Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) is defined by the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group, which was established to create a medical diagnosis. The IRLS Study Group reduced the symptoms to four essential criteria necessary for clinical diagnosis.
These criteria are:
1. The urge to move the leg, usually accompanied or caused by uncomfortable and unpleasant sensations in the leg.
2. Restless legs syndrome symptoms worsen during rest or inactivity
3. Symptoms are partially or totally relieved by movement.
4. Restless legs syndrome worsens at night.
These criteria are the most frequent symptoms that something is not “right” in the person’s mind, body and/or spirit. However, since Western medicine only treats the symptoms, the root cause of these symptoms is never addressed.
People with restless legs syndrome often have symptoms of emotional distress, such as depression and anxiety. Other risk factors are heavy smoking, unemployment status, hypertension, gastroesophageal reflux disease, arthritis, and diabetes. Sleep apnea and insomnia appear to be other risk factors for restless leg syndrome, along with difficulty falling asleep (longer than 30 minutes), drowsy driving, and excessive daytime fatigue.
Subjects with self-reported restless legs syndrome also have a higher incidence of being late for work, missing work, making mistakes at work, and missing social events due to fatigue more frequently than those without restless legs syndrome.
Requip made by GlaxoSmithKline is the most frequently prescribed antidote. The precise mechanism of action of Requip as a treatment for restless legs syndrome (also known as Ekbom syndrome) is unknown. Although the pathophysiology of RLS is largely unknown, neuropharmacological evidence suggests involvement of the primary dopaminergic system. Positron emission tomography (PET) studies suggest that mild striatal presynaptic dopaminergic dysfunction may be involved in the pathogenesis of RLS.
In clinical trials for restless legs syndrome, the most common side effects of Requip were nausea, extreme drowsiness, vomiting, dizziness, and fatigue. In December 2004, an investigation into the drug was launched by a European Union expert panel after concerns were raised about the product’s long-term efficacy and safety. Called Adartrel in Europe, the drug is sold in some countries but has not yet received full European approval. Whether the drug Requip has been approved seems irrelevant as the side effects seem to be worse than the problem. One is trade: the urge to move the legs, usually accompanied or caused by uncomfortable and unpleasant sensations in the legs with nausea, extreme sleepiness, vomiting, dizziness, and fatigue.
THERE IS HOPE: After many years of working with RLS sufferers, I have learned that RLS can be easily cured with 100% long-term results and satisfaction with no side effects. While the Western medical profession (allopathic medicine) says there is NO known cause for RLS, there is a plausible explanation for the symptoms occurring and therein lie the clues to the healing process.
I have had success helping clients with RLS simply by adding magnesium and calcium at bedtime because these minerals soothe the muscles and nerves. A calming botanical such as valerian, passion flower, lemon balm, and skullcap can also be added to support sleep and relaxation. Red blood cell nutrients such as magnesium, calcium, and potassium via many functional labs (provides a better indicator of nutrient status, compared to serum). In addition to indicating nutritional status, these minerals play an important role in regulating blood pressure and overall cardiovascular health.
I recommend an organic acid test (Pharmanex Lifepak Nano) which is an anti-aging nutritional program formulated to nourish and protect cells, tissues, and repair/replace cells. Identifies imbalances that occur in the body that precede abnormal findings on a CBC or MP. Organic acids are products of metabolism that can sensitively identify nutrient deficiencies that lead to metabolic obstacles. Organic acids go beyond measuring nutrient concentrations by evaluating whether the nutrient is working properly. Abnormal urinary organic acid concentrations may provide a functional marker of the metabolic effects of nutrient deficiencies, genetic polymorphisms, impaired enzyme function, toxic exposure, neuroendocrine activity, and intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Organic acid tests can indicate the functional need for specific nutrients, diet modification, antioxidant protection, detoxification, and other therapies.
There is some evidence that low iron levels in the brain may be associated with RLS. A CBC w/diff and iron panel (serum iron, ferritin, % saturation, TIBC, UIBC) can identify iron deficiency.
Restless legs syndrome may be only a small part of the picture. It can be a simple nutrient deficiency in many cases, however it is important to take a deeper look at the client’s health. This includes thoroughly reviewing the client’s history, delving into the cardiovascular system and other inflammatory markers to provide an effective treatment plan.
In addition to the nutritional aspect, many people with RLS that I have worked with were also survivors of verbal, physical, and/or sexual trauma. While this fact may not give reason to assume that other RLS patients are survivors of verbal, physical, and/or sexual trauma, it is a strong indication that there is a high probability.
First, let’s look at the dynamics of verbal, physical, or sexual trauma. There are several inherent factors that cannot be underestimated in these traumatic acts. Behavior between an adult and a child is traditionally seen from the perspective of the adult and not from that of the child. The adult reasons that because an adult does not experience adverse effects, neither will a child. This reasoning is wrong to the nth degree. There are several reasons why an experience can be harmful to a child and not harmful to an adult.
First, the child usually does not have a frame of reference from which to reconcile the experience. Second, since the experience is usually arranged through an adult the child knows and loves, the child has no one to talk to about his adverse experience, because the adult is unwilling to acknowledge the negative consequences of his behavior. . Therefore, the child suffers in silence, taking the blame, shame, and humiliation for his reaction, which has been deemed by an adult to be exceptionally inappropriate, uncharacteristic of the circumstance, and therefore unworthy of discussion. .
The only source of comfort for the child and the way to reconcile experiences is the family. Therefore, when the family fails to meet the emotional needs of the child, it is an insidious betrayal so deep that the child’s sense of trust is compromised and the child strives to fully reclaim what is a birthright.
The next layer of betrayal is the ‘old’ tradition of using beatings as a form of discipline. It is rationalized that hitting will ‘teach the child a lesson’ that he will never forget. This reasoning is flawed, because spanking creates commotion, so the mind is unable to focus or retain logic instead of enhancing understanding. Also, hitting breeds anger instead of respect. Thus, instead of generating learning and conformity, the child has learned to distrust adults. To maintain the relationship, the child pushes anger deep into the psyche; the response that accompanies violations of the body’s boundaries is to act in other ways which may include rebellion, violence, self-destructive behavior, etc. Furthermore, striking is a violation of the limits of the body: the skin is the largest sensory organ and when compromised, it causes untold damage.
Last but not least, hitting is hypocrisy: I love you, therefore I hit you. Love and pain cannot coexist simultaneously. Therefore, while the child is being hit, the adult is not being loving, they are hurting the child. This is very clear to the child, but it has become a distorted concept as adults have been indoctrinated into the rhetoric of ‘save the rod, spoil the child’.
During the act of verbal, physical, or sexual traumatization, mind, body, and spirit have experienced an assault. This assault is experienced in front of the five senses: touch, hearing, smell, taste and sight. These sense organs retain the experience until it can be reconciled. Unfortunately, since the child rarely has the opportunity to reconcile the experience and come to terms with the adult and himself, the experience becomes trapped in the system. Thus, for example: the traumatic spanking on the buttocks is trapped in the buttocks and legs. Or because a child, who is being verbally assaulted, has a fight or flight reaction, but cannot fight or flee, the energy is trapped in the legs, which is the first line of defense for fight or flight. Since the child cannot do either, the energy is stored and never released. Thus, years later, when faced with a similar emotionally charged experience, the old experience resurfaces as RLS. This phenomenon is commonly called trapped energy.
These childhood experiences can be healed through a multifaceted seven-step process. Talk therapy is inadequate for uncovering emotional pain and healing trauma trapped in muscle and tissue. To fully appreciate the depth of this pain, I will quote one of my clients: “Even my blood hurts.” A multifaceted healing process focused specifically on trauma recovery and diligent work is most effective; where the survivor can restore her emotional and spiritual identity and empowerment.
