kazinja
Posts: 24
Joined: 8/15/2006
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I tend to agree with most of the excellent advice above and would like to add a few remarks inspired by my own experiences and those of my patients.
RLS can be caused by a number of things: e.g. PTSD, nutritive deficiencies, hidden food allergies (or other immunological problems) and dehydration.
With your citing of a car accident and back problems, PTSD is a very probable factor. That's for a neurologist or traumatologist, not for a forum, I'm afraid. It's best trying to take away other possible aggravating factors.
Mineral deficiencies, as already stated, are a very common cause. In the order I see it in my practice: magnesium, potassium and calcium. You might start suppletion in that order and experiment, so you don't take supplements you don't need. There tends to be a large deficit in magnesium and potassium in the modern diet, as compared to the optimal "stone age" diet, for which we were designed. Calcium is not so much a problem as widely advertised, most of the time it is more an uptake than an intake thing and calcium is used by the body to neutralise over-acidic situations, caused by our western diet.
Thyroid levels: the thyroid is not always the culprit. Insufficient conversion of inactive T4 into the active T3 form is dependent on Selenium. A moderate suppletion with an organic form of selenium like seleno-methionin could be considered.
"Aspartame is not your friend": well said! Try and see what quitting products containing aspartame does for you. Not everyone is sensitive; just quit for a few weeks and then re-introduce again to see if complaints go and return. Especially the diluted form of aspartame (soda drinks stored in warm environments) seems to give more complaints because of harmful metabolites.
Subclinical food-allergies could play a role, as most affected joints are rich in lymph-nodes, that could react to immunological agents circulating in the blood (chemokines, cytokines). Tissue dehydration might just make the difference in the biochemistry going on there, so try to drink a large glass of water when the RLS pops up and see what happens in about 20 minutes. This is the one thing that does the trick for me every night! The gain of sleep outweighs the possible extra visits to the bathroom during the night!
Extensive food intolerance essays can reveal hidden food intolerances, at a considerable cost though. It is not looked upon favourably by mainstream medicine and it is not covered by health insurance. Google a combination of "York allergy food test" for more information. This could be the thing for you if you have lots of vague unexplained complaints like malaise, problems with weight loss, regularly occurring infections, allergies, fatigue etc.
Warm showers (not too hot!) on the affected joints might help by increasing the blood flow. I do not understand how smoking helps you, because it rather tends to reduce blood flow. Quitting smoking is one of the things you can do against RLS, as stated above!
Excercise should be of the light kind, improving circulation around the joints by flexing and stretching them, rather than the kind that adds muscle and burns calories. It's good for the veins too, as an impaired venal return flow can add to the problem.
In my view, the suggested pharmaceuticals would be an option only as a means of last resort. They do have adverse side effects. I won't name them here, as one can find them in a few seconds on the internet. Because it influences sleeping behaviour, I would not recommend this to the OP as a remedy of first choice.
Ropinirol (tradename Requip) is marketed in Europe as Requip for Parkinson only and as Adartrel for RLS, but this could be different in the USA. Inform yourself on this drug too, as it is not free of adverse effects, including sometimes worsening of RLS and sleep attacks during daytime activities.
This is meant as information only and is no substitute for a consultation with your own medical professional of choice.
Hope any of this may help you. Please let me know if it does; the extra information may help other patients!
K/R
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Need help..restless leg syndrom - 
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Thanks teachme, will definately keep this in mind.
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