I tend to just start posting...sorry if thats a little rude.
Anyway... I first noticed my legs freaking out on me a few years ago when i quit drinking. I was 22. I figured it was par for the course. The RLS and the insomnia persisted and I learned to just deal with and function without a lot of sleep. I began taking OTC sleep aids (tylenol pm, unisom etc...) which worked great for a while. Recently I noticed that the RLS was back and more intense than ever. It seemed to be triggered by the sleeping pills. I would expierience it with out the pills but it wasn't near as intense. But then I couldn't fall asleep cause my brain likes to go 1000 miles an hour. The only way I could explain it to my wife was...I'm exhausted but i feel like I need to run 10 miles. Until she saw the commercial on tv, I thought (and I'm sure she did too) I was crazy. I was a pack a day smoker until just this May when I started training in the Martial Arts again. I went a few weeks with out a smoke, slipped, and started averaging 1-3 a day until a few days ago when i got the patch. Which seems to be working. Throughout all this however, the RLS has gotten to the point where I just want to tear my freakin legs off and beat something with them. I exercise constantly, I eat pretty healthy I've cut down on the caffeine to just a cup or two in the morning, but it seems to be getting worse. At least now I have an explanation for my better half as to why I don't cuddle and constanly toss turn and opt to sleep on the couch.
Thanks,
Marc