Sleeping (or Not) My Life Away

On average, adults need at least 7 hours of sleep a night. Sleeping less than this can increase your risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity.¹

Imagine my horror when this little snippet of information popped up on my home page. It explains a lot; surprisingly, I am obese, I already have hypertension, and I am well on my way to becoming diabetic.

Grabbing sleep whenever it will come

When you suffer from medical conditions such as restless legs syndrome (RLS), you never think about what the endless nights of no sleep are doing to your overall health. Ensuring that we sleep at all was bad enough; suffering from a sleep disorder can sometimes mean grabbing sleep as and when it will come, whatever the time of day.

Spending a sleepless night tossing and turning in bed or pacing the length and breadth of the house does not count as a "stable night's rest." When your body finally succumbs to the weariness of a long night, the relief of crawling into bed, no matter what the hour, is something blissful to behold. Who thought that was doing damage to the remainder of your body?!

Doctors don't consider all the underlying conditions

Having RLS is a frustrating nightmare. It is bad enough spending hours alone while the rest of your household is fast asleep in bed, snoring their heads off. If, like me, your head goes into overdrive during the nighttime hours, receiving information such as "not sleeping enough/at the right time can cause you to be diagnosed with even MORE medical anomalies" will empty your brain into a salad spinner, churning the contents 'til it makes sense.

Can you visit your general practitioner with the question, "Doctor, due to my RLS I sleep approximately 4 hours a day, from roughly 12:30 PM till 4:30PM. I believe this is causing me to be obese. What can you do?" Both you and I know we will just be told to eat healthier and exercise. Nowhere do they consider the side effects of your underlying conditions.

The poor sleep quality of RLS has negative impacts on health

I have tried researching how to combat the effects of barely sleeping, only to have hit dead ends everywhere. One such headline surprised me, wantonly stating that "Sleep Can Slim You." On the days my CFS and RLS are conspiring against me, I can sleep for 12 hours easily. Shouldn't I be the size of a garden rake by now?

Restless legs syndrome robs you of your night's sleep, your comfortable bed, intimacy with your partner, and a good night's rest. Now we find out that it is not just those things it takes from you; now it takes your health.

When will RLS be in our rearview mirror?

Laying in bed typing this piece makes me think: How much do we have taken away from us when we are diagnosed? This condition will likely be with you for the rest of your life. Maybe medication will help you manage. Sometimes these little non-descript tablets will change your physiology to the point that RLS will be in the rearview mirror.

The problem is, things in the rearview mirror may be closer than they appear. One evening, when you are lazing around, that creeping feeling you had packaged away into the filing cabinet of your mind — hoping never to remove ever again — will tap you on the shoulder and introduce itself once again.