Steroids and RLS

[funnyfennel]

Seem to be on the forum a lot at mo, but have some stuff to sort out and you people are the ones with the experience. So...I believe that steroids offend/irritate our RLS. Which makes it difficult to have treatment for asthma. Anyone here use steroids ?

[Hidden]

Hi, I'd say it seems unlikely that steroids exacerbate RLS, but it may be possible.

My reasoning being that firstly, steroids occur naturally in our body anyway.

If steroids caused an exacerbation of RLS in people who are already prone to RLS then presumably the lower the level of steroids we have, the less RLS symptoms we would have. Without some (natural) steroids, however, we would die.

Next, there is some evidence, I think, that RLS is associated with some inflammatory response or even an auto-immune response (more or less the same things) then as steroids reduce the response they should alleviate the RLS symptoms, but apparently not so.

Confusingly, anti-histamines, which also reduce inflammation, exacerbate RLS, so this casts doubt on the inflammation theory of RLS and the role of steroids.

Steroids do raise blood sugar levels and this may be a connection between steroids and RLS indirectly, e.g. possibly becasue Diabetes exacerbates RLS maybe because of Diabetic neuropathy.

Steroids also have several oher consequences including affecting protein metabolsim, water retention and cell division which might possibly then affect RLS but there's no obvious connection.

It doesn't seem possible to work out logically if steroids COULD affect RLS, it would have to come from a LOT of people saying their RLS gets worse when taking steroids and probably long term steroid use.

Like many bother conditons and treatments it means you have to make a decision whether benefits outweigh costs. Asthma is potentially more fatal than RLS.

[Carlief in reply to Hidden]

I really like your intellectual break down in your answer!! Out of the box thinking as a premise,, what do you think about the notion that many dentist are now agreeing and admitting that bacteria infections lay under routine root canals and teeth removals and remain until cleaned out? All of which said to be the cause of diseases and ailments we are plagued with. I know we are lay people in theses specialty areas but we are born with the ability with our common sense minds to ascertain information and ponder it over it. It seems to be forbidden on some of theses blogs to have an original thought or suggest that the latest information could be a possible cure found. Strange how the same people hope for a cancer cure say with conviction there is not cure for rls. I won’t be one of the masses of asses followIng what the pill giants say to do and don’t feel like your like that either. Thanks for not being afraid to share new info and your thoughts on rls with kindness and civility.:))

[Hidden in reply to Carlief]

I am open to considering new information when it's taken from evidence and I can access and judge the credibility of the evidence. Unless, that is, I trust that the source of the information has already accurately accessed and judged the credibility of the evidence.

When it comes to making a decision about starting a new treatment or remedy, that's particularly important. The evidence then, for me has to be "scientific".

As a consequence, I have been sometimes been labelled as narrow minded.

I'm not that simple though, ( nor consistent).

When it comes to psychosocial "remedies", I am more likely to consider more "anecdotal" evidence.

Sometimes, in relation to the latter, I also follow my intuition. Not the almost paranormal faculty that some may think it is, just an ability to make quick judgements based on past experience and knowledge, a form of pattern recognition.

Sometimes, I'm totally irrational, born out of anxiety usually.

Applying all that to what you write, I 'm not aware of any evidence to back up what you say.

Intuition, suggests that you may not be far wrong. For example, I know of at least one, usually fatal condition which is caused by oral bacteria. Sub Acute Bacterial Endocarditis. (SABE)

Additionally, this usually only occurs in people who have first suffered Rheumatic Fever, (which despite the name, is not related to rheumatoid arthritis.)

Rheumatic fever is also caused by an oral bacteria.

This is such a risk, that when people who have had rheumatic fever need a tooth extracting, they used to, ( and as far as I know still do), go into hospital and have ALL their teeth taken out under general anaesthetic whilst having rigorous antibiotic therapy.

Many years ago, I learned all the consequences on various parts of the body from having a dirty or infected mouth. i was reminded of this by a chart on the wall in my dentists recently.

One of the main reasons that teeth are extracted or given a root canal filling is due to infection, either causing tooth decay or nerve pain.

I have only twice had a tooth extracted for any other reason. On both occasions this was because the teeth involved split into two pieces, right down to the root.

One of these two split, because it had so much filling in it and had been filled and drilled out several times.

In fact I had a root filling done in it, because it was so painful. Due to infection. After having it filled, it settled, but remained painful and a lump also appeared on my gum. My second dentist said the dentist who did the first root filling hadn't cleaned out all the infection. He did it again and made a more thorough job of cleaning it out. The lump and the pain disappeared, but not long after started hurting when I bit on ot. My dentist found it had split right down to the root. He took it out in bits, but couldn't manage to remove one bit. That bit removed itself about a year later.

So intuition and personal experience tells me you are right. Mouth problems are commonly caused by infections, either of the teeth or gum. If the bacteria get past our defense mechanisms they can cause serious consequences. Furthermore, it may not be the bacteria themselves, that get on the blood, just the toxins that the bacteria produce as is the case with rheumatic fever.

This is not particularly something new, perhaps some dentists are perhaps only now admitting culpability.

HOWEVER, it is a big leap of faith to go from this to assuming that bacteria (or fungal) infection in the mouth can cause or exacerbate RLS. I'm not aware of any evidence for this, it is not intuitive and I know of nobody who's experienced it. From what I know of the pathophysiology of RLS there appears to be no logical connection.

I have no intention of having all my teeth extracted, (the ones I have left that is), because I've read some unsupported information somewhere and jumped to the wrong conclusion.

I carry out a daily mouth hygiene routine involving several different sizes of interdental brushes, super floss and an electric toothbrush with a 2 minute timer, Antibacterial mouthwash if thought necessary and visit the dental hygienist every three months.

It's made no difference to my RLS.

[Carlief in reply to Hidden]

Agree to all with a small disclaimer lol. Whether there is a casual relationship remains to be seen. Over the course of the last few years I’ve read accounts of people claiming that due to some bacterial infection among other culprits having gone undiscovered for long periods of time could have been the cause their rls because once cleaned and removed symptoms nearly disappeared. I find this inference fascination! I then watched a film last night that interviewed dentist practicing in the field discussing the same. Accordingly they opined that procedures such as root canals and the removal of teeth without never removal etc has been proven by their evidence promote the continuous growth of bacteria that cannot be prevented by any means available. In essence it’s unfortunately the nature of the beast if one elects to have the procedures done. As one would assume the dental association did not take kindly to evidentiary link made by these dentist regarding the simultaneous growth of bacteria and cancer among others. The film was even banned from viewing on Netflix per request by the association lol. Well food for thought I suppose. Question everything continues to be my crazy way as I have many more where that one came from 😊😂

[Hidden in reply to Carlief]

No problem, what you say is interesting. Thanks.

I might have dreamed it, but I'm sure someone posted on here about teeth and implied they were going to have all their teeth extracted, goodbye RLS.

I can't find the post now, might have been in another reality, I keep swapping - something to do with sleep deprivation.

[Carlief in reply to Hidden]

Omg your hysterical as I’m on my 10 day of sleep deprivation I’m glad I’m even making some kind of sense. See there it is, always that one that takes the matter to the extreme end of the spectrum. I’m willing to bet good money someone ranted on about extracting every tooth lol. However therein lies the problem. It gives justification for imposing censorship under the guise of misinformation due to the unreasonableness of the fearing public. Well I’ll check in with any further finds I may come across and until then let’s do our best to get some sleep :))

[wcp2008]

I have been on Flovent for 4 months for esophagitis and do not believe it to make my RLS worse. I was not instructed to inhale it, however. Instead I had to spray and swallow it, for a more localized treatment in my esophagus.

[Anne_liz]

I had a course of steroids several years ago and my rls stopped completely. However I was very unwell at the time so that may have been the reason it stopped.

[funnyfennel in reply to Anne_liz]

Gosh...

[funnyfennel]

Perhaps steroids are OK then, but they did seem to exacerbate my RLS when prescribed them for a mouth problem....but now I think the non=steroid asthma medication "Spiriva" is having bad effects ie: no sleep, itching and reflux......so will stop it and see what happens...its like a detective novel of my health, but not fun at all...thank you all for your input, more later x

[LanaCSR in reply to funnyfennel]

I realize this post is a year old, but when I did a search for steroids in the RLS section these posts came up, and I wanted to mention that my dentist prescribed me a steroid to take after my root canal, and my RLS has gotten worse after a couple days after starting it. So I looked up the side effects, and lo and behold restlessness is one of the side effects! How are you getting along?

[funnyfennel in reply to LanaCSR]

Hi lana, whole thing has changed, was not asthma but a heart problem.....so now awaiting a Mitral valve operation after X'mas. Awful and v. scarey, but am using the support on this forum for Hearts.Strangely, now taking blood pressure pills and RLS drugs, and getting less exercise and RLS is rarely a problem ???

[LanaCSR in reply to funnyfennel]

Oh, I'm so very sorry you are having to go through that! I hope it all works out for you and that you come out of it feeling so much better! How did you figure out that it was your heart and not your asthma?

[funnyfennel in reply to LanaCSR]

the doctor listened to my chest and heard it apparently a whoosh sound and then I went to the cardiologist and so it went on from there. thank you for your wishes

[funnyfennel]

Well, on the new Puffer "Fostair" for 6 days, and have decide to stop....absolutely worse sleep...hardly one hour every so often in the night, I am ragged...hoping to speak to nurse/doc, sometime soon and will use the puffer if I have a breathing incident.....??