Just wanted to run this by y'all briefly, as it's been on my mind lately.
I've gained a lot of weight in the last year or two, and I'm not in as great shape as sometimes, though I still have pretty good strength and endurance. I am busy all day and usually also work hard at high elevation daily, doing one thing or another.
But I decided I needed a little more "regular" exercise, so I've been alloting a specific time each day to have a little workout. I'm happy with the timing I chose, and it makes a nice break in my day-- a little jump start to get me through the rest of the afternoon and evening.
However, in what's usually about a 45 minute block of time, I find I spend sometimes more than half just trying to get stretched out. Seems almost like my muscles are getting shorter and shorter almost daily... in two weeks of stretching, I don't feel ANY more "loose"... I almost feel tighter than ever... or at least more aware of being tight.
I also noticed that I have to be very careful, or I seem to all the sudden be prone to shin splints (anyone who's ever run will know what I mean). When I used to run, I NEVER had ANY problem with my shins....just did my stretches for that, and they were fine. I had other muscles that were hard to get loose, but NEVER my shins in the past.
I'm probably "just" out of shape and old. But a lot of the tightness I feel is from knees to feet, which is where my RLS is living most exuberantly right now. I think I remember Becat saying something about stretching a couple of times (but I can't remember if it was good, bad, or RLS-related). Just thought I'd throw this out and see if anyone else has any comments?
Sara, quite interesting. I've never related it to RLS, but I know my muscles, ligaments, and tendons are getting shorter and tighter. I can't do stretches I used to be able to do, I've now got plantar fasciitis (too tight calf muscles are implicated as part of the problem), and I have a hip problem caused by ligaments being too tight and snapping over the joint.
I started taking yoga classes and stretching classes at the Y this winter. Although it does help, I sure don't seem to make any progress in how far I can stretch. Then again, my sizable tummy makes it hard to reach . Not sure if losing weight makes a difference, but sure wish I could find a different drug solution soon so that I could find out how much my current drug regimen has to do with the 40 pound weight gain (started when I started the meds).
I now stretch in my bed each morning before I get out. Just a few key stretches on the parts I know need it the most. I can get out of bed without feeling like I can't straighten out that way.
I just sent my Q of L statement to Becat, but thought I'd post it here.
Restless Les Syndrome. It starts as a feeling that you know everything isn't quite right. You may feel uneasy, jittery, have a creepy-crawly sensation, feel over tired--but you feel it coming and you know you can't stop it. Soon, the feeling overtakes you, becoming more and more intense. It may start to hurt, ache, you may have to move your legs and/or arms uncontrollably. Before you know it, you are in the midst of a full-fledged RLS attack. You are no longer in control of your own body. You can no longer lie still, sit still, think--all you can do is rock back and forth, walk and walk, kick your legs thrash your arms--until you are so exhausted you break down in tears. But tears don't help. Your mind yells "SLEEP", but your body won't let you. It betrays you--making your tired limbs move over and over and over, even though your eyes are red from crying and lack of sleep. You may even scream, hit something, nothing helps. You walk and walk, all night long. You try to read, watch TV, and use the computer--usually to no avail. Because, you see, "it" won't let you sit still long enough to do anything to get your mind off of your legs/arms/torso. There seems to be a cycle for this thief, this robber of life. As everyone else sleeps, and you are so lonely in your night walking, you watch the sun come up in solitary silence, and it seems, unlike the legendary Vampire, daylight makes RLS symptoms lesson, at least for awhile
RLS is a robber of life--MY life and my family’s lives. It eats away at you like a tumor, growing inside you, slowly, so you don't notice the twitches too much, or the nights that maybe you're just "too tired to lie still". Then, when it is fully grown, the tumor we all have come to know as RLS TAKES OVER YOUR WHOLE LIFE. It makes decisions for you, defines relationships for you, sometimes even damaging relationships you have. And, it always has you in its grip--waiting, like the monster it is, until you are just about ready to drift off to sleep, or relax, or take a drive, and it suddenly POUNCES on you with the full force of evil, turning your body into a twisting, turning, jerking thing that you no longer have control over. It plays with your mind, too. "Oh, Wait, I can't do that, I won't be able to sit still." "Oh no, I'm about to run out of my medication. How can I possibly go anywhere, enjoy anything, LIVE?"
We (its VICTIMS), we ALL have a duty to ourselves, and an OBLIGATION to all future victims, to kick, yell, SCREAM, if necessary until someone listens to us. We are not hypochondriacs who just want attention. We are not over-tired, low on magnesium, too this or too that--WE ARE INFLICTED VICTIMS OF A HORRIBLE SYNDROME who DESERVE to live a normal life, sleep with our spouses and/or significant others, go to movies and actually SIT through one, to just LIVE!
I, for one, won't rest until I do WHATEVER I CAN to stop this horrible monster--this molester of our bodies, this killer of our hopes and dreams. I hope I live to see the day when someone, somewhere can say they have found a cure for this invisible disease. Until then, I will be a solder in the RLS survivor army, and I will march right beside each and every one of you using one of the best defenses we have--EDUCATION and HOPE!
Wow. Thanks for sharing, Jan. I can't express how much it means to me to have people share themselves in such an open and intimate way.
I'm curious - and this is to anyone who has written a QoL, not just Jan - does having written this change anything for you? If so, what? Do you feel differently about yourself, about RLS, about life in general? Does it give you hope or make you depressed?
Well i have some expertese on working out as i have done so for the past 20+ years. i hate to tell you Sara but your probably right about age. As we get older our bodies ability to recover is greatly reduced. i would give it another week or so before i come to the conclusion that i am shrinking..LOL.
As for my current situation .....
Since my RLS doc wrote my prescription for oxycodne my GP has since sent me to 2 addictions specialists and a psyciatrist. He wanted to get there opinion before he would fill and manage my medication.
Well .....
i obtained my medical docs through access to information and i was just blown away.
The Psyciatrist stated that "the constant demand for medications of all kinds mutipule gi symptoms RLS/back injury can all be viewed as manevering for medication"
you heard right.......
even though i have been throught a 1 year program for drug addiction...2 years with a psycologist....1 year on random drug testing .... all the while attending AA/NA.... not to mention that completely turned my life around.... he believes that i am simply shopping for drugs.
Now i have addressed these acusations through my unit Commanding officer and will prevail.
These so called doctors have simply gone too far..... they are questioning everything that i have work over the past 5 years.
The ignorance is just increadable.... With these accusations they threaten not only my treatment but my very livelyhood.
What they are not prepared for is for me to fight them until i have no more fight.
i must tell you that it is taking every fiber of my being to not FREAk OUT at these guys.
Good heavens, Brady. This still just stinks. I was hoping for better news by now. Hope you're still hanging in there as best you can. Hey, where the heck are you in Canada? I have a feeling you are in Ontario or Ottawa (seem to remember an O province), but I'll be in Seattle and Vancouver next week.
I'm so sorry you're having to deal with such idiots, Brady! I don't know what to say. It makes me so angry that you are having to go through all of this to get help for a neurological condition. I've seen you suffer--I know what you've been through. I'm so sorry. Please keep us posted. You'll be in my prayers. You and your family.
Ann
I mean to post my Q of L statement in the thread for Q of L statements! DUH! I didn't realize I posted in the wrong place until I tried to find it awhile ago. Now, I'll address your question. How do I feel after I've written it? I don't know how eloquent it is. I don't know if I got my point across or if it just sounded like the ramblings of an emotionally spent, physicaly sick and tired woman who's been dealing with illness for at least three months. Actually, I feel better after writing it. I've been trying to write it for quite a while. It's hard to put into words exactly how I feel--the anger, and yes, I'm angry. I'm angry for people like Brady AND ME. For Rubyslippers, for Becat, for Lyn, for Sara and for you, too Ann. I'm angry for all of us. For years, I've kind of lived with RLS as if it were an unwelcome guest. It was irritating, but not horrible. Well, it's reached the horrible stage. I won't get my life back. BUT, I'm not giving up on getting a good life back. So, I'm not hopeless. And, I'm not depressed. When you look back at your life before the symtoms of RLS were bad and compared it to now, it would be unusual not to feel a little down. But, if I allowed myself to stay down and become clinically depressed, RLS would win everything and that's not going to happen!
I don't mean to ramble, again. I understand how difficult it must have been for you to speak to anyone about this. We can talk to each other, use catch phrases and we'll know what each other means. Not so for "normal" people.
I hope our collective statements will do some good. I think I'll copy and paste to the other thread.
Brady... thanks for the perspective on my poor aging muscles. And I'm so sorry that you're having such a problem getting medical care. Shoppping for medications! ARGH! I'd love to be able to slip the pshrink into your body for a night, wouldn't YOU!
Hang in there, and nice to see you on the forum again. Hope all's well with the family.
I, too, get horrible shin splints, simply from walking. I live on a pretty large college campus, and it's painful to walk from one end of it to another. The muscles in my shins are constantly achey. I also get charley horses in my calves a few times a month. I don't know if this is related to the RLS or the incessant walking or both, but I thought I'd put in my 2 cents. Hope it gets better, dear.
Thanks for posting. Sorry you're having shin splints, too. They're HORRIBLE! (Also cramps are pretty miserable, too! Had a lot when I was a kid, but seldom do now that I'm an adult.)
Do you know the stretches for shin splints? They DO seem to help some. (I can PM you with details if you need me to.)
ALSO, the shoes you wear and your body dynamics when you walk can help. I used to run cross-country, and I've always loved to walk... and I tend to walk fast, even now that I'm middle-aged chubby. But if you don't roll your foot when you walk-- either because of your body dynamics or because of shoes whose soles will not allow you to do so-- that can definitely give you a problem. Now that all the sudden I'm obviously prone to shin splints, I try not to "walk like Frankenstein" if I get in a hurry, because if I do "walk like Frank", my shins hate me RIGHT away!
But a lot of the tightness I feel is from knees to feet, which is where my RLS is living most exuberantly right now. I think I remember Becat saying something about stretching a couple of times (but I can't remember if it was good, bad, or RLS-related). Just thought I'd throw this out and see if anyone else has any comments?
Can't wait to sleep!
