The Scariest Day of My Life Caused RLS Pains for Days

February 6, 2021, was one of the scariest days of my life, and it ended up causing restless legs syndrome pain for days.

Since November 2019, I have been having issues with my breathing not always being autonomic. Trying to figure out why has been a roller coaster journey and led to my official diagnosis of restless legs syndrome (RLS) and central sleep apnea.

It started with a lung test

The first test the cardiopulmonary specialist ordered was a full lung test. The lung test was on February 6th. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, my husband had to drop me off at the hospital and wait for an hour before coming to get me.

I have a sensitive right atrium due to damage from pharmaceutical pills, so the technician running the lung test wanted to monitor my heart through all the testing. I got the little heart monitor thingy that goes on the fingertip.

My heart was beating too fast

The first part of the test went smoothly, but the second part, after the inhaler, went bad. My heart kept staying in tachycardia. The tech said they had the bare minimum of information, so I didn't need to keep doing more.

She helped me onto a chair, then said she was going to keep me there until my heart started to do better and then she would run me down to my husband. I started to feel really cold and shake uncontrollably. A wheelchair was brought up for me and I told my husband that I was having a little bit of an issue, so I wouldn't be down right away.

A trip to the emergency room

Unfortunately, things only continued to get worse, so I was brought down to the emergency room instead of going home. I continued to shake uncontrollably; my heart continued racing uncontrollably. I was given an ECG, hooked up to an IV, and monitored closely.

It took 3 hours and one incredibly painful medication that didn't work the way it was supposed to before I was eventually given lorazepam. My heart started to settle down, and I finally stopped shaking uncontrollably.

My legs felt terrible

The first day after the scariest day of my life, due to all the uncontrollable shaking I had experienced, it felt like I had run a huge marathon and sprained all the muscles in my legs. My RLS acted up all day, varying from intensity and sensations.

It made things quite difficult, and I was unable to go for a walk to try to see if that could make things slightly more tolerable.

Slow recovery

The second day was even worse than the first, like with most things. I had to take something at night to help me sleep better, or it probably would have taken passing out from exhaustion for me to get any sleep.

On the third day, I was able to go for a small walk and have a long hot shower to slightly decrease the major discomfort I was in. I think it took 5 days before my legs and RLS started to feel as they normally do.

I have never experienced RLS pains like that before, and I hope to never have to again.