Alright, so I set out to write this post about how ridiculous this disorder must be, but since reading the Wikipedia definition of it, I feel a bit guilty about jumping to such a conclusion;
Many people tap their feet or shake their legs resulting from a nervous tic, consumption of stimulants, drug side-effects or other factors; this is usually innocuous, unnoticed, and does not interfere with daily life, quite distinct from Restless Leg Syndrome. Restless Leg Syndrome is very different. With a nervous tic, someone does not necessarily notice it, but in RLS it is very noticeable. With a nervous tic, someone may tap their leg or foot, but with RLS you feel an undescribable sensation in your legs that can most closely be compared to a burning, itching sensation in the muscles of the legs or arms.
Apparently it is much misunderstood.
I got this topic from the Wired Science video podcast, which portrays the different sides of this.. debate? Whatever, anyway, this reminds me of this thing called alien hand syndrome that I heard of once. It’s a disorder which forces a person to do things with one or both of their hands that they have not chosen to do, like switching on a light or knocking over a glass.
If I were not undecided on the veracity of this disorder I would pretend to have it myself. For laughs.
November 18, 2007 at 9:10 pm
lol, that reminds me of the ‘de-personalisation’ and ‘de-realisation’ that i get sometimes. I think i told you about it.
It can be quite distrubing, but tom and will take the piss out of me for it anyway.
November 19, 2007 at 5:23 pm
Um….it’s totally real. I have it, my mom has it, my sister has it, etc. For them, it’s not a big deal in the sense they have it only once a month or so. But, I have it everyday, all day, all night. It’s truly a “real” disease – sometimes called a movement disorder, sometimes a sleep disorder. The movement occurs because you feel a horrible sensation that you HAVE to make go away. Moving around is the only way to do it. Not to bad when you’re making dinner, but beyond terrible when it’s 3 AM and you have to be up at 6 to go to work and the only way to stop it is to stand and walk. Hard to sleep that way.
So, just wanted to say thanks for being honest about it. It’s an easy disorder to make fun of – it has a stupid name and doctors haven’t studied it, even though it’s been written about since the 1600’s. But, it is real and it’s recently gotten in the crossfire due to the medical advertisements. I agree to an extent that the drug companies have only worked on drugs for it so they could make easy money, but that doesn’t take away the fact that up to 10% of the population has it and about 3% of the population needs drugs for it because they suffer from it at least 4-5 days a week.
So, again, thanks for being open-minded enough to research it a bit and being willing to admit how you think.
December 13, 2007 at 10:24 pm
To suggest Restless Leg Syndrome itself was invented by the drug companies, that people are just seeking to dispense with mere “unpleasantries of life”, this condition being a laughable inconvenience –is wrong. ok, it’s not a *major* disease, but frustrating, and only gets worse over time as patience wears thin.
I’ve had this issue years now (started sometime after college), before I heard the term. After some discussion I’ve discovered my grandfather had it, thought he just made up a silly name for it.
Mostly i would just tell folks i ‘didn’t sleep well’. Understandably, it caught a lot of people off-guard, became a joke by those who don’t know anything about it. It nearly become a punch line with friends, folks saying “have you heard this; what the drug companies have totally drummed up?”. Until I explained, it’s real, ~you~ have no idea. and Ok, sure, it sounds a little funny too.
I haven’t found any lifestyle changes including exercise to directly correlate –though staying hydrated helps mute symptoms at night.
I’ve gotten suggestions for Shao Yao Gancao Tang in granules, 3 scoops 3x/day. The alternative, magnesium glycinate / magnesium citrate (minimum dose, suggested liquid CalMag). Also read somewhere that nitrates make it worse, and tonic water might help. haven’t confirmed. I can say staying hydrated at night helps.
I *have* tried the Hyland’s Restfull Legs, OTC homeopathy remedy, and have to say it works ~remarkably~ well, reasonably quick too. Awesome. Plus you only need to take it as symptoms arise –no changing your body chemistry as with the Rx meds. Personally, I’m not interested in the new Rx meds, you have to take daily for them to work.