 [ Symptoms ] is there a connection between fibromyalgia and restless legs syndrome [ Disease ] there are a lot of associations in medicine if you have x condition you are likely to suffer from y as well if you are at risk for a you are also at risk for b and probably c as well now we have a new connection to consider in my realm it appears that patients with fibromyalgia have a high prevalence of rls — restless leg syndrome fibromyalgia is a condition that affects the muscles and soft tissue it is considered the most common arthritis related illness after osteoarthritis and its hallmark symptoms include chronic pain in the muscles fatigue sleep problems and painful tender points or trigger points at certain parts of the body it can be difficult to diagnose because there is no single test for the ailment which is why doctors have to rule out other conditions before diagnosing fibromyalgia more than 12 million americans have fibromyalgia most of them are women ranging in age from 25 to 60 women are 10 times more likely to get this disease than men because of the toll fibromyalgia takes on people physically it is no surprise that patients have a harder time getting a good night is sleep as they endure chronic aches and pain but the link found between fibro patients and rls is intriguing fibromyalgia and restless legs syndrome share certain features * women are more likely to suffer from fibromyalgia and rls * there appears to be a genetic component because these conditions run in families rls is equally a mysterious disorder in the sense that we do not know exactly what causes it and as such we do not have a magic bullet for curing it in everyone sometimes an iron deficiency can be to blame for which there is a clear remedy but many patients with rls do not fit into a tidy category whereby the direct cause is known other problems that are sometimes linked to restless legs syndrome include kidney failure rheumatoid arthritis diabetes nerve damage anemia and parkinson is disease but most people who seek treatment do not have any of these other problems pregnancy accounts for many rls cases and contributes to the gender disparity and women who get rls during pregnancy often find that the condition vanishes after giving birth the scientists who published the study on this association pointed out that fibromyalgia and rls share several characteristics both conditions can include sensory alterations the use of antidepressants that can influence the dopamine system and beneficial effects for exercise what is more an important implication of the study according to the researchers is that restless legs syndrome is treatable with drugs that change the dopamine patterns in the brain physicians are urged to ask fibromyalgia patients about symptoms such as leg movements when they are trying to sleep and unpleasant sensations in their legs it goes without saying that alleviating these symptoms can enhance a fibromyalgia patient is experience with sleep and overall quality of life and it