operation for restless legs

[silvia10]

Just came accross this. andersonpodiatrycenter.com/...

Must say it sounds logical. Does anyone know more about operations?

[LotteM]

It appears this applies only when RLS is caused by peripheral neuropathy.

[Micafe in reply to LotteM]

It could be my case. I'm not sure, though.

[Madlegs1]

This supports the feeling that a lot of rls cases here are really peripheral neuropathy. Thereby causing success in their particular sphere.

The patient they describe actually had PLMD, and hadn't responded positively to RLS medications. Thus reinforcing the impression that it is PN they are really dealing with.

In no way am I suggesting that they are not providing relief for problems with restless legs, but not necessarily RLS, as such.

If people are thinking of going down this road, I would be inclined to try a lot of other avenues first.

A lot will depend on finances, insurance and availability of qualified surgeons.

Keep us posted.

[Jules1953]

I just watched the free Webinar on surgery to treat RLS

I found this so interesting and informative. I recommend this to be viewed by RLS sufferers.

I live in Australia and as yet I dont know if this surgery is available here.

Cheers Julie

[silvia10 in reply to Jules1953]

did you find that it also was applicable to RLS and not only peripheral neuropathy in the free webinar?

I know in germany they also make some kind of operations on rls but it is small scale. i think not many doctors know about this.

[Jules1953 in reply to silvia10]

Yes it applied to RLS

[RLSgirl in reply to Jules1953]

Where can I find this webinar? I'd be interested in watching it.

[silvia10 in reply to RLSgirl]

somewhere on their site, but the link did not work.

[Jules1953 in reply to RLSgirl]

silvia10

[Hidden]

This article's main weakness perhaps, as far as I can see, is that it fails to differentiate between primary and secondary RLS. There are quite a few causes of secondary RLS.

Not all of these are neuropathic.

Of the neuropathic causes, this article looks at one of them. i.e. neuropathy caused by compressed nerves. This could be a spinal nerve or a peripheral nerve.

If the article is correct and if you have RLS due to a compressed nerve then this surgery could be a cure for RLS caused by it.

However there is even several causes of peripheral neuropathy associated with secondary RLS which aren't treatable by surgery, e.g. diabetic neuropathy.

It's good news for people with secondary RLS due to a compressed nerve, the minority,. For the majority, those with other neuropathies, other underlying conditions or primary RLS this doesn't appear to be a solution.

i don't think of RLS as a "disease", I see it as a syndrome caused by many factors and having many treatments, as appropriate.

There is no one size fits all treatment for RLS. If this article gives that impression it's misleading and I'd say unethical.

It is GREAT news for people with compressed nerve neuropathy, but actually, surgery for that is nothing new.

[Awkward_fellow]

Interesting. But I guess that might be just one cause of the problem that Andersen discovered. I'm glad he was able to help his patient.

It might be the case that those people who have RLS and symptoms similar to Andersen's discoveries can explore this avenue.

Thanks for the paper!

[suesweda]

I learn new things almost every day on this forum. I would do surgery in a heartbeat, if there was solid research behind it.

[silvia10]

This might be interesting too; they say it is easy detecable with an injection;

'One technique that is very helpful to test if pinched nerves are causing the symptoms is to perform diagnostic nerve blocks at the affected nerves. This simply involves injecting a small amount of cortisone and local anesthetic next to the nerves. If the nerves are chronically pinched and damaged, then the injection will temporarily calm them down.

Most often these patients will have 5-7 days of relief of their symptoms after the injections. If so, then it is likely that nerve decompression surgery will help that patient. If the injections do not provide relief, then the surgery will not likely help.'

[San-D]

I had the surgery done there 1 1/2 years ago. It was not painful but recovery took 3 months. I have slight neuropathy. It did not work for me at all. He has many video's with people saying how successful but i wan't one of them and i am back to struggling with my meds.

[silvia10 in reply to San-D]

so sorry

[michaeledward]

Around December 2019, I began having symptoms of RLS. My doctor prescribed vitamin B-12 which after several months began to help somewhat in that my episodes of RLS occurred less frequently. Then in June I developed a food allergy for which my allergist prescribed methylpredisolone which I took for 1 week. Coincidence or not, ever since I took the methylpredisolone, I haven't had any episodes of RLS.

[Graham3196]

I checked the possible side effects of Methylprednisolone and they are a bit frightening.

webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-6470...

I believe my RLS is related to food tolerance so this certainly interests me. I think I will talk to some food allergy experts and see if there is something similar but , perhaps, safer I can try.

I have been on a fairly restrictive version of the FODMAP diet but benefits of the FODMAP diet seem to be fading away and I am spending more time watching 3am TV.. This might be stress related or maybe I am just getting older which usually makes the RLS worse. Maybe the stress will be reduced when we rid ourselves of this wretched virus.

Perhaps we should start a sweep to bet on the date the pandemic will be declared over. 31Dec2025?