On the outside looking in

For everything and anything else not covered in the other RLS sections.
tj
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2004 12:29 am
Location: maple falls, washington

on the outside looking in

Post by tj »

Hi Jumpyowl,

This is tj. I sent the questionaire on Thursday, hope you got it. Sorry it took so long to get it back to you. Tim's nerve conduction was moved up to 9-30-04 and he hated it. The person doing the test told him there was no nerve damage in his legs. We haven't seen the doctor yet to confirm this, but the guy told him that everyone he's ever tested with RLS does not have any nerve damage. I wonder then what causes the lack of feeling in his limbs? He use to be extremely tickelish, now he can hardly tell when I'm touching his feet.

His sleep has gotten so bad now that his phychologist said it's starting a new stage on his body. He walks around with his eyes half shut, and he's starting to slur his words quite frequently. It's very unnerving to watch. There's days I'm worried about leaving him alone, especially since he watches our 3 year old. This change has happened in the last week or so.
He does use a sleeping aid but it only helps him sleep maybe 2 hours. Thanks for the ear everyone


Sara--- Thanks for the kind words of support. I believe you are right. The medications probably play a big part in how he feels. I know one of them makes him sweat alot. His appetite could be factors with both medication and depression. He also had a Hiatal Hernia repair in 2001 just before RLS was diagnosed. I know that without any of the medications he could not funtion at all. Take care and thanks again for everything.

TJ
tj
Maple Falls, WA

Sara
Posts: 493
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 2:40 pm

Post by Sara »

TJ--

Nice to see you check back in. I know you said you can only access us on your mom's computer.

I'm so sorry to hear about you husband's rough couple of weeks. It's definitely a very serious time for him and for all the family. Wishing you well, but wish that there was more any of us could do.

You said that you thought medications and depression might well be causing his lack of appetite, so I assume that this is still a problem??? I think it's very important that you try to help him get at least a baseline of nourishment, if at all possible. He cannot function with both no sleep and no nutrition.

I'm sure you've tried lots of things to get him to eat. I know a bit about appetite problems because of some experience with chemo therapy patients (not professionally, just personally). If you've not tried meal supplement drinks or things like Power or Tigermilk bars, you might try those, too.

A couple of friends have gotten their loved ones to drink either Ensure or Boost drinks if they blend it lightly in a blender with ice cream or fruit or both (to improve the taste and appeal) for one meal a day. They aren't optimum nutrition, but if he's barely eating, it would give him a boost (no pun intended) at least.

And since there seems to be SOME evidence, at any rate, that vitamin and/or mineral levels in the body MAY have some effect on RLS, a poor appetite (and the accompanying poor nutrition) could theoretically increase RLS down the road. Sometimes, too, not eating or eating poorly ends up being a self-reinforcing habit... the less you eat, the less you want to eat, etc.

Well, just wanted to say "hello" and pass on that thought. You hang in there, and I HOPE that the docs can figure out something to help your husband more than they've been able to so far. Big hugs to you for taking good care of him through this.

Sara

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