I was absent for a few weeks because I had a hysterectomy on the 8th of February. I spent my 39th birthday having blood tests and visiting the doctor
I had the surgery for a number of reasons, but one of the motivating factors was that I'm hoping *eventually* my iron levels will get a chance to build to something vaguely close to normal and perhaps this might one day improve my rls! So far it hasn't helped. I had complications with the surgery (not related to rls) and ended up back in theatre 9 days later. I also bled a lot during the first surgery with my iron levels dropping to 7.2. No idea what my ferritin levels are. But as they were only 4 the last time they were checked, I can't imagine that they're tremendous right now! I really wish I'd opted for the blood transfusion after the surgery. Getting adequate iron through dietary means alone is extraordinarily difficult and iron tablets make me really ill.
But the good news is I have finally stopped bleeding and it will never start again and so over the next few months my iron should build and I'm crossing all my fingers and toes in the hope that it will help the rls!
My rls is not as severe as many on this list has described. I certainly don't have pain - thank goodness - although I do notice significant aches frequently. It totally disrupts my sleep however and I'm finding I'm only able to sleep after about 4am at the moment. Not very pleasant when I have to be up at 7am each day!
I didn't sleep in the hospital at all - despite the sleeping tablets they gave me. Although morphine made me so stoned I didn't really care if I was asleep or awake ......
The first three weeks after the surgery I was so ill and so anaemic that the rls didn't seem to disrupt my sleep as much as usual. Now that I'm getting better it's returning with a vengeance and driving me nuts. At this point in time I have never taken medications but I've received a list of medications available in australia for rls from someone at the australian rls organisation so I'm going to discuss these options with my doctor after easter. Until then I guess I'll just be typing long rambling dialogues in the middle of the night that say very little and mean even less to people that hopefully understand a lot!
To anyone that read all that - thanks for listening!
Take care,
Simone
. We'll be here rambling with you whether or not any of us are making sens.
Hope that it's an improvement in all the "regular" ways, whether or not it helps the RLS long-term.
