Wierd things that bring on WED/RLS

[badnights]

I've started a list of things that seem to bring on WED sensations. I think there's more but I'll add to the list if they come to me. Some of these might be peculiar to me but intrigued by FigFlower's comments I thought I would see if others have noticed any of this.

1. Full bowel.
Notes: Not every time, though, which is what makes it weird. I eat late at night a lot, because I'm all out of whack, so sometimes I go to bed shortly after eating at 2 or 3 AM. Frequently when this has happened, I am awakened by nasty WED/RLS, only to realize after I get up that I'm ready for a bowel movement.
Reason: the guts are full of opioid receptors and opioids relieve WED sensations. Is there a link?

2. Holding my breath.
Notes: there are some yogic breathing exercises that involve holding the breath, and when I reach a certain point, some bit of time before I really need to breathe in, the WED sensations increase rapidly from zero to full blast.
Reason: low oxygen levels in the legs have been implicated in RLS/WED. Maybe something to do with that.

3. Forward bends.
Reason: They're said to be relaxing, and we know relaxation triggers WED>

4. Two or more days in a row of hard exercise (high intensity interval training / HIIT) combined with poor sleep and/or poor diet.
Notes: WED is worse the night after a number of intense workouts in a row. I don't think it ever happens after just one day of HIIT. I also am pretty sure I used to be able to work out 2 or more days without increased WED, but recently I can't escape it, so I think there needs to be some other factor too - prolonged poor sleep or improper nutrition being the two candidates in my life right now.
Reason: Lack of oxygen in the muscles? (but how long does it take for the oxygen levels to restore?) Lactic acid? Lowered glycogen stores?

5. Physical relaxation (OK, this is not wierd or new)
Reason (from things I've read): muscle activation sends signals thru peripheral nerves that block the continuous background of WED signals (But why is there a continuous background of WED signals?)

[figflower]

Yes, yes, yes and yes. Nothing like a 3am bathroom visit to put an end to RLS and IBS, within seconds, but has to be pretty complete. On the downside, for a long time I noticed that I would get oh so sleepy within an hour or two of awakening even though I felt fine initially. I finally realized that the sleepiness (ridiculous sleepiness) happened right after going to the bathroom. I looked it up on the internet and other people complained of that same symptom. I did more googling and found out that dopamine is released when going to the bathroom. I don't think that was the cause of the sleepiness in my case. I've been on anti-fungals for a yeast overgrowth and I no longer get sleepy after going to the bathroom in the morning. And the IBS is so much better that I rarely awaken at 3am with cramps and RLS. I think the reason my RLS was relieved at night was because enough bacteria and their by-products were pooped out and my body's red alert shut off, albeit temporarily. When you eat, especially at night and everything moves along, the bacteria in the colon start to party (so I think) and our body senses "infection" and withholds circulating iron via the release of hepcidin. So combine that withholding with a natural drop in circulating iron at night, and genetically low levels of brain iron and you have full blown RLS. Get rid of some of the partiers and the iron flows once again. Doesn't take much to trigger RLS and doesn't take much to quiet it down...for me

Not to sound like a broken record but I read one girl's story where she would be on a stationery bike at full tilt and at some point the RLS would kick in so bad that she would literally go flying off the bike to relieve it. I researched what could be behind this kind of madness and it seems that hypoxia will inhibit the release of dopamine. Every dark cloud has a silver lining. It seems that hypoxia will also up-regulate dopamine receptors. Maybe that's why on some of these addiction websites they recommend anaerobic exercise to up-regulate receptors. Sometimes they do this not to overcome addiction but to get a better high...up-regulate their receptors that is. Soooooo unfair, the vast majority of the world can peddle their hearts out on a stationery bike and never feel a twinge of RLS and in the long run up-regulate their receptors and feel great. We have to suffer every step of the way in our journey to up-regulate our receptors. Same for Uridine Monophosphate, the vast majority of the world who take it for drug addiction or depression can do so at night and never get RLS and eventually up-regulate their receptors. I take it at night and I get RLS all night long, way longer than Tagamet or benedryl. So maybe we keep the hypoxia and the Uridine to the morning hours???

[Yankiwi]

Triggers are really odd. What might trigger one person's rls one night won't the next.
I use active forward bends to sort my legs out when I wake up with symptoms. I bend over and swing my hips and arms from side to side then still in a forward bend spin my arms like an old fashioned egg beater for about ten spins going inward then ten going out, if that makes sense. Also in a forward bend if I rub both calves vigorously up and down about 20 times that sometimes helps and after five to 15 minutes of this sort of exercise (and active downward dogs) I can usually get back to sleep. And I take low doses of ropinerole and Tramadol. I'd hate to do without them.

[badnights]

clarification: only still forward bends brings it on for me, and only in the evenings /nights

[figflower]

Hi Badnights. Just had a large meal tonight before a day of fasting and the RLS has sprung to life. It will probably be gone by 1am but in the meantime I'm going to try one "sure cure" per hour. The RLSIs pretty bad right now, and includes my arms. Hopefully I can get a good read on the treatments. First niacin, then potassium, and finally mustard if the RLS is still there at midnight when my stomach should be less full.

[badnights]

Did it work?

[figflower]

No, thank you for asking. Niacin is not the magic bullet I would like it to be. Plus it was an unfair test. I thought the RLS was in my arms but they were sore from a day of lifting and cleaning. Anyways the niacin always works while I am flushing and for a short while thereafter. Plus it makes me so sleeeepy. A really pleasant sleepy. I could see becoming addicted to it. I've come to like the flush and the post relaxed feeling. Never made it to the potassium. Which I also know works but just for two hours at most. I am subject heartburn and one time I traded RLS for very bad heartburn thanks to the potassium/cream of tartar. Since after the niacin I noticed that I had some heartburn I skipped the potassium and ran for the zinc carnosine (zinc is great for heartburn) and the iron. You have to be careful with potassium. My dad was put on a diuretic and the doctor also prescribed a horsepill size potassium pill. I work with a woman who developed reflux (never had it before) when she took one of those pills on an empty stomach and she thinks it may even have dissolved near her esophagus because she laid down right after she took it. There are other reports of that exact same thing happening. Anyways, I told the pharmacist to hold the potassium and I got my father some potassium from Whole Foods. The pills were so tiny and I took them to the pharmacist and he said you can't just take more of those pills to equal the horse size pill because the ones from Whole Food are more bio-available. He would still have to take about six to equal the one horse pill. Plus the pharmacist explained that OTC potassium is always small because you don't want to over-do (or under-do) potassium. It all worked out but the point is potassium is tricky. Turmeric is tricky too. Researchers are really looking at turmeric closely. They think it has a lot of potential, especially as an anti-inflammatory and mild pain reliever. But it is poorly absorbed from the intestinal track. And there's a reason for that. There's something in Turmeric that our bodies want to keep out, if I remember correctly. Anyways, they say that absorption is greatly increased by taking lecithin or even just any old little bit of fat. Lastly, the incidence of RLS is supposed to be much lower in India but better studies are needed to verify this fact. If it's true, maybe it's the constant consumption of turmeric.

[Yankiwi]

Lastly, the incidence of RLS is supposed to be much lower in India but better studies are needed to verify this fact. If it's true, maybe it's the constant consumption of turmeric.

That's interesting. Alzheimer's is lower in India and turmeric is supposed to play a part. I wonder how RLS breaks down among ethnic groups and races.

[figflower]

Yankiwi, you are going to love the below study. So much more studying is necessary but the figures are astounding. It makes it seem like RLS is non-existent in India:

Ren Fail. 2004 Jan;26(1):69-72.

Low prevalence of restless legs syndrome in patients with advanced chronic renal failure in the Indian population: a case controlled study.

Bhowmik D1, Bhatia M, Tiwari S, Mahajan S, Gupta S, Agarwal SK, Dash SC.
Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is reported to occur in 20-70% of uremic patients. There is no study from India regarding the prevalence of RLS in chronic renal failure (CRF) patients. Studies from other Asian countries have shown a much lower prevalence compared to the West. This study investigated the prevalence of RLS in patients with advanced CRF in the Indian population.

PATIENTS AND METHODS:

Sixty-five CRF patients and 99 controls were evaluated using a predesigned standard questionnaire. The control group consisted of prospective renal donors.

RESULTS:

The mean age of our patients was 42.4 +/- 14.9 years as compared to 43.7 +/- 11.2 years (p = NS). The distribution of cause of CRF was as follows: diabetes 38.5%, hypertension 13.9%, chronic interstitial nephritis 29.2% and chronic glomerulonephritis 18.4%. RLS was present in 1 patient (1.5%) and none of the controls.

CONCLUSION:

The prevalence of RLS in CRF patients in India is very low as compared to the Western population.

[Yankiwi]

This is not directly related to "Wierd things that bring on WED/RLS", it's just a story, but I couldn't find a better place to slot it in.

Two days ago I had an excellent night. I was only up twice, not for long each time and was able to get back to sleep.
I asked myself what might have contributed to such a good night, could it have been the freshly cut new season's asparagus I had for dinner?

Last night, allowing for more spears to push through the soil, I had asparagus again and quite a bad, rather, typical night.

Did I really think the asparagus had helped promote my good night's sleep? No.
Did I hope it had? Of course.

I think we may be like baseball players, when something goes well we want to keep doing it, but that usually isn't the way WED works.

[ViewsAskew]

Yankiwi, there is relatively compelling research that shows we (humans) have what I'd call a bit of a flaw, lol.

It seems we hate not knowing the cause, so our minds work at something until we figure it out. The problem? It doesn't matter if the answer we come up with makes sense, lol. Our brain has to have AN answer....it doesn't have to be the right answer.

http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/ ... ed-answers

I know I have better links to this topic....just can't find them .

[Yankiwi]

The essay from The New Yorker was very interesting. We just want to know an answer, even if it is wrong! With RLS, I think we hope to replicate a success or avoid distress, both of which are often impossible.

[ViewsAskew]

Glad you enjoyed it. There is a much better piece I've sent to people before, but I couldn't find it in my favorites. Same premise, though .