In an alarming article published by Medscape.com titled "Restless Legs Syndrome Highlights From the Associated Professional Sleep Societies 19th Annual Meeting", I discovered that 35% of MS (multiple sclerosis) patients also had RLS.

From the article: "In all, 29 of 82 (MS) patients were found to be affected by RLS (prevalence rate, 35.4%)." And even more alarming for me was that "In 7 patients (8.5%), RLS preceded the onset of clinical MS; for 22 patients (24.4%), onset of RLS followed or was simultaneous with the clinical MS onset."

There's clearly a relationship between the two disorders, although not necessarily a causal relationship.

According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, MS is thought to be an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system (brain, spinal cord, and the optic nerves). It affects the ability of the nerves to conduct electrical impulses to and from the brain.

Sounds similar to RLS doesn't it? And just like with RLS, the symptoms of MS vary significantly from person to person. The symptom that caught my attention the most is spasticiy, which is a feeling of tightness of muscles or may be so severe as to produce painful, uncontrollable spasms of extremities, usually of the legs.

As always, check with your doctor to determine whether you have RLS or MS, as I'm certainly not qualified to do that. But I recommend that you take a look at the articles linked here and educate yourself on MS and RLS before visiting your doctor.