Let me know if you want me to stay in the group

April 11, 1999

Dr. Meadows,

Why in the world would you begin by asking if we want you to stay in the

group? Are you just entering our fold now or have you been here for a

while? If your intentions are " honorable " then of course we will welcome you

with open arms!

What kind of physician are you? Are you connected with a vein clinic?

We are always eager to have any information that we can get regarding RLS and

we are willing to look at this affliction from all angles. I do not

necessarily agree with all of the statements that you made, but I do with

some of them.......and some I just don't know enough about. I thank you for

passing them along though for us to think about.

You are probably correct in saying that some RLS is caused by vein problems,

but I believe it is caused by several things, the spinal cord being one of

them. This is strictly my personal view based on my personal physical

feelings......and from others who happen to feel the same way. Quite a bit

of the research going on at the NIH at this time is also pointing in this

direction. None of us feels that this is the final word though, or that this

would be the only cause for RLS. It makes sense that veins could very easily

be involved here.

I hate to begin by disagreeing with you and I apologize for doing so, but I

don't think you can make all of those statements as if they were absolutely

fact. Even though we are only laymen, several of us have spent years

reviewing all of the literature we can get our hands on and view things quite

differently. I, for one, am not effected at all by caffeine intake. To

exercise or not does not change my RLS. We have different views about the

smoking from quite a few in the group.etc, etc. In fact, we have not come up

with very many hard and fast rules at all. We do agree that we are all very

different in very many ways.

If you have restless leg syndrome only mildly and have spent this much time

investigating it's causes, you are surely to be commended. You are most

welcome in our group and we will be very interested in learning all that we

can from you. As you have seen, you are already being happily accepted. I'm

sure there will be many questions and disagreements regarding your

statements, but I hope you will accept this as normal, healthy interaction.

We are here to learn and express our opinions.

I look forward to hearing more from you......

Connie, 63, MD

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