WED and general health

[rthom]

My health has declined without any idea why. Olbvious things like all my teeth are deteorating and falling out prematurely--i'm only 45--I am carefull and don't engage in any of he olbvious. The allergies are far worse, asmtha is much worse--(bad enough to requiring hospital intervention on occasion), Complete physical exhaustion making things like eating a chore.
The recent bloodwork shows a b12 deficiency--may require shots. But other than that, nothing wrong.
Question for those older WED folks, does this sound like the natural sort of progression you've experienced?

[badnights]

Randy I would guess it's the chronic lack of sleep causing this. I'm fairly satisfactorily medicated now and get a decent amount of sleep at night so I don't have a lot of health issues. People on this board before have noted how commonly RLS/WED patients end up at the doctor's for various non-RLS issues. It seems to be a common theme that general health deteriorates as RLS progresses, but that might only be applicable to untreated or inadequately treated RLS.

[ViewsAskew]

Beth, my guess is that you're right on target - the WED itself doesn't cause it, but the chronic lack of sleep might.

[Polar Bear]

Over the past 3 years I have had a great deterioration in health matters and had just put it down to getting older etc. Practically all of my issues would involve arthritis and related similar conditions.

Also in the past 9 months I have lost 3 teeth, all crowns which sheared off at the gum and each root was fractured and had to be removed and so it wasn't possible to replace the crowns. I had put this down to being on a high dose steroid for 18 months which included the weaning off period.

[badnights]

I rebel against attributing decline to age. I don't think physical decline is a necessary part of aging. Perhaps that's just wishful thinking

[rthom]

i've shyed away from talking about my teeth (fear dying of embarrassment) this has been an ongoing concern. Here if you loose your teeth, there is not coverage for plates etc. So your health has to suffer. My teeth represent are rotting and falling apart--over and over my dentist tries to patch them up, but i'm down by 3-4 now this year. Also as i have to have my own business the less teeth i have the less money i make. It's the reality of life. My health takes my teeth requiring money which in turn take away my income to provide the repair. Make sense? That's all assuming that the teeth arn't as i assume a window into my overall health. I believe my bones are breaking far easier, but how do you prove this? I believe if the teeth are the last to rot in the grave they must be pretty tough, and mine are pitted along the top and crumbling, which suggests the rest of my innerds must be a mess. I don't talk about this because folks assume it's a cleanliness issue instead of a health issue--i don't need the negativity or stigma.

[jstep]

Randy,

I am 58 and already have dentures. And I promise you, I brushed my teeth probably more than the average person. Lack of sleep and stress can cause more health problems than most of us want to admit or even be aware of. But I do understand what you are saying. So many people have preconceived ideas about certain health problems. What is that saying....Until you've walked a mile in my shoes? (something like that)

Jamie

[rthom]

true enough. i'm only 44 and i would be surprised to get another year out of my existing teeth. Don't know what i 'll do after that. Certainly can't afford plates etc. Anyone got a good used pair for sale?
I brought this up because insurance companies will pay for a lot of other things and not teeth. Is a finger more necessary than teeth? I don't know.

[jstep]

I was a little luckier. I have dental insurance that paid 50% of the dentures. Still cost a fortune, but I don't know what I would have done without the insurance. I also had to get hearing aids a couple of years ago but insurance didn't help with them at all. Guess it's not that important to hear. I better stop here, sorta sounds like I'm falling apart

Jamie

[Polar Bear]

rthom,here in UK we have our National Health Service which is free
(actually not free as we pay for it via our government taxes out of our paychecks).

extractions and dental work is charged by the item with a % covered by the NHS. The patient's contribution is capped at around £400. However for instance the NHS plate/denture is pink acrylic with white teeth.... I went privately and had a chrome plate made at a acost of £500, it took 5 weeks to get the chrome fitting back. Added to this the dentist' work of extracting three fractured roots and a couple of minor things my bill was £590. I think perhaps not expensive in US terms.

Also with regard to your hearing aids, my brother has them fitted and it cost around £600. this was for private hearing aids. Those provided by the NHS Are rather obvious.

[rthom]

I'M in Canada but the cost is about $5000 a plate, just not going to happen. Things like this I put out because it seems so outrageous really. Not only because this is the cheap fix but because no one seems to complain or notice it as backward.
Thanks for the info, gives me something to think about.
I have put in a special exception request for 1 tooth but it's according to the dentist likely to be turned down.
Even if they agree it comes with me having to agree to not expense either of the teeth beside it. So i'll need to pay for their extraction--which in my case will be surgery (brittleness--they are all breaking off just below the gums), translation--thousands of dollars on surgical costs to get the roots out to stop the infections.

[ViewsAskew]

Not sure if you're near a big city...or if any schools do what the schools by me do.

Dental colleges in the US offer reduced-fee services provided by the students. I used the services at the University of Illinois at Chicago dental school. I had to wait to get in, but it was worth it. I had 3 or 4 very experienced teachers helping the two students who worked on me. The teachers oversaw everything, made the students think through all the options, and made sure they didn't forget anything.

[badnights]

Rnady, if you're anywhere near Edmonton the U of Alberta has a school of dentistry where excellent care is provided at minimal cost. I know someone who got pretty much his whole mouth replaced bit by bit when he was a teenager - that was a long time ago now, but I imagine they still do it. And if you're at the other end of the country, U of T must have the same sort of thing, or any of the smaller universities. What a good idea, Views.

[rthom]

Thanks will check

[rthom]

Had to chime in one last time--Just got a picture of the poor student having to do the new procedure and deal with someone that's about to jump up at any minute too--Poor student!!! Maybe it's time for the teacher to have a WED person to learn about, if they haven't already.