diabetes and RLS

RLS occurs more frequently in certain populations, including people with end-stage renal disease, women during pregnancy, and people with iron deficiency. Also, RLS/WED in the elderly and children brings other challenges. Sharing your experiences may be extraordinarily helpful to others.
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kfletcher@neb.rr.com
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diabetes and RLS

Post by kfletcher@neb.rr.com »

Does anybody know if there is a connection between diabetes and RLS?
My RLS becomes active when BS is low or high or on the way up or down !
Like many of you RLS has really ruined my life! :(

ViewsAskew
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Post by ViewsAskew »

There is sort of a link....many people with diabetes get RLS. But, I don't think they know why.

That said, many people find that too much sugar does make their RLS worse. So, for some, maybe this high blood sugar does or prevents something that makes RLS stronger. I wish I knew what....I'd be rich!

So sorry to hear that you feel that RLS has ruined your life. I'm on my pity-pot tonight about RLS and can identify with that statement! I won't even start with what set it off because I'd write a novel :?

I hope you can find what you need here to help you get the RLS under better control.
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.

SquirmingSusan
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Post by SquirmingSusan »

Hi and welcome. I sure can feel like RLS has ruined my life, but I try to think of it more in terms of "it has changed my life." I do hope you can get some relief so that your life is a bit better.

Ann, go ahead and write that novel. Most of us need good reading materials for those long, lonely nights. :wink:
Susan

kfletcher@neb.rr.com
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Post by kfletcher@neb.rr.com »

Ann, Thank you for your reply. I have wondered, too, if sugar could be the cause for severe RLS but through trial and error, it doesn't seem to be . I had Rls for many years before I had diabetes.

Squirming Susan, Thank you, too, for your reply. It is a combination of RLS, fibromyalgia and diabetes that makes me feel like my life is ruined.
I am soon to be 65 and have such an active mind. So many things I would like to do..........last 10 yrs have been especially bad and I guess I am tired of fighting in all. You sound very sweet and I appreciate your concern for my dismay. Thank you very much. P.S. I love your squirming icon. :lol:

ViewsAskew
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Post by ViewsAskew »

If you get a chance, read my post in the RLS and Relationship section - something about a bad evening.

There are times that this just drags you down, doesn't it? It's truly devastating to have chronic disorders, one or several. It's the never-endingness of it all.

I liked what Corrie said to me in that thread (along with many other great posts), that she changed her expectations. She accepted that the best isn't what is was, so that when it's close to normal, she's happy.

I think it's exceedingly hard to balance this - accepting that what used to be won't ever happen again, accepting that what is is how it's going to be, but at the same time not giving up.
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.

kfletcher@neb.rr.com
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Post by kfletcher@neb.rr.com »

Yes, I will check out your other post and thread.

Barbee
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Post by Barbee »

SquirmingSusan wrote:Hi and welcome. I sure can feel like RLS has ruined my life, but I try to think of it more in terms of "it has changed my life." I do hope you can get some relief so that your life is a bit better.

Ann, go ahead and write that novel. Most of us need good reading materials for those long, lonely nights. :wink:


I'm currently on the Atkins diet and eating NO sugar or carbs and I still have RLS. The more tired I am the worse it is.

I did notice something though. When I get a pedicure and the person giving it rubs the bottom of my feet with a brush or files my toe nails... I get a similar sensation... which makes me think. The feet are where the nerve endings are. Is RLS related to the nervous system?

SquirmingSusan
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Post by SquirmingSusan »

Yes, RLS is a neurological (nervous system) disorder. It seems like there's been some discussion about rubbing the feet to get relief from RLS, but I'm not sure where.
Susan

mackjergens
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Post by mackjergens »

I have had rls most of my life 63 now. For 30 odd yrs I walked the floor nightly before finding help. I take hydrocodone and ultram(tramadol) which are both pain meds, yes strange, but for some reason the pain meds stop the feeling from brain to legs. I have NO pain just the creepy crawly feelings that drive you to move.

3 yrs ago I became diabetic and have not noticed any difference in my rls due to diabeties. But we are all differenet. What makes mine really bad is being on feet all day long. if I do that, then that night the rls is alot worse. again strange, since to get it to stop you have to walk. rls is a very strange and different disease.

venus
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im betting their is a connection

Post by venus »

with some people.... but obviously not alot.

when i first got rls i was pregnant and had gestational diabetes....

fast forward 18 years

last year i was diagnosed with type 2 diabetets and my rls became full time every night.

a wierd thing is that last month i started taking iron for low ferritin level (of 7) and one multivitamin and two fish oil capsules .... and my sugar numbers were always in the 130's every single morning for a year before i started taking these three things. since ive been taking these things, my sugar is always between 90-105 each morning.... go figure? i know that part is unrelated to rls, but figured if their were any diabetics reading this....perhaps they could try the multi vitamin and fish oil..

badnights
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Post by badnights »

venus, I have to tell my 3 siblings about the fish oil & multivitamin (and iron); they all have Type 1 diabetes. I'm the only one who escaped. But I have severe RLS. My sister got RLS during her 3 pregnancies and my 2 brothers have it at sub-treatment levels. I think there might be some kind of obscure, indirect genetic link.

I found an article a while ago that explains the discovery of a genetic link between celiac and diabetes (below, incase you're interested), and since it's suspected that celiac can cause secondary RLS, I suppose that's some kind of link, but I don't think it explains the coincidence of disease in my family because we don't have celiac. That I know of.

Anyway, I think the observation of worse RLS during changing and extreme blood sugar is interesting. Are you taking any meds for RLS?

Smyth et al, 2008, NEJM wrote:Background Two inflammatory disorders, type 1 diabetes and celiac disease, cosegregate in populations, suggesting a common genetic origin. Since both diseases are associated with the HLA class II genes on chromosome 6p21, we tested whether non-HLA loci are shared.

Conclusions A genetic susceptibility to both type 1 diabetes and celiac disease shares common alleles. These data suggest that common biologic mechanisms, such as autoimmunity-related tissue damage and intolerance to dietary antigens, may be etiologic features of both diseases.

venus
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bethf

Post by venus »

no im not any meds for rls. LUCKILY....... within 5 days of being on iron my rls has stopped. I did take a half a mg of kolonopin for sleep the the first cpl nights after seeing doc and before the iron kicked in..but thats it.

badnights
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Post by badnights »

fantastic. Wish I could get IV iron.

kfletcher, are you on RLS meds?

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