Your RLS is not a disease. It's a blessing in disguise

Here you can share your experiences with substances that are ingested, inhaled, or otherwise consumed for the purpose of relieving RLS, other than prescription medications. For example, herbal remedies, nutritional supplements, diet, kratom, and marijuana (for now) should be discussed here. Tell others of successes, failures, side effects, and any known research on these substances. [Posts on these subjects created prior to 2009 are in the Physical Treatments forum.]

Important: Posts and information in this section are based on personal experiences and recommendations; they should not be considered a substitute for the advice of a healthcare provider.
dwimble

Re: Your RLS is not a disease. It's a blessing in disguise

Post by dwimble »

badnights wrote:Especially it would be important to know if the blood markers were for acute or chronic inflammation. If acute, in most cases probably nothing should be done since the inflammation would simply be the body healing itself. If chronic, then you would be concerned, because it could be a persistant infection or irritant, or an auto-immune reaction.

PS I back-checked the database and no posts by dwimble have been removed except one that was double posted (the same message posted in two forums), which is not allowed by our rules (see link in the colored bar above, for Forum rules).



badnights

You can read about the two main tests for inflammation levels here:
http://www.rlcure.com/tests-for-inflammation.html

The one that would give you a more informative reading is the AA/EPA test.

dwimble

Re: Your RLS is not a disease. It's a blessing in disguise

Post by dwimble »

ViewsAskew wrote:I've talked to Dr B quite a bit. He is a true scientist. He believes in research. It can be limiting in some ways - he may not sense trends for example - but he always knows all the research and is good at evaluating what we know and suggesting ways to deal with it. He is also good at listening to patients and if they say things work, he believes you.

All research is not equal, unfortunately, and it can be hard to determine what is OK and what is not as a layperson. While I have a science background, I am not a scientist, nor do I have a medical background. I rely on people like Dr B, Dr Early, Dr Becker - and so on - to help me make sure I am not missing something.

I often send Dr B people's theories when they post them here, when they are medical in nature. He always thoughtfully responds to me and tells me why something may or may not have value. He usually points out where the person made an error in how they approached something or how the data/research they cited is faulty, things I would have missed.



ViewsAskew

When I talked to Dr. B several years ago, he emphatically told me that inflammation played no role in RLS. If I had followed his advice, I would be taking some sort of terrible drug, and my legs would still be wonky.

That was 5 or so years ago. There is now scientific evidence that inflammation does play a major role. If he's still saying that it doesn't, then he is doing a horrible disservice to his patients. I can't believe that any doctor or scientist, especially an expert in the field, would read the current information that's available and still totally deny the link.

cornelia

Re: Your RLS is not a disease. It's a blessing in disguise

Post by cornelia »

I know of this study which might help a subgroup of patients in future. Inflammation can be responsible for iron deficiency which can cause RLS. Further studies are needed.

However I don't think you can say that inflammation is a MAJOR cause for RLS. In my 'library' of RLS books I can't find anything on inflammation in relation to RLS which is remarkable so we can't say we are there yet. Just my opinion. It is a good thing that you have been informing us all these years about inflammation as a possible cause for RLS but I hope you can see that there are other established causes which are equally important or maybe more, so we shouldn't be one-sided I guess.

Corrie

dwimble

Re: Your RLS is not a disease. It's a blessing in disguise

Post by dwimble »

Corrie

The inflammation involvement has only come to light in the last couple of years. You won't read it in any of the older texts or studies.

There are five recent studies here that mention it.

http://www.rlcure.com/scientific-study- ... f-RLS.html

T Zone
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2014 9:29 pm

Re: Your RLS is not a disease. It's a blessing in disguise

Post by T Zone »

The most common health problem with a high correlation to RLS is sleep apnea. And untreated sleep apnea causes inflammation.

Everyone with RLS should know all the symptoms of sleep apnea and, if there are any doubts whatsoever, have a consultation with a sleep doctor who uses an AASM certified sleep lab (http://www.sleepeducation.com/find-a-center).

NellieK
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2014 1:38 am

Re: Your RLS is not a disease. It's a blessing in disguise

Post by NellieK »

Chronic inflammation may cause RLS, but that's not the only cause. For me, RLS is just a huge pain, literally!

T Zone
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2014 9:29 pm

Re: Your RLS is not a disease. It's a blessing in disguise

Post by T Zone »

How do they test for inflammation? I have had a couple of CRP tests and they show no inflammation.

ViewsAskew
Moderator
Posts: 16570
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 6:37 am
Location: Los Angeles

Re: Your RLS is not a disease. It's a blessing in disguise

Post by ViewsAskew »

T Zone wrote:How do they test for inflammation? I have had a couple of CRP tests and they show no inflammation.


There are some tests that check for general inflammation - they look for them to diagnose autoimmune diseases, for one thing. C reactive protein and sed rate are two I know of. I don't know if there are more. If you Google(or other search engine) on "inflammation tests" my guess is you'll find a whole host of info.
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

Managing Your RLS

Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

Polar Bear
Moderator
Posts: 8797
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 4:34 pm
Location: United Kingdom

Re: Your RLS is not a disease. It's a blessing in disguise

Post by Polar Bear »

This week I had ESR bloods done to check for inflammation. My reading was 8 which is really very low and very good. No inflammation there to affect any WED symptoms.
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation

cornelia

Re: Your RLS is not a disease. It's a blessing in disguise

Post by cornelia »

Very good PB!

Inflammation in relation to RLS doesn't seem to play a very big role anyway. We have to wait and see what the researchers come up with in the end.
Corrie

ViewsAskew
Moderator
Posts: 16570
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 6:37 am
Location: Los Angeles

Re: Your RLS is not a disease. It's a blessing in disguise

Post by ViewsAskew »

I think - as with all things - there will be degrees of this. it's very possible the secondary WED often is associated with inflammation, for example, but that primary will not be. Or something similar.

I've been tested in the past and have never had any tests show any signs of inflammation, either.
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

Managing Your RLS

Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

Polar Bear
Moderator
Posts: 8797
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 4:34 pm
Location: United Kingdom

Re: Your RLS is not a disease. It's a blessing in disguise

Post by Polar Bear »

My ESR checks were for a totally unrelated condition.
However, whether my ESRs have been very low, or frighteningly high, WED has never seemed to differ.
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation

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