This page lists the updates made to the RLSD section of this website:
../.
I established this website in 2004 for
the purpose of discussing RLS, but did not put any substantial material
on it until 1 September 2011. The main RLSD page "
rlsd/" began then with my plans
for this section of the site and links to RLS.org, IRLSSG.org and my
page on coffee.
- 2011-09-21 rlsd/: Added links to the RLS.org forums and to their plans
for the name change.
- 2011-09-30 rlsd/: Added very brief summary of my etiological
hypotheses, based on what I wrote on the "Non Pharmaceutical Therapies"
forum on 2011-09-21.
- 2011-10-20 rlsd/: Added a note about our friend who significantly
reducing her RLS/PLMD symptoms by reducing her coffee
consumption.
- 2011-10-22 rlsd/name-diag/: Added the name-diag/ page on naming options for this disorder.
- 2011-10-24 rlsd/name-diag/: Added arguments about this disorder not being a diagnostic category in the DSM-5.
- 2011-10-26 rlsd/: Added material about coffee being recently introduced
and widely available in England by the time Thomas Willis made his
observations about RLS.
- 2011-11-11 rlsd/: Added sections [5] and [6] to the summary of
hypotheses and observations; Added a new section #help on non-drug
measures to combat RLSD, with links to the RLS.org brochure, Medical
Bulletin and rlshelp.org. Re-ordered the sections. Added
links to the RLS Support forum and to the WeMove.org RLS Forum.
- 2011-11-13 rlsd/: Extended the introduction including with
notes about sufferers with spinal injuries and other fundamental
problems such as genetic variations or developmental differences which
mean they are permanently more prone to RLSD symptoms.
Distinguished between being an amateur neuroscientist and an amateur
neurologist and expanded this section with links to two articles and
two books.
- 2011-11-15 and 16 rlsd/ Many
improvements following Tina proofreading the page and writing a better version of the initial text.
Made this Update history into a separate page. Added a separate
Terminology page. Changed most mentions of "RLSD" to "RLS/PLMD". The structure on 2011-11-16 is:
Introduction
Feedback and discussion forums
Spinal injuries and infections
Genetic or developmental difficulties
Your own research and comparing notes with others
About us
Links
Brief summary of my etiological hypotheses and some new observations
[1] to [7].
Help for sufferers - non-drug techniques for combating RLS/PLMD
01 - Self-diagnosis, with videos
02 - Other night-time movements which are not RLS/PLMD
03 - Ensure your iron levels are good
04 - Do not drink coffee of any kind, including decaf
05 - Reduce or ideally eliminate your consumption of caffeine
06 - Dark chocolate and cocoa seems to worsen or cause RLS/PLMD
07 - Excessive salt seems to worsen or cause RLS/PLMD
08 - General nutrition, including Magnesium and Calcium
09 - Avoiding drugs which worsen the condition
10 - Sleeping position and keeping warm
11 - Unusually high or low levels of exercise
12 - Protein meals and snacks
13 - Tyrosine capsules or tablets
14 - Percussive massage
15 - Other factors and techniques
It is best to avoid coffee, including decaf coffee
Conducting your own research
- 2011-11-16 rlsd/name-diag/: Improved the DSM-5 section with better links to proposed changes regarding referring to Parkinson's Disease.
- 2011-11-20 rlsd/: Added
reference regarding folate and pregnancy. Added note about two
people reporting occasional use of coffee to stop RLS symptoms and get
to sleep. Added more information on tyrosine and its safety, with
a reference to Jan Berend Deijen's Chapter 21. Added link to
RLS.org.au forum. Took out mention of coffee reducing absorption
of iron and other nutrients - I may reintroduce it if I find some good
references.
- 2011-11-21 rlsd/: Added Dr Buchfuhrer's reply to the 2002 report about tyrosine.
- 2011-11-27 rlsd/:
Added the diagram of 4-Caffeoyl-1,5-quinide
and reorganized the coffee help section and the separate section at the
end. Made more prominent links to the coffee page. Moved
the discussion of percussive massage from section [6] of the
hypotheses to section help14. Added a lot of new material to the coffee
section, quoting from Thomas Willis and speculating that the people he
observed with the worst RLS-style symptoms may have been coffee
drinkers. Added a new section at the start of the
Summary: a section devoted to observations. The Summary section
now contains the following:
Summary of new observations
[A] Percussive massage of the mid-lower back.
[B] Percussive massage of the upper spinal region.
[C] Percussive massage of the torso.
[D] Oral tyrosine.
[E] Coffee, including decaf coffee.
[F] Dark chocolate and raw cacao.
[G] Light touch to the foot arch.
[H] Light touch to the palm of the hand.
[I] Local anesthetic on the foot arch or palms.
[I] Cool back, shoulders and arms driving foot movements.
Summary of my new etiological hypotheses
[1] Recently evolved reflex response.
[2] This is normally inactivated by a descending dopaminergic pathway.
[3] This is a modification of the standard foot withdrawal reflex system.
[4] Symptoms result
primarily from the following, potentially aggravated by spinal damage,
or genetic or developmental problems regarding these reflex circuits:
(4a) Inadequate dopaminergic inhibition.
(4b) Inadequate opioidic inhibition.
(4c) High enough level of random depolarizations of sensory neurons.
[5] RLS and PLMD are diagnostic categories which arise from a common disorder.
[6] It follows that we can reduce or eliminate RLS/PLMD symptoms by:
[6a] Increasing the activation of the dopaminergic receptors.
[6b] Reducing the level of opioid receptor antagonists.
[6c] Increasing the levels of opioid receptor agonists.
[6d] Reducing the level of random depolarizations in the sensory neurons.
2011-11-29 rlsd/:
Updated links to forums mentioning their number of messages in the
first four weeks of November, and noting that the RLS Support forum at
Yahoo Groups is not suitable for detailed discussions.
2012-04-08 rlsd/: Added some links regarding Vitamin D and Magnesium.
2012-05-13 rlsd/:
Added detailed description of my percussive massage techniques.
Added notes in the "Coffee puts some people to sleep ..." section on
how cessation of ingestion of opioid receptor antagonists might result
in a short-term increase in opioid receptor activation, including
potentially above the level which would occur in the long term without
disturbances from the antagonists or anything else. Put forward
the likely date of releasing an updated version of the 32 page PDF and
making a directory with suggested experiments from "2012" to "late 2012
or 2013". Various minor improvements.
Note: links with
#
characters are to targets within the page. When you follow such a
link, if your browser only shows you the top of the page, please place
your cursor at the end of the link's text in the URL bar, and press the
Enter key.
2012-06-08:
rlsd/#2012_06_08a: Added note about encouraging response from an Australian sleep specialist.
rlsd/#2012_06_08b: Added material about foot-tapping in the now-renamed "Other patterns of movement which are
not RLS/PLMD" section.
rlsd/#2012_06_08c: Quoted a 24 year old UK man who found that both caffeinated and decaf coffee appear to cause RLS/PLMD.
2012-08-22: Added a 2280 word brief summary
../briefsumm/ . Added mention of a second neurologist who wrote an appreciative response.
2015-02-18: Updated the
above to mention potassium, which is not yet on the main page. I
think it will take me a while to research potassium nutrition. At
first glance it seems to be contentious, confused or at least
confusing. I have not been participating in forum
discussions or doing much research on RLSD - I have been concentrating
on physics and electronic musical instruments. I have
corresponded with a woman who discovered inversion excercises and
avoiding coffee in the evening were both helpful.
2015-02-18: Added link to my letter in the Journal of Caffeine Research.
2018-11-06: In the coffee
section, added a link to the part of briefsumm which contains an
important update regarding that letter. Added a note about
Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease in the section linking to
the coffee page.