catastrophy

[Catastrophy]

I have very acute RSL. My legs have so much static electricity in them that they are hot at all times. I wear sandals 365 days a year; my feet never get cold. To disperse the energy in my feet, I will often stand barefoot on grass. This can help; but a metal manhole cover is better especially if its wet. When it snows I take my sandals off and will often work for hours in the garden without my feet getting cold. My partner has often taken photos of me working in the garden or clearing the snow off our drive when i'm barefooted. Even If I stand on ice in my bare feet my feet won't get cold.

[Catastrophy]

I would be interested on a constructive solution to my problem as two doctor's couldn't find anything wrong with my legs. Please don't mention a fault with my blood circulation.

[Hidden]

So sorry to hear of this. I don't have the problem of regulating temperature

of my body at any time.

I'm not making fun of you so please don't take it this way but you

are lucky that your neighbors didn't call the health department to

have them check up because of you shoveling snow barefoot...

I have a big heart and would worry so much for you if I saw you

outside barefoot in the cold/ snow.

I live in Wisconsin, USA...our winters are the coldest place on earth,

I think. Schools and businesses shut down for snow/ severe cold spells.

I know what -60 windchill temps are like...I've been outside in that. (nuts)

What do you mean by static electricity in your legs? Are you taking

any medicines for that issue?

I sure hope that you find some good relief!

[jules65]

Hello catastrophe, I was very interested in your comments about the electricity in your legs. I have it too and it is just one of the symptoms of ME,or CFIDS as it is known in the States. I do not know where you live but RLS is very common with ME or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as it is also known here. Without doubt ME has an electrical malfunction in the brain and spinal chord and can cause ME and of course RLS. An awful lot of people have ME and don't realise it, in the earlier stages of the illness the "electrics" in my legs was one of my most distressing symptoms. I didn't know I had ME until 15 years later!!

There is no medicine that can cure the electrical disturbances, I have tried to no avail and thence I also discovered many years later that the best way to ease those awful symptoms was to stay off your legs as much as possible, in other words, rest and more rest. I also suffer from hot legs and feet with it.

I have never become dependant on drugs for the RLS, instead, as I explained on a posting I did some time ago, when I get an attack, my husband massages (quite forcefully!) the lower spine and the nerves that run from there down into the buttocks and hip. Five or ten minutes of heavy kneading and massage, even pinching those nerves, gets rid of the RLS. It has never failed.

I wish you well and hope you can deal with the issues you have. Do try the massage and kneading if you have a partner who can help, but only when you have an attack of RLS. And rest those legs! Good luck!

[nightdancer]

Sorry to hear about your over heated feet, but that is not an RLS symptom. have you had your thyroid tested? Hot feet are not mentioned in any RLs studies or reports or lists of symptoms. So, you sound like you have another issue besides RLS, and most of us have many health concerns here besides RLS. Hard to balance it all and separate it out.

[Catastrophy]

Hi and thanks to all that have given me advice.

I have in the past experienced many of the symptoms mentioned by the bloggers of RSL. I would like to paint a picture of my present symptoms as it may help someone else with the same problem. I seem to have a continuous inflow of electricity entering my body. From where and why i do not know. I have learnt over the last ten years how to cope with the problem; but not how to solve it. The electricity builds-up in the lower half of my body; from the hips downwards. At the top of my legs it's a minor irritation, but on the soles of my feet it hits a crisis point. There's also a build-up of pressure in my legs and an acute burning sensation, as if my legs are about to burst. Sometimes in winter I have to leave a warm bed in the middle of the night. Put on my dressing gown and go into my back garden- I have a plastic tub full of water which is knee high- break the ice at the top of the tub, then stand in the water for five minutes. By this time the electricity has dispersed. I have to keep the upper part of my body warm while I go through this process. In summer I may do this four or five times a day.

My problem is that my body isn't earthing with the ground; wearing shoes exacerbates the problem; they act as insulators. The methods I use help to earth me; in the same way a domestic appliance is earthed. A year ago I googled the "Earthing Institute in America. I assumed they would sell, footwear with steel fibre, moulded into the shoe, like the strip of metal fibre that people hang on the back of their car to disperse static electricity. Then I would have been able to wear proper footwear in winter. The funny side of all this, is that when I am working with clients, who are generally referred to as retards in America. I am usually wearing sandals and gloves when its snowing- don't forget my upper body succumbs to the cold- who do you think the general public are looking at when I walk alongside my clients? If there's someone with the same symptoms as me, can we share information.

PS: I've never heard of medication that can solve electrical problems.

Regards, Catastrophy

[magggzzz]

All I know about ME is that it is a sub-cellular problem originating in the mitochondria which are the energy producers in the cell so perhaps your static electricity symptoms are not as strange as they appear. It doesn't sound like RLS as I experience it anyway but one thing I have learnt from this site is that no two people are the same. Good luck and I hope you get some resolution soon.