I think I have had RLS for years

[Anonymous]

I think I have had RLS for years. I am 24 and I remember being as young as 12 (or younger) I can't remember ever trying to get to sleep without the feeling everyone is talking about. As a young girl I would try and tell my parents but I couldn't explain that well to them. I would tell them that my leg didn't hurt it "felt funny." It felt funny in a way that would make me have to move it. I can remember trying to go to sleep and telling myself that I'm not going to let my leg move, not one more time. While lying there, the sensation felt as though it climbed and suddenly "I JERKED." When I was younger I looked through an home remedy book and found the title RLS. This was my first time reading about it but right then I knew that RLS was what I had. I had been holding on to that title for years but I never knew that it would get so big. Thinking about how many years I've fought with this, makes me want to cry. Not ever being able to explain it well, makes me angry! You know what upsets me more? I think my 22 months old son has it. That's why I'm writing now. He has been whining all night off and on. I have been trying to ignore him because I'm tired also. Eventually I turned over to see what the problem was and I see him straightnening his leg out to the limit. I start rubbing it to see what it would do and found him to be relaxed. He went back to sleep. This is not the first time he has done this. I am so tired of this condition. I haven't had a physican to tell me that I have RLS but I can say that I knew about this probably before a good many of them did. I don't have medical insurance to go to the doctor but I know when I do what he'll say.
Few Questions:
How many of you have ever tried to hold back to urge to, eventually jerk?

How many of you have ever had to flex your foot really hard?

How many of you sometimes feel like you have to take your blanket off your affected limb?

How many have probably had RLS for years and somewhat knows how to control it?

I hope that everyone gets better! I hate having to say I have a disorder. What the heck? I've had it for years.

[Sara]

Hi, "Bet"--

I know that I had RLS at your age (first really bad episode I remember I was 18), but I'm not sure if I had it as a kid. I think I might have (because of some of my habits and such), but I honestly don't remember it specifically.

Like you, I found out about RLS after I'd suffered with it for quite awhile and never knew it was a specific condition. As soon as someone told me a little about their symptoms, I did a little research, and BINGO! That's what I have!!!

I noticed your question about flexing feet hard. I DO THAT! Definitely. My RLS MOST affects my feet, so when it's bad, I flex and point and wiggle and rub together and bounce and press my feet into whatever's handy -- usually the floor or the coffee table. I'm sometimes surprised I still HAVE floor boards in the passenger side of our car, because I'm most often a passenger when I'm in that in the evening... and I push the heck out of that little piece of floor, trying to get relief.

Right now I'm having pretty intense symptoms, actually... morning RLS is a fairly new adventure for me, but it's getting to be as big a problem as the evening stuff... and I've been pressing the balls of my feet up against the cross-bar of the desk supports the whole time I've been writing this!

I'm so sorry you think your baby has RLS, too, but the good news for him is that if it turns out he DOES have it, you WILL understand, even if he can't explain it too well. I have a darling husband who's struggling to understand my RLS, so I guess we can't blame folks not "getting" it, even if they WANT to understand. But since you know the feeling, you'll have a great advantage in understanding and helping him through it.

Oh, and I meant to say, too, my auntie and grandfather both have/had RLS, and they've talked about a sensation I DON'T have, but soundslike something you mentioned. They had what they called "hot feet" with the other sensations, and Auntie says that she OFTEN will have to stick just her feet out of the covers at night when it's bad.

Take good care, and hugs to the baby especially.
Sara