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This message was from LINDA CUMMINGS to NORM MACNEIL, originally in conference FMEDICAL and was forwarded to you by EDWIN PARTRIDGE. NIGHT WALKERS Do your legs seem to have a life of their own? Your torment has a name by Robert Yoakum Those who have restless legs syndrome take it very seriously, but they have an awful time putting their symptoms into words. That's one reason the condition is so often shrugged off by doctors. One cannot describe the sensation in conventional terms. Some typical efforts: "It's a creepy-crawly sensation like a thousand tiny worms working their way through my leg muscles"; "it feels like bugs crawling up and down my leg"; "it's like my legs have a life of their own." Scientists call all such sensations paresthesia. Symptoms of paresthesia also include "numbness, tingling, or a 'pins and needles' feeling," according to The Mosby Medical Encyclopedia. To relieve these symptoms RLS sufferers feel they must walk, no matter how tired they are. Like the inhabitants of a nocturnal hell, they are doomed to move while the rest of the world sleeps. The most seriously afflicted may have to walk all night, so when they say they haven't slept, they mean it - literally. RLS affects nearly 5 percent of the population, according to the Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation, and the majority of those are middle-aged or older. Most of its victims have only mild cases, but more than a million suffer from a severe form. A recent short item about the condition in the Harvard Health Letter brought what one editor called "a ton of mail." Sufferers were relieved to learn they were not alone and that their torment had a name. They were equally glad to find relief exists, although there is no known cure for the condition at this time. Astonishingly, many doctors and nurses have never heard of RLS or, if they have, don't take it seriously. Every medical expert interviewed for this article agrees with what Joseph F. Lipinski, Jr., M.D., of the Medical University of South Carolina, said: "This syndrome is unbelievably common and can completely disrupt a patient's life. Yet it is virtually unrecognized by general physicians. It isn't taught in medical schools, and it can be mistaken for other disorders such as anxiety." Confusion is compounded for the layperson because RLS, in nearly 90 percent of all cases, is accompanied by something called periodic limb movements in sleep, also known as nocturnal myoclonus. PLMS symptoms are leg twitches that occur every 20 to 40 seconds during sleep (and sometimes during wakefulness). These regular twitches, which can also keep sufferers awake, can occur independently of RLS. Some people discover they have PLMS only after their bed partner protests at being continually kicked. PLMS should not be confused with full-body jolts, experienced by many on the edge of sleep, which are called hypnic jerks. Nor should RLS be confused with nighttime leg cramps. A crawling sensation How do you know if you have RLS? The odds are that you do if (a) you have a disagreeable "crawling" sensation in the legs, (b) you need to move your legs to relieve the sensation, (c) you are usually afflicted in the evening or at night, and (d) you are even more aware of the symptoms when you lie down. Although symptoms begin shortly after a person retires for the night, some also suffer during the day. These people are often unable to nap or even sit still for more than a few minutes. When symptoms occur around the clock, it can become impossible to work, travel, or even sit down for an entire meal. People use some ingenious tactics in an attempt to reduce the effect of daytime RLS. One woman's husband went so far as to rig a stationary bicycle in their van so while he drove she could cycle. Another sufferer, unable to sit still in an airplane, wrote to the airline president and obtained permission to stand at the back of the plane during flight. No matter when the symptoms occur, relief can only be obtained by walking, massaging or stretching muscles, using hot or cold compresses, doing deep knee bends, working the legs in a bicycling motion, or when immense fatigue explodes into anger, emulating a woman in Arlington, Texas, who "began to beat on my legs with my fists." This woman was told she had a calcium deficiency, a hormonal problem, that she was on the go too much, that she was getting too much - or not enough - exercise, that she was on her feet - or sitting - too long. She found out the name of her problem only after reading a newspaper article about the Night Walkers, a national support group known officially as the RLS Foundation. Thanks in large part to two * SLMR 2.1a * McLean Virginia USA Wed 02-01-95 6:09 pm --- * KMail 3.00y