Restless Leg Syndrome

Do you lay awake night after night with this horrible, almost painful, feeling in your legs that only moving them helps? It makes you crazy and you try to will yourself to NOT move your legs. If you can just have enough will power to not move them, maybe you'll be able to fall asleep. It's a feeling that is difficult to describe to someone who has never experienced it. You try and try to fall asleep but you absolutely have to move your legs so you get at least 3.5 seconds of relief.
As a kid I had these awful feelings that would keep me awake and I would kick my feet wildly and thrash around, like a fish out of water, as long as I could or run around my room until my legs felt like jelly. I had no idea what was wrong with me and my parents would yell at me to "go to sleep or else". I tried! I really did. I wanted more than anything to be sleeping instead of my legs freaking out and keeping me awake.
As an adult, I would have those same "I'm going to die if I don't move my legs" feelings when I would fly. I even tried paying an arm and a leg, no pun intended, to fly First Class hoping that having the extra leg room would help. NOPE!!! Not even a little bit! So I am the person pacing the isles while other people sleep soundly and arrive at their destination refreshed and well rested. I on the other hand am exhausted, cranky and want to hurt someone.
Or maybe you have "jerking" movements while you're sleeping. Maybe the person in the bed with you at night complains that you are kicking them or moving so much they can't sleep. Of course you are sorry you disturbed their sleep but at the same time you want to yell, "Oh YOU couldn't sleep? Aw, poor baby! YOU couldn't sleep. NOW YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL!!!!!"
Ok, so maybe you're not the sarcastic type that I am but after about 3 nights of no sleep, I'm a little bit cranky. Or grumpy as my daughter points out. By night 4 and 5 of no sleep, I just want to rip someone's head off. Fortunately I am not a violent person by nature.
It was half my lifetime before doctors gave this a name. Millions of people suffered and thought they were the only ones. When they complained to their docs they were told to exercise more, don't eat late at night, don't drink caffeine, don't smoke, don't don't don't...people had to self medicate by taking sleeping pills or drinking alcohol before bed. Which I have tried both of those and it makes it worse because then I'm even more tired and more frustrated that I can't sleep. Which makes me more "grumpy" the next day.
Fortunately, modern medicine has finally caught up and gave it a name. Some people are even able to get on disability for it because they aren't able to safely perform their job or stay awake during the day long enough to hold down a job.
For more information on RLS, you can search the web or go to this site...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001810/
I also recommend you visit MDJunction.com They have a support group for folks like you and me that suffer from this non-life threatening yet still horrible, agonizing and miserable syndrome.
Do you have RLS? Have you found anything that helps? Please share your successful treatments with us in the comments section. If you follow me on Pinterest, I've pinned a few treatments. I haven't tried them yet but I plan to very soon.
Here's wishing you many restful nights of sweet dreams and peaceful slumber.
Auntie