Use this section to discuss your experiences with prescription drugs, iron injections, and other medical interventions that involve the introduction of a drug or medicine into the body. Discuss side effects, successes, failures, published research, information about drug trials, and information about new medications being developed.
Important: Posts and information in this section are based on personal experiences and recommendations; they should not be considered a substitute for the advice of a healthcare provider.
ViewsAskew wrote:This is, indeed, almost worst than the WED. Because you expect it will all be better....and it is NOT.
I've been experimenting, for my time off this year, and find that if I try to sleep during "normal" hours, I have WED. If I try to sleep later than normal hours, I have hyper alertness. The only way I sleep easily, is going to bed after about 20 hours being awake. Then I sleep excellently. But, that means that I have 28 hour days. My schedule literally changes EVERY day. But, I sleep.
It's not easy to get anything accomplished, even when I do not work. I'd never be able to do it and work.
That is an interesting thought that maybe (without having a work schedule) that we might be better off not going by the 24 hour day with the regimented sleep virtually everyone does, maybe it just isn't good for us.
It certainly is the only way I've found not to go crazy. But, alas, I can't always do it. Even though I took off for a year, I have doctor's appointments, mammograms, or need to fix the car. All these things take scheduling. I never know my schedule, so whatever I schedule may be completely inconsistent with how my body is sleeping. So, like with this week, I've had only 2-3 hours of sleep each day - I had other things I had to do and my sleep wouldn't come when I was available to sleep.
Unless you did nothing, saw no one, and made NO appointments, there is no way this can work all the time. But, it does work pretty well if you can figure out how to have no responsibilities at all.
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.
Polar Bear wrote:What torture that poor man had to have been suffering.
I think of him when I think my burden is too much.
Lately I have been waking up from bed and taking a shower. It has been very beneficial. Last night at 2:30am it happened and a couple of days before at 1am. Obviously the hyper-alertness is trying to exert itself even while sleeping. My thought was that Suboxone also makes me all over itchy and that a little exercise wouldn't hurt, also that the hot water would be soothing and relaxing. After the shower I go back to bed but set the alarm clock up so the sleep I lose taking shower is made up. When I get up I just do everything as normal minus the shower.
The shower helps the itching and I easily go back to sleep feeling relaxed and refreshed. The only negative is I have to wet my hair when I get up because my hair goes wild and stays that way without water lol
Anything that helps, is good. It's too bad you can't change the time you go into work. The schedule really works against you. If you could go in a noon, it would be better.
debbluebird wrote:Anything that helps, is good. It's too bad you can't change the time you go into work. The schedule really works against you. If you could go in a noon, it would be better.
Most the employees where I work go to work at 5 or 6 in the morning. I go in at 7 and a few go in at 8 but I don't think they would allow anyone to go later. We also have night shift starting at around 2pm, no way would I do night shift. I did that once and lost my job. The sleep doctor was really ticked off at me, he told me I should have asked him before I changed shift because he would never recommend someone with RLS to work a night shift of any kind.
I wonder what the reason was for doctor never to recommend anyone with WED to work night shift - especially if it was a job where they were on their feet and were mobile during the symptomatic period. I wonder does the doctor believe that the body clock would change and the WED symptoms would move correspondingly ????
Polar Bear wrote:I wonder what the reason was for doctor never to recommend anyone with WED to work night shift - especially if it was a job where they were on their feet and were mobile during the symptomatic period. I wonder does the doctor believe that the body clock would change and the WED symptoms would move correspondingly ????
I wondered the same. According to Dr B, our schedule adjusts itself shortly. And, from my experience, that is true.
When I tried to keep to normal hours, but slept in the wee hours for a short time, it didn't move forward. But, when I caved in and started making my sleep hours from 3 or 4 AM to noon, eventually the symptoms came later and I couldn't sleep until 6 or 7.
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.
It had to do with disrupting the circadian rhythm according to him, but he didn't go into a long explaination. He was right though besides getting little sleep I felt like I was in jet lag all the time and I really was Mr Hyde back then, it also was when I first augmented, it may have had something to do with my augmenting actually. Everything was fairly okay until I did that dumb stunt. I did it though, worked nights, so I could avoid people because even then the combination of medications, weird sleep, RLS (plus sleep apnea too) made me want to avoid people in the fear I would fly off the handle, which I did and I lost my job.
eeFall: I've given myself permission to take a shower anytime I'm miserable in the middle of the night. It helps so much. Even though of course I wake up, the hot water relaxes me enough so I can go to sleep. Listening to my I-Pod also helps. And I exercise every day. If I don't, no way I'm going to sleep.
doety wrote:eeFall: I've given myself permission to take a shower anytime I'm miserable in the middle of the night. It helps so much. Even though of course I wake up, the hot water relaxes me enough so I can go to sleep. Listening to my I-Pod also helps. And I exercise every day. If I don't, no way I'm going to sleep.
Doety, see a recent post in the non-pharma section. Apparently exercise increases dopamine and so do many of the things that work for some of us. I remember reading a few years ago that showers increase dopamine; baths increase serotonin.
I think many of us find things to do that naturally increase our dopamine. The more we can increase it, the better we likely are. In the post there is a link to the original article. There are many ways to increase dopamine - and likely more than are listed there.
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.
