WebMD Writer Seeks Personal RLS Stories For Article Feb 6.

[webmd]

Hello everyone,

I'm a writer with WebMD (webmd.com), which you may have heard of as one of the larger consumer health information websites.

I am writing a story on restless legs syndrome and would be very interested in hearing about some of your personal experiences with RLS. The article will be a general story about RLS, 1200 words and touching on prevalence, diagnosis, treatment, experiences of sufferers, etc.

I will need to quote you by name (at least your first name) and location.

My deadline is February 6 (might be able to stretch it to the 9th) so hope to hear from you soon. I'm available by email or phone. Thanks for your time and attention.

Best,
Matt Hoffman
matthoffman7@hotmail.com
404-394-7730

[ViewsAskew]

Matt, it would be so wonderful if you would peruse some of the posts here. Of course you need to talk so people directly, but if you read some of the posts here, you'll get an idea of the misery, hopelessness, anxiety and exhaustion RLS wreaks on its subjects.

Thank you for writing about it. We need more people to understand what it is that comprises RLS - from those of us who don't need any treatment to those of us who can't find any treatment that works. It's a wide spectrum and deserves more attention and respect that it gets.

[Neco]

All I can say is good luck trying to put any details into 1200 words along with personal stories.. And I am NOT kidding.. I turned in my piece for the local paper and they were pretty insistant on keeping it around 800 words..

Ultimately I turned in a 966 word piece and that was AFTER forcing myself to stop writing and then cutting it down.

[brandy]

Thank you for taking the time to write about this condition that affects so many. I second Ann's suggestion to look at some of the stories here. Hopefully they will give you a good picture of the hell that some RLs patients experience. Good luck!

[webmd]

You're right ... 1200 words is nowhere near enough to do justice to the personal challenges that RLS must create. At most, I'd be able to use a couple of "sound bite" quotes from a few people.

I still think, though, that this would bring a human face to the story and go far toward dispelling the abundant myth and skepticism surrounding RLS, in a way that my story without your contributions could not.

I remain open to hearing from anyone willing to participate.

All the best,
Matt

[ViewsAskew]

I talked to Matt yesterday. If anyone has the time, give him a buzz. He's compassionate and wants to ensure that RLS is presented as a real medical condition that should be taken seriously. He's read a lot of background and done good research; I think he'll do a great job.