name to encompass RLS and PLMD. Today I extended this to give a proper account of how percussive massage near the lower spine reduce...

Sir Thomas Willis wrote, in 1672 (English translation from the original Latin): "Wherefore to some, when being abed they betake themselves to sleep, presently in the arms and legs, leapings and contractions on the tendons, and so great a restlessness and tossings of other members ensue, that th...

Hi Tracy, I am not aware of any peer-reviewed papers arguing why coffee exacerbates or causes fibromyalgia. There is a patent application: m which cites a Japanese paper: m as stating that "People who drink coffee every day have 3.7 times greater risk than those who do not drink coffee." M...

A friend of ours found that reducing her coffee consumption resulted in a significant decrease in her RLS symptoms. She was suffering RLS about every third evening, sometimes in the evening when sitting still, and also when going to bed or during the night. She has been using percussive massage on e...

Hi Corrie, You wrote, in part: > it can't be true that a lip balm will work for RLS, unless there is a > placebo effect. but you don't argue why this particular lip balm couldn't have any direct physical effect on the RLS/PLMS processes. As I wrote above, according to my understanding of this condit...

Hi Rubyslipper, Thanks for your reply. The paragraph you quoted is from the briefest possible statement of my hypotheses which I have been able to write. What I wrote to the researchers was much more detailed. In the future - probably early next year - I intend to develop this section of my site: m ...

My initial impression was that Carmex was effective for quite a few hours. However, recent experience indicates it may not be as effective as this. For the last three nights and for one or two nights last week I applied it to Tina's feet and to mine at bedtime - before any onset of RLS/PLMs. I have ...

Hi Polar Bear, This .co.uk Google search finds 260,000 pages: m It seems the 10 gram yellow tubes are available for about UKP3.00 to UKP4.00. This Amazon page shows exactly what we use: m The small pot version is apparently the original form from 1937: m "Original" and "Classic" ...

Please pause for a moment and try to get used to the idea that rubbing a particular brand of lip balm into the arches of your feet may greatly reduce or eliminate RLS/PLMS symptoms. . . . . . . OK. I know it sounds weird, but here are our observations and some of the hypotheses which might explain i...

Hi veldon7 and PolarBear, Quite a lot of decaf coffee is made with the "Swiss water" technique, which used to be done in Switzerland but is now done in Canada: m so decaf coffee doesn't necessarily have any residues from non-water solvents. I think this is a more expensive process, so deca...

Hi Beth, Sorry about my misunderstanding. The blood measurements we have are for ferritin (ug/L), iron (umol/L), transferrin (g/L) and transferrin saturation (%). My limited understanding of iron metabolism is that it is difficult to establish what stores the body has of iron through blood tests alo...

Hi Beth, Thanks for your reply. I won't post personal details such as Tina's iron levels. I wasn't suggesting that these were related to coffee or caffeine consumption, but perhaps these do affect iron absorption. Now her iron levels are good (according to her doctor), we still found that 3 cups of ...

Thanks for your replies. I assume everyone who posted has sorted out their iron levels, so their RLS symptoms have causes other than low iron. My concern is that some people think one or two cups of coffee, or several cups of decaf coffee, is a small amount which wouldn't affect them. Googling "...

Can anyone report their experience with RLS and coffee, including the possibility that decaf coffee on its own, in the absence of any other source of caffeine, contributes significantly to RLS? Some people suffer RLS so frequently and severely that they want or need to take prescription medicine. I ...