Of course Direct-to-Consumer drug company advertising isresponsible for our just recently hearing of the condition. Whatabout RLS? Is it a disease, a disorder, a fake, a come-on? You-Tubehosts advertising spoofs for the condition and Rush Limbaugh issaid to have had an RLS spoof commercial running for years.
I think most of the ads are funny. And I wouldn't dream of taking apill to stop the feeling that I'm about to kick through the frontpassenger compartment of our car into the engine area because Imust stretch my legs or jump out of the vehicle and off the nearestbridge. Evidently, I "suffer from" RLS.
I'm not really fond of diseases, especially the popular ones,because they allow neither a life of comfort nor one of martyrdom.How can I suffer boldly in a disease claimed by 15% of thepopulation? (Most studies state 2.7%--still, it's not rare.) Ifirst noticed it as an automobile passenger on our weekend jauntsup to the high country--an elevation 3300 feet, minimum, above wherewe live, where, I might add, the air is thin enough at 3900 feetabove Los Angeles where I lived just previously!
At first I figured it was the cramped quarters, that I merelyneeded more leg room. However, a couple of shopping trips to said"high country" in our roomy sedan squashed that notion. I was sure,however, nothing was wrong with me, because, as I suggested before,
RLS is not a disease that can make one a hero.
As a person with a bent toward taking care of my body in as naturaland holistic a fashion as I can, I first reviewed "what haschanged?" I blamed it on carbon monoxide and shut off the outsideair sucking in fumes from the cars in front of us. But my legsstill twitched--or made me twitch them!
Then I suspected the 90-minute drive was taking me farther awayfrom water than I was used to at my desk, where I could sip everyfew minutes all day long, eventually consuming my recommendedcouple quarts a day. Hmmm. That led me to realize that on weekends,when we usually take our jaunts, I wasn't even sitting at my deskprior to going out. Perhaps I was cleaning house, working up asweat in the yard, hiking--any number of less-regulated than myfive-day-a-week activities. I may have been low on fluids beforeleaving home.
What happens next? I asked myself. With less fluid in the body,there will be less oxygen in the body, especially in theextremities. I don't know about you, but my legs are quite a bitlonger than my arms (which are a bit short for my height), so I wasgoing with "legs" as my extreme extremities.
I started gulping bottled water like my life depended upon it,because, as I indicated, if I didn't, I might have to fling openthe car door and hurl myself to the roadside so I could stretch mylegs farther than the leg-length room I had when the passenger seatwas pushed all the way back and I could barely reach the floorboard.
About the time I thought half a pint helped, I'd be attacked by theinvisible worms crawling under my skin, grinding my lower legmuscles into helpless compliance. I'd jerk and twist and adjust myseatbelt. Maybe a little more water would help. I wasn't surewhether the next pint did the trick or was it arriving at ourdestination and being able to get out of the car and walk that
helped?
Of course, I continued to contemplate how walking--and thewater--both contributed to my relief. Fortunately, I've not been oneto experience RLS very often in bed, so it hasn't usually kept meawake. I've felt it enough to empathize with all those who do,however. RLS, per se¸ is not about sleep disruption as much as itis about a discomfort that begs to be called incomprehensible pain,except...it isn't pain. It's merely "discomfort." A discomfort socompelling, one would....nevermind; people with RLS aren'tnecessarily psychotic!
Some of the early names for the condition were anxietas tibialis,crazy legs, Ekbom syndrome, hereditary acromelalgia, nocturnalmyoclonus, and Wittmaack-Ekbom syndrome. You see a suggestion herefor a hereditary component. That needs to be investigated further.My immediate suspicion is lifestyle passed on from parents tochildren, on and on. But I could be wrong.
Another piece of scientific data is less at odds with my ownobservations than "heredity." That is anemia. Even slight anemia.What does that have to do with dehydration? Blood carries oxygen.Less blood (dehydration) equals less oxygen. Less iron in the blood(the oxygen-carrying workhorse) also equals less oxygen. Morecarbon monoxide in the blood--again, less oxygen.
It's possible our modern diet is less iron-rich. We get lessexercise. We drink more "beverages" than water. Meanwhile, it's avery uncomfortable condition that keeps millions of people awakewhen they'd rather be sleeping. I wonder if a tall glass of waterand a walk around the block a couple of hours before bedtime mighthelp us avoid $60/month in Requip prescriptions?
If you opt for medication, take it with lots of water and a quickwalk! It can't hurt.
And maybe better yet, before you start pumping your body full oftoxic drugs (can you believe the long list of side effects that come with these drugs . . . and people still take them!?) try the Digital Sandman program. If it helps - it helps. And if itdoesn't Holothink will refund 100% of your money (unlike yourdoctor and his drug making buddies).
On behalf of Holothink - Peter Hill
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