I realize that by outing all of my quirks, you guys are getting a deep picture into what a complete and utter freak I truly am. However, I also know that I don't MIND sharing, and the rest of you are weenies. You're really a freak, too. You just don't talk about it.
So, the whole "Restless Leg Syndrome" thing and commercials always gave me the giggles. Little did I know, but I already had it. Not very often at ALL, but it was there. After switching over to a new med last year, I had my first REALLY bad night. I was on the couch trying to watch TV. I thought my husband was going to drop kick me into the back yard. It is THE weirdest feeling. You are completely unnerved, and you feel just really, really uncomfortable ... in your legs ... and you have to shift position. You have to. Unfortunately, once you move, it doesn't really help. So, you have to move again. Moving doesn't help, but sitting still will drive you utterly mad!
You just keep tossing and turning. The people you love want to chop off your legs and store you in the attic for the night.
Granted, I have a very manageable case. I've never had to seek medical help. Mine finally diminishes after awhile - at the most a half hour - and I can get to sleep. It has never kept me from sleeping or had me up during the night. It does sometimes affect my arms, as well. That's quite a sight! So, what I do deal with gives me a huge respect and compassion for those who battle it to the extremes and on a regular basis.
I'm currently dealing with it as a side effect from the Benadryl I'm OD'ing on to keep the itching down from my rash. So, it's either incessant scratching or incessant movement of my legs. I've chosen the lesser of two evils.
I can remember it happening at other times in my life, but I never could pin point the exact reason that I was feeling uncomfortable and feeling the need to move. Once, I was dating a guy in college. We were watching a movie with friends - sitting on a couch. He reached over and just put his hand on my ankle. I had to move. Looking back, I guess that just triggered it, but he absolutely could not understand why his touching me gave me a ten minutes case of the heeby-geebies!
We broke up about a month later.
This is just a shout-out to all of you RLS homies out there. It's a crazy thing (with the word "neurological" attached to it - ahhhh, my favorite label). For those of you that still think it's just the nuttiest thing you've ever heard of ... yeah, shut up. It bites.
5 comments:
Oh yes I definitely get RLS but I surely don't want medicine for it(especially if I would suddenly be tempted to hit the new casino that's ever biggering over the OK border!)
I find my kicky legs to be related to blood sugar and or circulation issues. It and the dead arm business "kicked" into high gear when I tried a mild anti-depressant once so I said "faget about it! I don't need to taunt my neurological system with extra meds". Side effects are yuck. Hope you're getting better. xo
I get RLS when I'm pregnant. IT SUCKS THE BIG BANANA! Miserable - you described it perfectly but unless you experience it, you can't imagine the misery! I used to get up in the night and have a super hot bath to try and relax the nerves. Sometimes it helped. Sometimes it just made me feel better to be doing something. I think the cal/mag supplements helped a bit too, tho they didn't 'fix' it for me.
So you have RLS and Fifth at the same time...that must be a real treat.
The few times I have had it hit, Benadryl helped me. Sorry to hear it is making yours worse. Saying a prayer for you right now.
I have RLS too. I find it is worse when my anemia is worse which I have always struggled with since being a teen.
I didn't realize that my symptoms WERE RLS until this year. I thought you had to be kicking involuntarily for it to be RLS.
But it's nice to have an explanation for that weird feeling I get in my legs - usually when I'm sitting at the computer for too long.
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