Prostatitis and RLS

[Hedgehob_Bob]

Hi! I joined the RLS club 9 years ago. I was on a 3-months trip in Australia and realized my legs don't want to sleep at the same anymore as I would like. Back in my home country, I visited my doc, which sent me to a neurologist and then gave me Pramipexole, which made my legs calm again, up to now. Also, while being in Australia, I started to get chronic nonbacterial prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate). My prostatitis gave me discomfort for about 4 years, but nowadays, I'm mostly symptom-free regarding my prostate.

None of the docs I asked saw any connection between those two stupid diseases. As the Pramipexole started to stop having the same relieving effect as in the past, I began to educate myself about RLS (hello Mayo clinic update, what an eye-opener!). And the more I think about it, the more I tend to believe there is a connection between my RLS and my prostatitis, I just don't know what the link is actually. Both diseases can occur because of inflammation, which makes me think it has to do something with my food. Therefore, I started a 1-month diet where I stopped eating refined sugar, milk products, meat and even gave up alcohol and caffeine. Sadly, all those sacrifices didn't noticeably change my RLS, so I stopped my diet again.

When googling about prostatitis AND RLS, I can't find much helpful information about why there could be a link between those two. Exceptions: britannica.com says: "The cause of RLS is unknown, although it may accompany other conditions, including insufficiency of the blood supply to the legs, [...] and infections such as prostatitis and cystitis."

And interestingly, there is a statement from an MD from 1946. I think it is an editorial response to Karl-Axel Ekbom's thesis about RLS (the guy who first introduced the term "Restless Legs Syndrom"). The statement says:

"About half of my prostatitis patients will admit having "restless legs" if carefully questioned, and treatment directed solely at the prostate gives relief".

Anyone else here has experiences with Prostatitis and RLS?

[Dougg]

Hi Hedgehob_Bob. I'm 69 and have both RLS and prostatitis. I don't know if there is a connection, but I do know that inflammation is considered by some to be a strong factor in causing RLS, and prostatitis of course is inflammation of the prostate by definition. In broad terms, they both crept up on me at about the same time, which is suspicious but could be coincidence. I'm about to undertake some anti-inflammatory actions (cutting out dairy, eggs, and wheat) to see if it helps my RLS, and I'll be watching to see if I notice any effect on my prostate.