Why RSL?

[Guest guest]

I am wondering why everybody is suffering from RLS. Suddenly there are

ads on television for it. It's like RSI, once we label it as an

illness, suddenly everyone suffers from it. Why not see RLS as maybe an

anxiety offshoot. Also it seems that RLS typically ocurs in certain

personalities. Also it goes hand in hand with GAD if you ask me. 20

years ago everyone suffered from ulshers, where did those go? I think

we have to be carefull about blowing up every symptom so that it

becomes an illness of it's own, wich we then need to conquer again. Why

not apply ACT and Lifestyle changes to RLS instead of looking for a

cure for it. I realy think a lot of the modern illnesses are used as

avoidance for our real problems in life. What do you people think of

this?

Greetings, Mark

[Guest guest]

I don't watch TV, so I have no idea what the mainstream is talking

about. But many 'experts' in alternative health care believe that RLS

is caused primarily by mineral deficiencies -- mainly a magnesium

deficiency, which is extremely common given the food supply, and the

typical American diet (a majority of the population is magnesium

deficient.) and the problem tends to increase with age. Magnesium is

responsible for innumerable processes in the body and will actually

help anxiety. Which came first, the anxiety/muscle tension or the

deficiency? I don't know, but I do know that taking magnesium along

with other minerals will help both. As I mentioned in my earlier

post, I had RLS for years, and I don't have a problem any longer since

I started using mineral supplements. Yet I do still have anxiety.

Of course, this is not to say that using ACT principles would not be

helpful with this condition. However, if you've experienced RLS

before, you would know just how incredibly difficult it is to do

anything about it. You can't essentially. It is not like 'regular'

muscle tension. The cramping will force you to continually move your

legs, no matter how much relaxation or " allowing " you attempt to bring

to your body and mind. It's not a fun thing to have to go through for

hours every night, night after night.

~

>

> I am wondering why everybody is suffering from RLS. Suddenly there are

> ads on television for it. It's like RSI, once we label it as an

> illness, suddenly everyone suffers from it. Why not see RLS as maybe an

> anxiety offshoot. Also it seems that RLS typically ocurs in certain

> personalities. Also it goes hand in hand with GAD if you ask me. 20

> years ago everyone suffered from ulshers, where did those go? I think

> we have to be carefull about blowing up every symptom so that it

> becomes an illness of it's own, wich we then need to conquer again. Why

> not apply ACT and Lifestyle changes to RLS instead of looking for a

> cure for it. I realy think a lot of the modern illnesses are used as

> avoidance for our real problems in life. What do you people think of

> this?

> Greetings, Mark

>

[Guest guest]

Hi . I am definitely not saying it isn't a real disturbing

syndrome. But stress and anxiety seems to have all kinds of offshoots.

Like depersonalisation, diziness, ringing ear, and maybe also RLS.

Sometimes I think we focus to much on symptoms then on the real

underlying cause. And before you know, the pharma industry notices this

and boom! there is this epidemic syndrome. I happens way to much if you

ask me! It could very well be that western diet contains not enough

magnesium. But I see no harm in taking magnesium for RLS. I do see harm

in taking medications for RLS since no long-term effects are known.

[Guest guest]

Mark,

In my opinion, automatically attributing a problem to 'stress' can be

just as unhelpful as automatically attributing it to a sydrome or an

illness.

I think the best approach is to address these kinds of problems safely

and pragmatically from all available angles.

So, in the case of insomnia, the best approach would be to combine

internal ACT work with a search for any external factors that might be

worsening the sleep problem. Such factors could include annoying noise

or light in the bedroom, uncomfortable bedroom temperature, caffeine or

alcohol intake, lack of exercise, allergies to medication currently

being taken, or, in Greg's case, possibly RLS, which could very well be

the result of other problems.

Where I think we would agree is on the pharmaceutical question.

Pharmaceutical intervention should be an absolute last resort. As many

of us know, pharmaceuticals rarely work well, especially in the long

term, and most of them tend to create a litany of their own problems,

some of which can be permanent.

>

> I am wondering why everybody is suffering from RLS. Suddenly there

are

> ads on television for it. It's like RSI, once we label it as an

> illness, suddenly everyone suffers from it. Why not see RLS as maybe

an

> anxiety offshoot. Also it seems that RLS typically ocurs in certain

> personalities. Also it goes hand in hand with GAD if you ask me. 20

> years ago everyone suffered from ulshers, where did those go? I think

> we have to be carefull about blowing up every symptom so that it

> becomes an illness of it's own, wich we then need to conquer again.

Why

> not apply ACT and Lifestyle changes to RLS instead of looking for a

> cure for it. I realy think a lot of the modern illnesses are used as

> avoidance for our real problems in life. What do you people think of

> this?

> Greetings, Mark

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Mark,

RLS puzzled me as well. I just came

across the following.

From the excellent Public Library of

Science Medicine, April 2006 edition

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-toc & issn=1549-1676 & volume=3 & issue=4

Giving Legs to Restless Legs: A Case Study of How the Media

Helps Make People Sick – see attached .pdf

The Case of Restless Legs Syndrome

To get a sense

of how the media works in the context of a major disease promotion effort, we

examined news coverage of “restless legs” In 2003, GlaxoKline launched

a campaign to promote awareness about restless legs syndrome, beginning with

press releases about presentations at the American Academy of Neurology meeting

describing the early trial results of using ropinirole (a drug previously

approved for Parkinson disease) for the treatment of restless legs [6,7]. Two months

later, GlaxoKline issued a new press release entitled “New survey

reveals common yet under recognized disorder—restless legs

syndrome—is keeping Americans awake at night” about an internally

funded and, at the time, unpublished study [8]. In 2005, the

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ropinirole for the treatment of

restless legs syndrome (the first drug approved specifically for this

indication). Since then, the restless legs campaign has developed into a

multimillion dollar international effort to “push restless legs syndrome

into the consciousness of doctors and consumers alike” [9].

It explains quite a bit.

See also the excellent Healy

article from this Open Access Journal, The Latest Mania: Selling Bipolar

Disorder

Cheers,

Rob

From:

ACT_for_the_Public

[mailto:ACT_for_the_Public ]

On Behalf Of brian_david_parks

Sent: Wednesday, 20 February 2008

10:01 AM

To: ACT_for_the_Public

Subject: Re:

Why RSL?

Mark,

In my opinion, automatically attributing a problem to 'stress' can be

just as unhelpful as automatically attributing it to a sydrome or an

illness.

I think the best approach is to address these kinds of problems safely

and pragmatically from all available angles.

So, in the case of insomnia, the best approach would be to combine

internal ACT work with a search for any external factors that might be

worsening the sleep problem. Such factors could include annoying noise

or light in the bedroom, uncomfortable bedroom temperature, caffeine or

alcohol intake, lack of exercise, allergies to medication currently

being taken, or, in Greg's case, possibly RLS, which could very well be

the result of other problems.

Where I think we would agree is on the pharmaceutical question.

Pharmaceutical intervention should be an absolute last resort. As many

of us know, pharmaceuticals rarely work well, especially in the long

term, and most of them tend to create a litany of their own problems,

some of which can be permanent.

>

> I am wondering why everybody is suffering from RLS. Suddenly there

are

> ads on television for it. It's like RSI, once we label it as an

> illness, suddenly everyone suffers from it. Why not see RLS as maybe

an

> anxiety offshoot. Also it seems that RLS typically ocurs in certain

> personalities. Also it goes hand in hand with GAD if you ask me. 20

> years ago everyone suffered from ulshers, where did those go? I think

> we have to be carefull about blowing up every symptom so that it

> becomes an illness of it's own, wich we then need to conquer again.

Why

> not apply ACT and Lifestyle changes to RLS instead of looking for a

> cure for it. I realy think a lot of the modern illnesses are used as

> avoidance for our real problems in life. What do you people think of

> this?

> Greetings, Mark

>

[Guest guest]

Hang on, guys.

Restless legs has been recognized for years (probably decades) as a

severe sleep disorder, along with the related disorder of nocturnal

myoclonus. The fact that some drug companies have seized on

expanding the use of certain medications to address the disorder is

not proof the disorder does not exist. Let's use our noggins.

If you read the Woloshin-Schwartz article carefully you will see the

authors assert that the media is helping create false diagnoses for

restless legs - but you'll also see they offer no evidence (nor do

they even attempt to do so) that RLS is not actually a severe &

treatable problem for many individuals. We should be very careful

about what we conclude about a study this limited in scope.

In my own case, restless legs became a problem for me in my early

30s. A sleep study showed that aside from the agonizing difficulty I

was having falling asleep due to restless legs, I was also having

hundreds of microarousals throughout the night from nocturnal

myoclonus, which was messing up my sleep bigtime.

I had to work very hard to find out about RLS - back then only

experts in sleep disorders knew much about it. Big Pharma was not yet

Big Pharma, and the conventional drugs used to treat the problem,

which I was given at first, were quite nasty in their side effects. I

was grateful that the sleep doc I worked with after my study knew

about the off-label use of Mirapex to treat the problem with far

fewer side effects. Mirapex was originally created to help with

Parkinson's, and there is speculation among researchers that the root

cause of both problems may lie in areas of the brain that produce

dopamine. As for vitamin supplements, they help only a minority of

sufferers. I remember reading that an experimental iron treatment

looked promising, but haven't heard anything since.

Do I worry about taking a drug like Mirapex long-term? Sure. Am I

glad that I can fall aleep each night rather than spend hours awake

in torment? You bet. Do some further reading and you will find out

that ongoing sleep deficit is a huge risk to all aspects of health.

As for the suggestion that ACT is all you need to cope with restless

legs, this would be equivalent to telling a diabetic that they don't

need to manage their diet, nor do they need their insulin, they just

need to be " willing. "

As I've gotten older, I've realized how little I actually know, even

on topics where I think I have a strong opinion. I'm trying to get

better at critical thinking & research, but often I find myself

choosing to either just listen, or else make clear that I have an

opinion but nothing to back it up with. But hey - that's me.

Randy

> >

> > I am wondering why everybody is suffering from RLS. Suddenly

there

> are

> > ads on television for it. It's like RSI, once we label it as an

> > illness, suddenly everyone suffers from it. Why not see RLS as

maybe

> an

> > anxiety offshoot. Also it seems that RLS typically ocurs in

certain

> > personalities. Also it goes hand in hand with GAD if you ask me.

20

> > years ago everyone suffered from ulshers, where did those go? I

think

> > we have to be carefull about blowing up every symptom so that it

> > becomes an illness of it's own, wich we then need to conquer

again.

> Why

> > not apply ACT and Lifestyle changes to RLS instead of looking

for a

> > cure for it. I realy think a lot of the modern illnesses are

used as

> > avoidance for our real problems in life. What do you people

think of

> > this?

> > Greetings, Mark

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Mark, I do agree, I would not personally recommend pharmaceuticals

for the condition -- I do get your point that in our culture, driven

by the drug industry, many people expect to merely take pill to

relieve their suffering, and that is unfortunate, but it is also a

personal choice.

Mainly I wanted to point out that there might be a good reason why so

many people have this condition (in addition to endemic stress and

anxiety :-) But as a further aside, its interesting to consider the

way these conditions get labeled (which then leads to developing a

drug for it), together with the speed and pervasiveness of modern

media in spreading the information. I had this condition for years

(long before the internet was widespread, and before pharmaceuticals

were fashionable - not that I would have been interested anyways...)

and I just lived with it. I never spoke of it particularly, until

several years ago when I happened to overhear a family member discuss

it. It was only then I found out there is actually a name for the

condition (which I found amusing), and was further surprised to learn

that it is indeed quite common. So perhaps, in the naming of it,

people begin to identify with the label, and suddenly it seems there

are innumerable sufferers where previously there were few. BTW, I

hear that some people swear by the remedy of putting a bar of soap

under their bed sheet. Never tried that one myself :-)

~

>

> Hi . I am definitely not saying it isn't a real disturbing

> syndrome. But stress and anxiety seems to have all kinds of offshoots.

> Like depersonalisation, diziness, ringing ear, and maybe also RLS.

> Sometimes I think we focus to much on symptoms then on the real

> underlying cause. And before you know, the pharma industry notices this

> and boom! there is this epidemic syndrome. I happens way to much if you

> ask me! It could very well be that western diet contains not enough

> magnesium. But I see no harm in taking magnesium for RLS. I do see harm

> in taking medications for RLS since no long-term effects are known.

>

[Guest guest]

Nice--this sounds like acceptance to me. I say keep trusting your

experience on this one. :-)

Joanne

> > >

> > > I am wondering why everybody is suffering from RLS. Suddenly

> there

> > are

> > > ads on television for it. It's like RSI, once we label it as an

> > > illness, suddenly everyone suffers from it. Why not see RLS as

> maybe

> > an

> > > anxiety offshoot. Also it seems that RLS typically ocurs in

> certain

> > > personalities. Also it goes hand in hand with GAD if you ask me.

> 20

> > > years ago everyone suffered from ulshers, where did those go? I

> think

> > > we have to be carefull about blowing up every symptom so that it

> > > becomes an illness of it's own, wich we then need to conquer

> again.

> > Why

> > > not apply ACT and Lifestyle changes to RLS instead of looking

> for a

> > > cure for it. I realy think a lot of the modern illnesses are

> used as

> > > avoidance for our real problems in life. What do you people

> think of

> > > this?

> > > Greetings, Mark

> > >

> >

>