Question from a newbie

[Guest guest]

Hello, all!

I'm new to this group, but I've been an RLS sufferer for ... well, I can't

remember a time when I wasn't. However, no doctor I went to ever diagnosed it

correctly; when I was a child my parents were told that I was hyperactive and

disruptive, and as an adult I was told it was all in my head. Which always

struck me as being hilariously off the mark, as my head is nowhere NEAR that

portion of my body ... but I digress.

I used to suffer from RLS in both legs, often to the point of going without

sleep until I just dropped from the sheer exhaustion. Something happened that

changed this, and I was hoping that someone could shed some light on it.

I was working as an auto mechanic (back in my younger days, when I had a full

head of hair), and I drove to work in a Chevy van so that I could carry my

tools with me for free-lance work. (Trust me, this is relevant).

One night I was driving home from work, and I got caught in a traffic jam. It

was a cold, rainy winter evening. After about a half hour I came upon the

cause of the traffic jam, which was a stalled vehicle in the right lane. They

guy was standing next to his car, so I pulled up behind him and got out to see

if I could help.

After peeking under the hood, I went back to get my tools out of the van. I

opened the sliding door and stepped inside. However, my foot slipped and I

landed with all my weight on my knee on the edge of the doorsill.

Needless to say, I didn't fix the guy's car. I also didn't go to a hospital,

not having health insurance at the time. I strongly suspect that there was

moderate to sever ligament and/or tendon damage done at the time.

The knee healed fine, and there have been no ugly after effects, for which I

am eternally grateful. About a month or so after the accident, however, I

began to notice that the RLS in my left knee ... the one that had been injured

.... was gone.

That was in 1985, and I think the RLS has reappeared in that leg maybe ten

times since then. Bear in mind that it appears in my right leg on a nightly

basis.

I realize that it would be stupid to suggest that people go around kneecapping

themselves in an attempt to get some undisturbed sleep. Yet I'm curious as to

what may have happened to get rid of the RLS in that leg, and if there was

some way to therapeutically mimic this effect of my injury.

Basically, it comes down to this: I inadvertently found something that seems

to be a permanent, albeit extremely drastic, form of treatment, and I would

like to figure out a way to make this available to others who suffer from this

without having to resort to baseball bats, tire irons, etc. Maybe it's

something that could be done surgically, with a minimum of discomfort.

Of course, I may have just been extremely lucky that I didn't end up in a knee

brace for the rest of my life.

Be that as it may, I would like to offer what limited services I have to help

those who suffer from this. If someone reading this is in the medical

profession and would like to study this further, I can be reached at

dn3@....

Thanks.