Whether new to RLS or new to the site, we welcome you and invite you to share your history and experiences with RLS/WED, introduce yourself, and ask questions. Successful treatment starts with a solid understanding of this disease.
I just happened on this site after poking around while checking on RLS. I have had RLS for at least 45 years. My Mom says even longer. Although we didn't know there was a name for it until the last 8 years or more.
I knew it wasn't normal. I drive my husband crazy with my tossing, turning, legs up, legs out....Hot bath at 2:00, 3:00 or 4:00 am. You all know the routine, I'm sure. I am convinced that there is a connection between RLS and Candida. If I take something for candida, low and behold my legs are better and can go as long as a week without a problem. Thought you make like to try check it out. Good Luck. Shelley
I've heard several RLS sufferers say that when they cut out carbs and sugar they get better. So, since candida and sugar are linked, it would make sense. Related to that, I was wondering if there's a neurotranmitter link in some way. For me, sugar is like alcohol to an alcoholic. I've been using it to "feel better" since I was a child. In the book 'The Craving Brain' the author makes that case that food can work like drugs in the brain among the neurotransmitters. Also, there's the food intolerance thing. Dr. Eliot Haas believes that when we eat certain foods, they instantly make us feel bad due to our body's intolerance to that food. When we eat it, our body feel badly, so our brain sends out chemicals to make us feel better. We get addicted to the rush of good chemicals, so eat the very food that bothers us more frequently.
What if all of this plays havoc on the amounts and types of neurotransmitters available? If either of these scenarios has any validity, couldn't it have the possibility of creating even less dopamine that we already have? That would make the RLS worse.
Hey Im Lyndarae welcome to our family.........I say that if something works for you then go for it. Any releif we can get is valuble to are well being. Good luck to you what ever works. Im ready to try just about anything ya know what I mean!!!!!! Lyndarae
I think your post is extremely interesting because I, too, have a HUGE sweet tooth and I have noticed that when I eat too much sugar, my legs very often "act up" that same night. It's funny that you compare your love of sugar to alcoholism. I've often wondered about that, because my brother is an alcoholic and, although I've never had those tendencies, I do sometimes eat sweets almost without even tasting them--which would indicate to me that they are addictive--and, of course, I've been on enough diets to know that sugar is considered, may not addictive, but sort of. I have a question for you, if you don't mind. You seem to be pretty intelligent and you seem to know quite a bit about how the nervous system works. Since RLS can be hereditary and some RLS patients eventually are diagnosed with fibromyalgia, do you supppose that fibro can also be inherited? Thanks for your answer in advance.
You seem to be pretty intelligent and you seem to know quite a bit about how the nervous system works. Since RLS can be hereditary and some RLS patients eventually are diagnosed with fibromyalgia, do you supppose that fibro can also be inherited? Thanks for your answer in advance.
Jan
Hi Jan, thanks for those flattering characterizations Wish I knew something, but maybe someone else will. I don't have an answer, as I don't know much about fibro and am not practicing in the healthcare field. I've spent most of my research time in the last couple of years focusing on addictions as related to neurotransmitters, primary RLS, and celiac disease (odd combination, huh?). I have been known to research stuff at 3 AM just to keep me busy, so the next time I'm awake and am trying to amuse myself, I'll keep this in mind as a topic
Wow, I think I should have used a better adjective than "pretty" when describing your intelligence. You lost me on celiac disease! Ha! It's all pretty fascinating, isn't it? I've said this before to others, but I have learned so much since I became a member of this forum and I've had RLS for over 20 years!! I never took the time to really try to learn anything about the syndrome. When we were working on the questionnaire, we would discuss various symptoms that we all had, and it was like putting a puzzle together.
WELL THE GOOD NEWS HERE LADIES IS UNLIKE ALCOHOL YOU CAN EAT ALL THE CHOCOLATE YOU WANT AND NOT GET PULLED OVER FOR A DUI!!!I always like to look on the bright side of things, and I have never heard anyone compare alcoholism with chocolate. I too love it, thank GOD too much of it dosen't make me fall down and act like an fool. I havent noticed my RLS being any worse when I eat it but I eat it everyday so go figure.I hope I don't have to give it up any time soon that could be ugly!!!! Lyndarae
I can't have alcohol because of RLS, can't have chocolate because of acid reflux...sometimes I wonder what is wrong with this picture??!! I had decided that I could make my fortune if I could figure out how to make chocolate wine. But if I can't have any, what's the point? Seriously, I think that our food intake is at the root of a lot of evils we experience health wise. But it's sure hard to eat sensibly.
I wonder how many people suffer from RLS in JAPAN Just a thought their diet is so much better than ours it made me wonder????? Anyone know anything about that??? LYndarae
I have found out the rate of RLS in Japan: 5 % and in Singapore: 1%!
So we all shouls go and live in Singapore, don't you think?
Corrie
It is now clear that symptoms of RLS are commonly reported by European populations, especially those from Western and Northern Europe, as well as populations derived largely from these regions. Typical prevalence for endorsing symptoms in large-scale population studies using questionnaires, including criteria which require some minimum frequency of symptoms, range from approximately 6% to 15% for the entire adult range. While earlier studies used single questions or questions developed by a single group, more-recent studies have attempted to match the criteria for RLS established by the IRLSSG first promulgated in 1995.(5;6) In a 1994 Canadian survey, 15% of respondents reported “leg restlessness at bedtime”; 10% reported “unpleasant leg muscle sensations associated with awakening during sleep and with the irresistible need to move or walk.”(93) (Table 2) According to the National Sleep Foundation’s 1998 Omnibus Sleep in America Poll, 25% of adults report experiencing unpleasant feelings in their legs (such as creepy, crawly or tingling sensations) a few nights a month or more; 15% a few nights a week or more; and 8% every night or almost every night.(94) Of those who reported such RLS symptoms, 50% said that the leg pain kept them from getting a good night’s sleep. This survey also found that almost 25% of individuals over age 65 have symptoms of RLS. Three percent of the respondents to this nationwide survey reported that their doctors have told them they have RLS. Polls repeated annually from 1999 through 2002 reported comparable results.(95-99) Included in the 1996 Kentucky Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey were questions addressing the presence of RLS symptoms; 5.9% of those surveyed reported experiencing RLS symptoms very often, and another 4.1% reported experiencing symptoms often, for a total of 10%.(100) In this population-based survey, Phillips and colleagues asked 1803 men and women, via telephone, whether they experienced symptoms of restless legs 5 or more nights per month. They found a clear age-related increase in the prevalence, with 3% of affected participants aged 18 to 29; 10% aged 30 to 79 years; and 19% 80 years and older, with no difference between men and women. Subsequent studies from Sweden,(101;102) Chile,(103) and Europe(104) have reported similar results, while one study in Switzerland among younger individuals found a 4% prevalence.(101) Additional studies on these populations have also been reported in abstract form (through 2003) and all are consistent in finding symptom endorsement in the same 6% to 15% range for a broad spectrum of adult ages. Some studies conducted on clinical populations have found higher frequencies of symptom prevalence.(105;106) Notably, all studies in European populations have reported a higher prevalence of symptoms in women, ranging from a small excess to an almost two-fold difference. Another consistent aspect: an increase in prevalence throughput adult life, lasting through late middle age. Studies are inconsistent as to whether prevalence continues to increase in the elderly (over 65 years old), plateaus, or decreases. Associations that have emerged from population studies include links to psychiatric disorders, general health, and smoking. The Kentucky study found associations to body mass index, lower socioeconomic status, diabetes, lack of exercise, and (seemingly paradoxically) alcohol abstinence.(100) Prevalence figures in non-European populations have been scant, but have suggested there may be lower frequency of RLS in those populations. In Singapore, fewer than 1% of surveyed individuals were found to have symptoms of RLS.(107) In Japan, 5% were reported to endorse questions probing RLS,(108) but in this population symptoms were more common in men, quite distinct from the European pattern. A major drawback of almost all of these population studies is that they have not been validated by faceto-face diagnostic interviews, so it is unclear how good an estimate of clinical RLS severity, if any, these studies provide. However, the growing concern about diagnosis, revision of diagnostic features,(55) and interest in establishing a more precise estimate of prevalence in different populations suggests that more-reliable studies may be reported in the near future. A different kind of study has diagnosed patients in face-to-face interviews. Early studies by Ekbom(2) in Sweden and Strang(109) in Australia found prevalences of 5% and 3.2%, respectively, in outpatients. A more recent study using face-to-face expert interviews was carried out within the World Health Organization’s study for Monitoring Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease (MONICA-Project). Trained physicians assessed the prevalence of RLS in a population over 65 years of age, based on the four minimal standard criteria, and added several other questionnaires and clinical examinations. Among the 369 participants, the overall prevalence of RLS was 9.8%, and was higher in women (13.9%) than in men (6.1%).(110)
Hey Cornelia, Wow you did your homework cool thankyou. That was very interresting. I know my diet and lack of exercise are not helping matters. I'm bad at saying well on Monday I'm going to start ........ You know how it goes.It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks!!!LOL~~~~~~~~~~~lYNDARAE
I just happened on this site after poking around while checking on RLS. I have had RLS for at least 45 years. My Mom says even longer. Although we didn't know there was a name for it until the last 8 years or more.
Shelley
Wish I knew something, but maybe someone else will. I don't have an answer, as I don't know much about fibro and am not practicing in the healthcare field. I've spent most of my research time in the last couple of years focusing on addictions as related to neurotransmitters, primary RLS, and celiac disease (odd combination, huh?). I have been known to research stuff at 3 AM just to keep me busy, so the next time I'm awake and am trying to amuse myself, I'll keep this in mind as a topic