Elevation and Humidity

[stockton2malone2]

I've been tinkering around and noticed I do quite a bit better at lower elevations, and am currently tinkering with humidity levels to confirm whether that makes a difference. It seems to help my RLS severity but also just my general quality of sleep to a surprising degree. Does anyone else have experience with these variables and how did they impact your RLS and overall sleep quality?

[Rustsmith]

I went from one extreme to the other and didn't see much change in my RLS. I lived in metro Houston (elevation about 65 ft) and if the humidity was less than 70 or 80%, it was the middle of a drought. I now live in Colorado at an elevation of almost exactly 6000 ft and where the only time that the humidity goes above about 10% is when it is raining or snowing (or about to). We frequently see clouds with moisture falling, but nothing hits the ground because it evaporates before it lands.

[badnights]

iirc @debbluebird had worsened WED/RLS at higher altitudes, or at least, it seemed so for a time.

There is some evidence that leg muscles are low in oxygen in WED/RLS patients. Increased symptoms at altitude would be reasonable, to my mind, if WED/RLS is indeed related to muscle hypoxia (low oxygen in the muscles).

[Rustsmith]

Deb's problems turned out to be much more complex than just a matter of altitude. She lived in an area where the altitude was about 10,000 ft and iirc her RLS got a bit better when she moved to an area where it was about 5,000. A bigger altitude benefit for her was for her sleep apnea.