Restless Legs by Day and Night

Experiencing a bespoke attack of RLS can be nothing short of debilitating.

I don't know if you put in place items that will aid you during your nighttime romp around the house. I jot down ideas of series I would like to watch or films where the plot doesn't require me to follow it fully, maybe something I have seen multiple times before; therefore, I know the ebb and flow of the film like the back of my hand.

Often I leave a notebook by my allotted seat on the sofa, ensuring that if I am having a bad brain fog day, I still have entertainment for those dark hours when others are snoring their heads off (how inconsiderate!).

My RLS symptoms appeared before dinnertime

Last week, my RLS decided to be wholly inconsiderate and pop its head up mid-afternoon, even before dinnertime!

There I was, pleasantly reading a book, when all of a sudden the nerve in my calf twinged. Odd, I thought, rubbing my painful leg with the foot of my opposite leg. Thinking nothing more of it, I cleaned my glasses, delving back into the page I was devouring beforehand. The sensation interrupted my train of thought. Deep in my subconscious, the realisation dawned.

Panic set in when, after checking my watch, I realised it was too early for my 'dark passenger' to rear his ugly head. I hadn't even considered what I wasn't going to cook for dinner — instead, ordering a takeaway — as sleep had alluded me the previous night, already making any chore practically impossible for me to do in my zombified state.

A coping strategy that backfired

Thinking of easy ways to try and break its early grasp on my tortured legs, I decided to take a bath in Epsom salts, great for stressed limbs; unfortunately (sometimes hit-or-miss for RLS-addled ones), having submerged myself in a raging hot bath a month or 2 prior, it turned that night into one of the worst I had ever experienced. It seemed to ramp up my RLS 100-fold, ultimately requiring me to take sleeping tablets to get any sleep after 48 hours of suffering.

Using my heated blanket for relief

As my attack had started so much earlier than usual, I chose to listen to my head, foregoing the bath in exchange for laying in bed with my heated blanket as high as it would go. Releasing some of the pain from my fibromyalgia can help remove some of the tense knots in my muscles, reducing the sensations in my legs from my RLS a small amount.

Daytime symptoms can be frustrating

I always attack my RLS, as it robs me of my precious, coveted sleep, plus the chance to relax at times when others are enjoying time with their families and loved ones. It increases my energy bills as I run my apartment utilities practically 24/7 when it is at its worst. The day of the early attack made me realise something, though.

Thank god it usually rears its head during the dark hours! It would be so much worse if it was during the daytime. I would get nothing done!