RLS

Restless Leg Syndrome

My husband has this. From what I understand it is fairly rare in men. Women have this much more often. It is so annoying for both of us. He's had it for the past 4 or 5 years now and he takes Mirapex for it, but all of a sudden the Mirapex isn't working as well. He's been having troubles in the late evenings long before bedtime.

RLS is a condition where it feels like you need to move your legs because they itch, feel creepy crawly or instinctually you try to "shake off" the sensation.

The spouse of a RLS sufferer can be affected by it as well, as I was last night.

My husband can usually fall asleep after taking Mirapex and can sleep through the little spasms that his legs go through in the night. He doesn't feel a thing. However, on the other side of the bed the sensation is as though a baseball bat is coming down hard on the bed and shaking it.

At irregular intervals.

For hours.

pound
pound pound
pause
pause
pau pound
pound
pause
pause

etc.

The pounding wakes me up. If I am drifting off to sleep it jars me awake. Last night I was so sleepy, so very sleepy. I thought I would just fall asleep no matter what.

I was wrong. After a restless two hours... I finally went into the guest bedroom and slept there.

I hate to do that, only because if my husband wakes up, he is afraid something is wrong if I'm not in bed. I don't want to worry him. I got over that that last night -- and he never noticed I was gone.

Usually the RLS ends around 5am. Not sure why, but it does. So I came back to bed about 5:30.

Slept like a Rock. That is the phrase that comes to mind. I slept so solid from 5:30 to 8:30 that I thought I had just come to bed.

He's leaving on vacation for a week - I always look forward to his time away and now with the RLS acting up so much lately, I am mostly looking forward to a full nights sleep!

I posted this, not to complain really, but to make people aware of the condition. I had no idea what was going on with my husband when this weird "pounding" started. I used to shake him awake and ask him to stop. He had no idea what I was talking about at that time. Gradually though the sensations started earlier in the evening and he started noticing the spasms. It was only after a sleep clinic visit where it was diagnosed. The sleep visit was scheduled for a totally different reason, having to do with his upcoming liver transplant, but in the process we found the RLS.

Normally the Mirapex works wonders, so we are going to have to go have a chat with someone to see what's going on. It might also be a phase.

Here's to a good nights sleep!
Kristin