Alcoholic parents and RLS

[Moonwalker1967]

Both my parents were alcoholics. Could the traumas of my childhood have caused RLS? Just a thought?!

[Jphickory]

I don’t know the answer. I can tell you that I have RLS and my parents rarely ever drank and I had a secure and happy childhood.

[Munroist]

I have RLS but parents rarely drank and then only sensibly. Depends what you mean by traumas and whether you are talking about events before or after birth (I’m not asking). From what I read there seems to be a genetic Component to RLS which doesn’t surprise me as our biological chemical processes are managed by genes which we inherit from our parents including probably iron regulation. There may be an environmental component as well but trauma doesn’t feel likely. Then again I’m not really qualified to comment and RLS is poorly understood.

[Madlegs1]

Extremely unlikely!

[Eryl]

I doubt it very much, but their other dietary habits probably have been learned and caused your rls. I've found that if I avoid inflammatory foods my rls goes away, primarily those are foods that have a high GI and seed oils which are high in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAS) which cause oxidative stress. As a result of this I avoid eating shop bought bread which almost invariably contains a portion of white flour which has a high IG and I avoid anything made with added refined sugar of any sort, which includes fruit juices (the makers may not have added sugar, but they have concentrated whas't natural by removing the fibre).

[Hope61 in reply to Eryl]

Do you know if there is a diet specifically for those of us that have RLS ?

[Butterflysun1 in reply to Hope61]

I read the research paper posted by someone the other day about dipyridamole again last night as am planning to ask to try it, trying to grapple to understand how it might work which seems to relate to Adenosine.At the end it suggested there were a couple of other things worth looking into, and one was a ketogenic diet.

This was I think in the context of Adenosine so it may in theory be recognised as relevant to how Thur diet may work.

I have read on here that some sufferers swear by a ketogenic diet, also fasting from 7pm so maybe that allows ketones to develop overnight??

[Eryl in reply to Hope61]

What Iv'e already described (avoiding high GI foods i.e. processed food) is the simplest though other people may be sensitive to oxalates or nightshades as well but that sensitivity may decrease after the removal of gluten from the diet.

[SueJohnson]

No. Stress can cause RLS symptoms or make them worse but the RLS has to be there in the 1st place.

[HWMqp]

I have wondered a similar thing. I don’t believe the answer is necessarily either/or, not as simple as Yes caused/No causal relationship. But our minds and bodies are not independently operating entities. What happens to one links with the other. Childhood trauma is “remembered”in the body. Are you familiar with the ACES study? The original study discovered a host of physical health problems that correlated with the # of Adverse Childhood Experiences one has had. RLS wasn’t on their radar. I’m NOT saying that everyone w RLS has ACES. I am saying that the mind/body connection is very complex. It’s interesting to me that for both RLS folks & people w/significant trauma, relaxing is one thing that triggers symptoms. If you have trauma reactions embedded in your body (like me) and you’re also RLS prone (like me), who’s to say what’s at play on a given day? cdc.gov/violenceprevention/.... You might be interested in Bessell van der Kolk’s book The Body Keeps the Score amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score... wishes on your healing journey!!

[Hidden]

Maybe. Maybe not.While i haven't experienced anything that would constitute a traumatic life event, I have pursued a number of different therapies, some of them treating RLS / PLMD as being psychological in nature (eg. hypnotherapy, EFT therapy, counselling, shamanic healing etc).

My inclination to keep pursuing such therapies abated when my very young son was diagnosed with RLS/PLMD.

And while there's a school of thought that says trauma can carry (physically) from one generation to the next, on learning of my child's diagnosis, I switched my focus wholly to a pathophysiological approach.

I was also reluctant to further spend money and time on therapies that didn't make any difference.

[DicCarlson]

Yeah - I doubt it. I'm moving back to the inflammation model as a cause factor in RLS. Picture a glass filled almost to the brim - you're born with it - overflowing causes inflammation. So, a life event (in my case a fall skiing), or growth demands of youth, pregnancy, and/or poor dietary choices aiding inflammation and helping RLS get expressed. I had growing pains as a kid and was treated for iron deficient anemia. RLS did not surface again for me 'till that fall skiing.

[Kayaker00]

RLS is a medical condition; AUDD-Alcohol Use Disorder is not the same thing. NO, your parents alcoholism did not cause your RLS. You are though predisposed to alcoholism.

[MumofSam]

I agree with Sue. Stress is definitely a trigger for attacks of RLS but you have to have the condition in the first place. I suffered badly all throughout my childhood with RLS and stress definitely brought it on. So your childhood didn’t give you RLS but the stress you were under made it a lot worse.