I love sleep....

[mrsphillips610]

When I can get it! Sleep does not come easy to me...I am sure most (if not all) of you understand how I feel about this.

I love sleep. I really do. I just wish that the night contained more hours of me actually sleeping in peace rather than tossing, turning, and trying to find a comfortable position.
Getting up in the middle of the night is now a common occurence for me and I expect it to be until I can find a medication that works properly. I spend anywhere from 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours trying to get comfortable. I try everything possible, but sometimes I never reach the point of being able to fall asleep. I get up and pace, stretch, read, write, research, and just generally try to get myself tired enough to stay asleep. This never really happens for me though and it is getting worse. I anticipate another night of tossing and turning. I sometimes feel that there is no point of even going to sleep because it's not like I'll actually remain asleep. The best time to catch some sleep for me is during the day...when I should be up doing things around my house or doing homework or even doing something that I enjoy. I hate that I feel so tired during the day because it really does take away from what I like to do.

I've tried many things. Vicks vapo-rub on the bottom of my feet, yoga, random stretches, heating pad, hot bath...and most recently I have tried Ambien.
Ambien is heaven and hell wrapped up in one tiny pill. I find myself able to fall asleep, but I also find that Ambien almost destroys my relationships and my feelings towards my husband. I love getting to sleep...I love being able to wake up refreshed, but I despise waking up and really just not liking my husband. I have tried OTC medications to help me sleep and those simply do not work any longer. I find that I have to take more than the recommended dosage in order to just fall asleep. That does not work for me because I do not want to harm my body any more than I already have in the past. **Thats another story**

Bottom line...I despise sleeping during the day, but love to sleep at the same time. I welcome it when I can, but when I start working again I cannot just take a nap at my desk. I'm pretty sure that would be frowned upon.

Also...this forum...amazing! I'm so glad that I have found an online community to share my stories and experiences with. I thought that I was alone and had no clue what was wrong with me. I could not stand it any longer and researched it years ago. Now that I know whats wrong with me and its getting worse, I looked into forums for this specific issue. I look forward to learning from everyone, picking up tips, and even supporting people here. The people that I have met on the new people forum have been wonderful. <3

[rthom]

I hate to hear how bad it is for you. I wonder if maybe the only real chance you might have to get to sleep is to do several things all together. Like maybe for me it's taking a sleep pill and my rls meds at specific times and have a hot bath or have hot milk or hot cereal with sugar (so it induces tiredness) and get a foot massage (or whatever) just in time to doze off. Any or all of these ideas may not wrk but the idea is to make a regime that helps relax you as bestt it can. I hope it helps

[mrsphillips610]

I have tried numerous things at once with no such luck. I take OTC sleeping medication which makes me FEEL sleepy, but once I lay down its completely useless. Before I go to bed I always take a hot bath and lay back and stretch my legs. I usually reach for my toes and hold that position for a few minutes...relax...and do it again. These things only seem to help while I am doing them and sometimes for up to 30 minutes afterwards. Unfortunatly my hot water will not last all night or I would sleep in the tub, lol!
Imagine the wrinkles I'd get from that.

I hope that I can discover some sort of regime that helps me so that way I can find some sort of relief. I get desperate at times but I think that when I start to realize that I will not get any sleep that night it just makes my RLS act up even worse.
I take anxiety medication hoping that my RLS is just acting up because I've been stressed. So far that has had no effect on my sleeping issues or my aching legs.

How do yours feel? Mine feel like I have baseball sized knots in the back of my left thigh. I massage them and try to knead them out but they never go away. Its odd because I can physically feel them and my husband can too. He does help me occasionally by rubbing my leg for me, but he falls asleep too quickly for it to be of much help, lol.

[rthom]

Yah my calves knot up bad too. I'm not very touch tollerant at all, but when my muscles keep hurting bad for a week or so i finally get my wife to rub them--massage really, it hurt bad when she does it and they are sore for days but I know if i put up with the pain and get her to do it for a few days in a row they will loosen up and hurt alot less when they ease.
Ps my wife can feel the knots i mine too

[mrsphillips610]

I could not imagine my calves doing that. I hate charlie horses, so I keep thinking that it would feel exactly like a charlie horse! I feel so sorry to hear that RLS effects you so badly.
I get to the point where I cannot stand anything touching my legs. It seems like the nerves are standing straight out of my legs and anything that happens to touch it just irritates it more.
This means that when this happens I cannot have blankets, sheets, or clothes touching my leg. My poor husband loves to sleep with his leg over me and often times I have to push the poor guy off, lol.
He just doesn't understand how it really feels to have this happen. It feels ultra sensitive like someone peeled off a couple of layers of my skin.

I'm glad that your wife rubs your legs for you. My husband despises giving massages and will fake like he is asleep just so he can stop. Drives me nuts! So often times I have to get up out of bed and walk around to make them stop.

[rthom]

That sucks that your husband can't see past his needs for that. My wife's hands hurt bad from the pressure she has to use, but still will do it till it hurts. Thats why i don't ask her to do it unless I'm loosing it. Maybe nookie would be better if it happened after your legs were more relaxed?--wink wink, then if he's anythig like the rest of us he'll be there drooling and massaging----lolol

[Polar Bear]

Hmmm.... nookie !! My symptoms if there are any, cease immediately.

When things settle down again, the only thing not settling is my legs, even if I didn't have symptoms previously. All is very nice and then within a few minutes... twitch.. twitch... I tolerate it as long as I can and then have to get up and take myself off for a while.

[Polar Bear]

mrsphillips - it seems as if your husband has absolutely no idea of the torment you suffer.
Hopefully if he could just get some understanding of this he may find some compassion.

http://www.rlshelp.org/
This link will take you to the Southern California RLS Support Group Site. It is an excellent site and there is a letters page where responses are provided by the wonderful Dr Buchfuhrer who is the ultimate expert in this disease. He will answer emails very speedily and these emails are then placed on the Letters Page. Hundreds and hundreds of letters. Some of them are very descriptive of the symptoms we suffer and I wonder would your husband read some of these. Perhaps to read how it affects others, people who are not close emotionally to him might 'open his eyes'.

Dr B is greatly appreciated.

[mrsphillips610]

Thanks guys. As far as the "nookie" goes...this happens almost every night. I'd like to think that it helps, but sadly it doesn't.
Hes a good person...but he just thinks that things like this are in peoples heads.
I will see if he will read these things, but I highly doubt that he will. He doesn't like to think that there is anything wrong with me because I'm only 26. Unfortunatly there is something wrong with me and getting him to understand is like trying to get me to understand the chinese language. Not happening.

I think that I will pretty much try anything to get him to understand at this point and hopefully he reads some of this stuff that you guys have suggested. Hes a great person...but I don't want him to think that I am like my mother. My mother has had a habit of saying that something new is wrong with her almost daily. I honestly don't want to be like that either which is why I have made every attempt possible at ignoring my symptoms and feelings. Its too much for me to handle now though and I just cannot stand the uncomfortable pain anymore.

[rthom]

It is good that your personal life is still active, and I wonder if you might be able to use it still to get what you need, maybe as part of building up to having sex, like part of foreplay. Sometimes we just need to not mention why we are doing/wanting things. Like offer him a massage in return for one for you (yours first--ladies before gentleman) a roleplay maybe--like the old days or something--it needn't always be explained, I've found--that seems to cause stress in some situations. So to simplify, we have to be creative sometimes and not explain "the real reason" get what we want sometimes. Whatever makes it easier for our loved ones to help is ok by me.
PB good idea you frequently come up with the best ideas that don't seem olbvious at the time!

[EeFall]

You need to stop taking over the counter medications and go to a doctor. It would be best to go to a general practioner first but ideally a sleep doctor at a sleep clinic at a hospital. They will probably have you do an overnight sleep study that will no doubt show to yourself and your husband that it is not in your head but a real (serious) disease. If you can't afford it, I would say that you can't afford not to...RLS/WED can destroy your life...it almost did mine years ago and it has been an up and down battle ever since then....and that is with a good doctor. You don't have a chance with this stuff on your own, you need help.

[mrsphillips610]

I know that I need to do something about this. You guys have given me great advice and everything...I really appreciate it.
I cant do this on my own and I realize it. I'm getting on insurance soon, so I'll be able to afford to get the help that I need with this.
My husband has been more understanding lately and has helped me by rubbing my leg. He does not exactly have to massage the area that hurts...if he just calmly slides his hand across it for a little while usually it calms me enough to make me go to sleep.

My weakness is soft touches...tickles...or even playing with my hair and usually I fall asleep quickly.
I have been taking OTC medications to help with this...mainly Nyquil and it has sort of helped. It makes it to where I feel sleepy and cant really stay awake too long worrying about my leg.
I need to quit taking this stuff because its not healthy to take it long term, but until I can get back into the doctor I dont seem to have too much of a choice.
I think that I'll stop taking it tonight and see what it does for me. Hopefully I can fall asleep rather quickly.

My birthday is today and I planned on drinking which usually makes it easier to fall asleep, but I dont know what I'll be doing yet. My husband gets off at 9pm tonight, so maybe I can get a birthday massage? lol! I dont know yet.

[rthom]

Happy bday!

[Polar Bear]

Happy Birthday

[ViewsAskew]

Hope it was a lovely birthday.