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Sorry, Coeus, I Forgot About Experimenting

Ray Li's avatar image

By Ray Li

2 min read

Now that I’m on Pregabalin and no longer experiencing RLS symptoms, I have realized there were different naturopathic treatments I wanted to try to see if they could help. These are things that have been tried in our support group, like pickle juice or a bar of soap under the blanket.

I want to explore my options

I have never been a big fan of taking medications. As a child, I hated taking a multivitamin because it was a pill. So I liked the idea of trying different naturopathic treatments, plus I’m a super curious person who likes doing experiments (hence the reference to the Greek Titan "Coeus" in the title. whose name means “query”). I know everyone’s chemistry is unique, and the naturopathic treatments some people find beneficial may not do anything for me. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to try.

I want to protect my health

If for some reason I no can longer take Pregabalin in the future, I will definitely look at trying naturopathic treatments. Especially because I need to take breaks in between medication changes to allow my body time to recover. Several years ago, my former GP tried a bunch of different strong painkillers and opioids in a row without taking any breaks. He knew it came with some major health risks but he decided on his own, without telling me there were risks, that it was worth it. However, the constant starting and stopping of such strong medications was too much on my heart and ended up giving me tachycardia at age 28. Now, the max I will do is 2 medications in a row before taking at least a 7-month long break to give my body time to recover.

I want to have a backup plan

I really hope I don’t have to stop Pregabalin, but I know that there are some major side effects with it, so I will also have to factor that into the equation. As someone who lives with multiple diseases and has some issues that are caused by a side effect of a medication like short-term memory issues, I am more cautious now. I don’t just look at the information pamphlet that comes with a new medication, especially because most say they don’t contain all the information.

When I was stopping Celexa for my IBS, I discovered I had accidentally tossed out the info pamphlet so I had to look online. I found the drug info that is given to emergency departments and that is where I discovered there was a risk of short-term memory issues and muscle issues.1 However, it was too late, the damage was done to my short-term memory. Thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as it was when on the medication, I was like Dory from “Finding Nemo’ but it didn’t fully recover.

I want to be realistic

I was quite hesitant to try Pregabalin because of all the side effects but the idea of not having RLS attacks anymore was very tempting. Plus, I haven’t been having much luck with my other diseases, I was having more RLS attacks in my arms and more attacks during the day so I was also feeling very desperate. I really wanted a win and yes, I do realize that this temporary break in RLS attacks may end up costing me quite heavily.

Treatment results and side effects can vary from person to person. This treatment information is not meant to replace professional medical advice. Talk to your doctor about what to expect before starting and while taking any treatment.
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