Dear Dr. Gott: For a full year, I was afflicted with a restless leg-type syndrome that developed into frequent violent shakes and jerks in my whole upper body.

This became very bothersome and disturbed my sleep when it occurred at night, as it often did.

A consultation with a neurologist, which resulted in prescriptions for drugs used for Parkinson's (which I don't have), did not help.

Several other doctors had nothing to suggest.

My own research led me to try calcium and magnesium, both at 200 milligrams per day.

This did not completely stop the shakes but greatly reduced them.

Finally, a friend suggested taking three hawthorn berry capsules a day. The product is known as a heart tonic.

Within two days, the severe symptoms were gone, and except for three or four minor episodes, there have been no problems now for six weeks.

The relief is absolutely wonderful, and the solution is so simple!

I hope mainstream medicine will do more to learn about and promote nutritional approaches to our health problems.

Reply: During my medical training, both in medical school and later in my residency, I was not exposed to alternative therapy because it was considered to be nonsense, dangerous and a moneymaker for phony medical practices.

In my 40 years of medical practice, I have had to change my ideas about alternative therapy because 1) it sometimes works and 2) many patients prefer it to the expensive prescription alternatives so popular among physicians.

This is the reason I publish such therapies. In a sense, my readers are the subjects of a larger study, and this gives me some perspective on the success of various alternative therapies.

Such is the case with your experience. Do I believe this viewpoint? Let's just say I'm sceptical.

Nonetheless, I am willing to give it print space because if it works, it would be a tremendous help for hundreds of tired and discouraged RLS sufferers.

There is no harm here (to the best of my knowledge), and the products are reasonably priced.

So, with this lengthy explanation, I will now keep quiet until I get some feedback from other readers.

Thanks for writing.

To give you related information, I am sending you a copy of my Health Report "Compelling Home Remedies".

Other readers who would like a copy should send a self-addressed, stamped number 10 envelope and $2 to Newsletter, PO Box 167, Wickliffe, Ohio 44092. Be sure to mention the title.

Dear Dr. Gott: I enjoy your column and want to respond to the person with bruiselike blotches. I, too, had the condition.

I went to a health-food store, where I was told to take 1,000-milligram vitamin C complex or grape-seed capsules.

I take the complex twice daily and have not had a problem since, unless I fall or hit something hard.

Dear reader: Spontaneous bruising, a common consequence of ageing and vitamin C deficiency, should be medically evaluated with blood tests to check clotting factors.

This is a relatively inexpensive procedure and, in some patients, will show a clotting deficiency.

While your bruising responded to vitamin C, I recommend you speak with your primary-care physician for his or her opinion.

Dr. Gott is a retired physician and the author of 'Dr. Gott's No Flour, No Sugar Diet' and 'Dr. Gott's No Flour, No Sugar Cookbook'. Contact him c/o United Media, 200 Madison Avenue, fourth floor, New York, New York 10016.