And I want to whack Ashelyn's doctor up side of the head with a damp mackerel
To quote Thomas J. A. Lehman MD, Chief, Division of Pediatric Rheumatology,Cornell University Medical College.
The key finding for growing pains is that the child is absolutely fine when they wake up in the morning. There is no pain, no limping, or any other abnormality in the morning. Whenever pain is still present when the child wakes up in the morning or occurs while the child is awake, it must not be dismissed as ‘growing pains.’
Many people who have been patted on the head and told they had "fibro" later find out they have a broad spectrum of other disorders. One of the main problems with the "growing pains" diagnosis is that it often delays the diagnois of other more serious, even fatal disorders-and many people who's kids have these disorders are not posting on the internet much because they are either involved in struggling with their kids surgeries and treatments, or their kids or dead.
Maire-Charcot Tooth causes weak ankles, and its really common and woefully underdiagnosed.
This is a good article on that disorder
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07360/844206-114.stmAs a kid, Briget Shields suffered from terrible leg cramps. "Growing pains," her doctor said.
But what about her skinny legs, the fragile ankles she would sprain or break if she tried to engage in sports? No one really thought too much about them. Not everyone has big, muscular legs, and kids do get hurt, you know.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/charcot-marie-tooth-disease/DS00557http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/charcot_marie_tooth/detail_charcot_marie_tooth.htmJust as a matter of interest, how did your doctor decide on
your diagnosis of "Restless Leg Syndrome"? Did you have a proper nerve conduction test and so forth, or did he or she just go by symptoms?
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/restless_legs/detail_restless_legs.htmDespite these efforts to establish standard criteria, the clinical diagnosis of RLS is difficult to make. Physicians must rely largely on patients' descriptions of symptoms and information from their medical history, including past medical problems, family history, and current medications. Patients may be asked about frequency, duration, and intensity of symptoms as well as their tendency toward daytime sleep patterns and sleepiness, disturbance of sleep, or daytime function. If a patient's history is suggestive of RLS, laboratory tests may be performed to rule out other conditions and support the diagnosis of RLS. Blood tests to exclude anemia, decreased iron stores, diabetes, and renal dysfunction should be performed. Electromyography and nerve conduction studies may also be recommended to measure electrical activity in muscles and nerves, and Doppler sonography may be used to evaluate muscle activity in the legs. Such tests can document any accompanying damage or disease in nerves and nerve roots (such as peripheral neuropathy and radiculopathy) or other leg-related movement disorders. Negative results from tests may indicate that the diagnosis is RLS. In some cases, sleep studies such as polysomnography (a test that records the patient's brain waves, heartbeat, and breathing during an entire night) are undertaken to identify the presence of PLMD.
