RLS LIFE: Drugs, Side Effects & Everything Else

For everything and anything else not covered in the other RLS sections.
sardsy75
Posts: 862
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2004 8:56 am
Location: Queensland, Australia

Post by sardsy75 »

Night 1/Day1 (Monday/Tuesday)

- Had trouble getting to sleep (as I did on Saturday night when I lost a whole tablet by accident)
- Counsellor didn't boot my bum but is concerned about me considering the colossal (sp?) amount of stress in our lives at the moment
- RLS breakthrough symptoms at around 4pm; took 1mg Clonazepam & 3 x Ibuprofen/Codeine 500/12.8 Tablets
- It's now 8:50pm & the breakthrough symptoms are still buggin the crap outta me.
Nadia

My philosophy is simply this: Life is too short to be diplomatic. Your friends should not care what you do, or say; and for those who are not your friends ... their loss!!!

sardsy75
Posts: 862
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2004 8:56 am
Location: Queensland, Australia

Post by sardsy75 »

SquirmingSusan wrote:.....

If the amit-whatsit works for you, then by all means, take it. Especially if you're sure that it doesn't aggravate your RLS. I've heard of others who take it as well, and don't have a problem with it. I take Lexapro or Effexor (jury's still out on which I prefer) and I know that they don't bother my RLS at all. I'd also like to give Remeron a try, even though it has a better chance of bothering my RLS than the other antidepressants I'm on, because it also has a better chance of helping me SLEEP. And aren't we all on a quest for glorious sleep?!

OTOH, I also have a serious case of monkey-mind/mental hamster-wheel, and for a while there I was actually able to shut it down with meditation, so I know that it's possible. But in the competition between meditation and medication, I generally opt for the latter. :wink: Not that the medication really shuts down my brain; I have full-length feature movies in my sleep.

.....

Do whatcha gotta do, girl, to feel good! And there's no law saying you have to explain anything to anyone. 8)


Thankyou Susan.

I'm still going ahead with the trial. As it is, I'm probably going to have to wean off it entirely anyway by the time I get to my Sleep Doc, so I might as well start now & just take it slowly. I am curious about Remeron and in some of the stuff I've read it's been only a small percentage of RLS patients who've had reactions. Well, i'll try most things once 8)

As for the meditation vs/&/or medication. I hear ya. My counsellor gave me a Relaxation & Self Esteem CD today which I'm goint to upload onto my IPod. I've been trying to do some meditation since the girls have been gone, but I really need some guidance from someone more experienced and I don't know of anyone locally, so will have to do some digging.

I used to be able to meditate for hours ... then my life got turned upside-down and inside-out and it's been a battle to get back there.

I have started doing the yoga only twice a week at the moment. The first session had me in fibro pain for quite a few days, but I'm determined!

As for the thyroid stuff the stuff I was talking about is Eutroxsig
Taking other medicines

Tell your doctor if you are taking any other medicines, including medicines that you buy without a prescription from a pharmacy, supermarket or health food shop. Some of these medicines may interfere with EUTROXSIG.

These include:

- Anticoagulants, medicines used to thin your blood (eg. Warfarin)
- Antidepressants, medicines used to treat depression (eg. Lithium, SSRIs, Tricyclic antidepressants)
- Antivirals, medicines used to treat HIV/AIDS infection (eg. ritonavir)
- Antimalarials, medicines used to treat and prevent malaria (eg. chloroquine and proguanil)
- Medicines used to treat diabetes (eg. Insulin)
- Beta-blockers, medicines used to treat high blood pressure and heart conditions (eg. propranolol)
- Ion-exchange resins, medicines used to decrease cholesterol in the blood (eg. cholestyramine)
- Corticosteroids, antiinflammatory medicines (eg. prednisolone and dexamethasone)
- Oral contraceptives and hormone replacement medicines such as oestrogens and androgens
- Medicines used for epilepsy (eg. phenytoin and carbamazepine)
- Medicines used to treat heart failure (eg. digoxin)
- Iron supplements
- Calcium supplements
- Rifampicin, an antibiotic used to treat tuberculosis and other serious infections
- Ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic used to treat various infections
- Soyabean flour (eg. some infant formula and other products)
- Antacids (eg. aluminium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide and calcium carbonate)
- Amiodarone, a medicine used to treat irregular heart beat
- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), medicines used to relieve pain and/or inflammatory conditions including arthritis

These medicines may affect how well EUTROXSIG works, or react with it resulting in unwanted or sometimes serious side effects.


Thankyou for your response!
Nadia

My philosophy is simply this: Life is too short to be diplomatic. Your friends should not care what you do, or say; and for those who are not your friends ... their loss!!!

sardsy75
Posts: 862
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2004 8:56 am
Location: Queensland, Australia

Post by sardsy75 »

Night 2/Day2 (Tuesday/Wednesday)

- Had trouble getting to sleep
- Major reality dreams all night
- RLS breakthrough symptoms at around 11am: took 1mg Clonazepam & 3 x Ibuprofen/Codeine 500/12.8 Tablets and repeated the process at 5pm
- It was pouring rain all day
Last edited by sardsy75 on Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
Nadia

My philosophy is simply this: Life is too short to be diplomatic. Your friends should not care what you do, or say; and for those who are not your friends ... their loss!!!

sardsy75
Posts: 862
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2004 8:56 am
Location: Queensland, Australia

Post by sardsy75 »

Night 3/Day3 (Wednesday/Thursday)

- Had trouble getting to sleep ... was still awake well after 3am
- Reality dreams are gettin pretty tiring
- RLS breakthrough symptoms were mild so I could justify taking anything after the pounding I gave my body the previous day
- Rain dried up ... but the weather is viscious


* Edits were "cosmetic" only ... just havin a fight with my mouse
Last edited by sardsy75 on Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:08 am, edited 3 times in total.
Nadia

My philosophy is simply this: Life is too short to be diplomatic. Your friends should not care what you do, or say; and for those who are not your friends ... their loss!!!

sardsy75
Posts: 862
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2004 8:56 am
Location: Queensland, Australia

Post by sardsy75 »

Night 4/Day4 (Thursday/Friday)

- Was dead as a doornail before 10pm (Thursday night) ... however ... awake ... since 4am NYARGH!!!!!!!!!
- DID have a couple of brief dozing sessions which were actually quite useless as all I had were reality dreams ... again
- Breakthrough symptoms goin hell for leather at the moment (1:00pm) and have been for a couple of hours. ** Ended up taking the usual afternoon "cocktail" at around 3pm to try and calm things down. I'm trying to walk-off or waggle-off any daytime/afternoon breakthroughs, but it's easier said than done at the moment with the weather being the "ruler" of my day
- Plenty of that really "scary" thunder around but no rain


Wondering if I'll make it through watching the Cricket tonight ...


*Edits to fix errors caused by brain not keepin up with fingers and mouse

**Second round of edits done to update "experiment"
Nadia

My philosophy is simply this: Life is too short to be diplomatic. Your friends should not care what you do, or say; and for those who are not your friends ... their loss!!!

sardsy75
Posts: 862
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2004 8:56 am
Location: Queensland, Australia

Post by sardsy75 »

Night 5/Day 5 (Friday/Saturday)

- As I mentioned in my most previous post here, my breakthrough symptoms were going hell for leather throughout the entire afternoon on Friday.
- I don't often ask Troy to come with me to do the groceries, but I'm glad I did on Friday night as I had to grab a bottle of water from the fridge section and trying not to spill tablets all over the place, take another dose of my "afternoon cocktail" at around 8:00pm.
- I slept ok on Friday night, although I was a bit excited about the girls coming home the next day.
- Saturday morning was fine.
- No breakthrough symptoms at all on Saturday, even during the four hour road trip.
- Was pretty happy with that.
Nadia

My philosophy is simply this: Life is too short to be diplomatic. Your friends should not care what you do, or say; and for those who are not your friends ... their loss!!!

Aiken
Posts: 880
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2005 6:53 am

Post by Aiken »

I'm glad you finally had a decent day. :) Your experiment has not looked like much fun so far.
Disclaimer: I often talk about what I do and what works for me, but these are specific to me and you should always consult a healthcare professional before trying these things yourself, lest you endanger your health or life.

ViewsAskew
Moderator
Posts: 16571
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 6:37 am
Location: Los Angeles

Post by ViewsAskew »

Ditto what Aiken said...
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

Managing Your RLS

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
Moderator
Posts: 8799
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 4:34 pm
Location: United Kingdom

Post by Polar Bear »

Hey Nadia, good for you, for trying this.

It takes a lot of strength to keep going. :)
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation

sardsy75
Posts: 862
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2004 8:56 am
Location: Queensland, Australia

Post by sardsy75 »

Night 6/Day 6 (Saturday/Sunday)

- Ended up going to bed early on Saturday night as I was heavily under the "influence" of having to take a 2mg tablet of Clonazepam when I was out doing the groceries; then when I went to bed Friday night, didn't even think to take the 2mg tablet OUT of my "nightcap".
- After much perseverance, I managed to upload the Stress and Self Esteem CD onto my IPod. Excellent stuff! Found it hard to relax all of my muscles one by one though. My thigh muscles seem to be in a constant flex when I'm in bed
- Had a very disturbed night as there were a lot of thunderstorms about which scared Seanna, who ended up in our bed (along with the cat).
- Found it extremely hard to "get going" on Sunday but had to as we are adding desks to the girls rooms which means a complete rearrangement for two rooms. Helped Troy carry my old desk down from the front verandah to KK's room ... he asked if I was ok ... I said "Ask me that tomorrow."
Nadia

My philosophy is simply this: Life is too short to be diplomatic. Your friends should not care what you do, or say; and for those who are not your friends ... their loss!!!

sardsy75
Posts: 862
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2004 8:56 am
Location: Queensland, Australia

Post by sardsy75 »

Night 7/Day 7 (Sunday/Monday)

- Tried to be sociable at the Christmas Party we went to last night, but the efforts of moving furniture hit me faster than I'd hoped.
- Spent most of the evening in a comfortable chair, well away from the main party, watching the tennis (Woohoo for Jelana Dokic!)
- Took my codeine early to combat the fibro pain that had already kicked in
- Slept fitfully; waking numerous times too many for my liking
- This morning i've already been on the wrong end of an horiffic attack that had me flinging my arms around in wild frustration
- So, took 1mg Clonazepam & 3 x Ibuprofen/Codeine 500/12.8 Tablets at about 10am ... not the best start to the day.
Nadia

My philosophy is simply this: Life is too short to be diplomatic. Your friends should not care what you do, or say; and for those who are not your friends ... their loss!!!

sardsy75
Posts: 862
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2004 8:56 am
Location: Queensland, Australia

Post by sardsy75 »

On a different note ... The girls are home!!!! :D

Oh it was SO good to see them on Saturday!

Got an enormous hug from Karrissa ... and she's been hugging me at every opportunity ever since, saying she missed us like crazy.

Troy had to practically prise Seanna off of me she had such a tight grip on me. Ahhhh ... she was happy to be comin home. When we'd called them on Wednesday night she'd said in a teary voice "I miss you!" and we said "Three more sleeps bubba, only three more sleeps!", but that, to a five year old can seem like an eternity.

Bianca's in two minds about being home, but she'll be back to her usual self eventually.

Raven, our kitten, is happy to have three more sets of feet to chase and three more sets of hands to chew on.

Zena, our Rotty, i swear she's gonna wriggle her whole backside outta whack one day, she was so happy to see them! She's one of the last Rotty's who had their tails docked before the laws were changed. So when she's excited, the whole back end goes nuts!

Seanna is really excited about starting Year 1 tomorrow. Bianca's treating it like just another day; she'll be in Year 5. Karrissa's petrified of starting High School (Year 8 ), despite the fact that a lot of the Year 7's from her Primary School are going to the same High School. She'll be ok once the first week or so has passed and she's settled into her routine.

As for Troy and I, as much as we enjoyed the quiet time while the girls were away, we did miss them, and we're loving them being back home.
Nadia

My philosophy is simply this: Life is too short to be diplomatic. Your friends should not care what you do, or say; and for those who are not your friends ... their loss!!!

ViewsAskew
Moderator
Posts: 16571
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 6:37 am
Location: Los Angeles

Post by ViewsAskew »

I guess your school year starts close to the end of summer, huh? Ours, too, except that is in late August or early September.

Do the kids go year round or do they have the summer off?

Also interesting to hear that your have laws regarding docking dogs' tails. I wish we did, but to my knowledge, we do not.
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

Managing Your RLS

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.

SquirmingSusan
Posts: 3028
Joined: Sun Nov 12, 2006 4:08 am
Location: Minnesota
Contact:

Post by SquirmingSusan »

Wow. Kids are great. And breaks from kids are great. And reunions are great. Just enjoy it.

And dogs - well reunions to dogs are really something. Although once Shilo (in my avatar) my Golden-Irish, who would never hurt a flea, was mad at me when I returned from a week away and she walked over to me and gently, but firmly, chomped down on my arm. :evil: I got the message very clearly that she didn't like having me away, lol.
Susan

sardsy75
Posts: 862
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2004 8:56 am
Location: Queensland, Australia

Post by sardsy75 »

Yes, our "School Year" starts at the end of January; February being our last month of Summer, and usually the hottest month as well.

We have four Terms which make up two Semesters. Semester 1 made up of, Terms 1 and 2 are each roughly 10 - 11 weeks long and are split by a one week holiday around the Easter Weekend.

There's a two week holiday during June/July before Semester 2 starts. Terms 3 and 4 are again roughly 10 - 11 weeks long and are split by a two week holiday during September/October.

End of the year is usually around 10th - 15th December and the holiday period is for six weeks.
Nadia

My philosophy is simply this: Life is too short to be diplomatic. Your friends should not care what you do, or say; and for those who are not your friends ... their loss!!!

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