Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

Hi Lorabell, and welcome to the forum. I'm not much of a chatter, so you probably won't see me there, but wanted to say hi.

Hey wowobl!

It's good to see you here on the board! I absolutely love your post. You have a very definite way of saying things so they are easily understood. I know your words helped others recall memories of their "rls times" just like I had a few memories spark when I was reading.

You go girl!

love 'n hugs
cyndi

This discussion has reminded me of what it is like to live with someone with a chronic condition. When I was a teenager, my mother suffered from depression. And it sucked the joy out of everyone's life, not just hers. Although it is important to talk about our conditions, it is also important to find a way to give our families some relief -- some moments of joy when spouses and children can feel secure, happy and appreciated for who they are.

Pain management clinics teach those with chronic pain how to live with pain without it taking over their lives. I wonder if some of those techniques would be useful for those of us who suffer the most?

pamhb wrote:Pain management clinics teach those with chronic pain how to live with pain without it taking over their lives. I wonder if some of those techniques would be useful for those of us who suffer the most?

Hi Pam good post. I am sure it would help the ones that suffer all of the time. Thanks for posting that.

I don't know how a Pain Clinic works in the coping with long term pain, but I wonder if there are certain psychological tricks/attitudes involved that would help people to cope with long term conditions and situations that are painfree (not necessarily rls). Just a thought...... ??

Betty

I go to a pain clinic, and while I had to see a psychologist when I first started going there, there really is no focus on helping people live with long term, chronic pain. The psychologist visit was kind of a wast, IMO, all he did was talk to me about how most people, by the time they get to the pain clinic, are in pretty rough shape and have been badly mistreated by many doctors along the way. Well duh, and yeah, I was in really bad shape when I got there as well.

They do offer biofeedback classes for relaxations, but I've done those before and could just relax right away for the computer monitoring, so I really didn't need that. Also because the RLS is at its worst when I'm most relaxed, it really isn't helpful to me.

Fortunately for me, the pain clinic I go to believes in actually treating the pain, and not making people live with it for long periods of time.

Wendy, what kind of techniques have you heard of being used?