Restless Legs Syndrome
Posted: June 29th, 2013, 4:04 pm
Restless Legs Syndrome is not typically thought of as a mental disorder, but lo and behold, it is in the DSM V because of the mental stress it causes. Some, like comedian Bill Maher think the disease is a big pharma creation. I assure you it is not. RLS is torture, to put it simply.
Of the two kinds of RLS, primary and secondary, I have primary, and it is rated as severe. I get sensations during the day and sometimes I have them in my arms, too. The sensations are hard to describe. It isn't painful, though on second thought sometimes it is, like my legs are having heart attacks. Mostly it is an intense tickle feeling. As a child I’d tell my parents that it felt like I had butterflies in my legs instead of my stomach. Try to imagine someone dragging a hair brush down the sole of your foot. That’s the closest I can get to describe what the insides of my legs feel like during an attack.
One of the most bizarre things about RLS is that it strikes when I’m tired and need to rest. Or it can hit while sitting in a car, a bus, train or airliner, places where I can’t get up and move around. There were nights I tried stuffing my leg between the mattress and the wall, using heating pads, ice packs, stretching, bike rides at 0130, or a shower. Exercise actually seemed to exacerbate the sensations. Mostly I’d just ball up a fist and beat the ever living shit out of my legs, as the pain was more tolerable than that damn tickle. It was impossible to read, watch TV, or anything else as the whole of my existence became wanting my legs to stop. How many times did I think “I know this won’t kill me, but right now I wish it would.”
Others with severe primary RLS have turned to alcohol, illegal drugs and even suicide. Some have lost jobs and marriages. I lost a job because of it – how many times can someone call in half asleep? Even though my RLS is now controlled by medication, I still have insomnia. It turns out RLS causes high levels of glutamate to build up in the brain which causes loss of sleep though the RLS sensations have been mostly alleviated. And, recent research has shown men with RLS have shorter life spans than men without the disease. Oh well, big fucking deal.
So now I have two afflictions that are in the DSM. RLS and a type of autism called a nonverbal learning disorder. There are two more chronic illnesses I have, but those are another whole subject. RLS sucks, and so does the NLD. Autistic? Holy shit. RLS? Kill me now.
Of the two kinds of RLS, primary and secondary, I have primary, and it is rated as severe. I get sensations during the day and sometimes I have them in my arms, too. The sensations are hard to describe. It isn't painful, though on second thought sometimes it is, like my legs are having heart attacks. Mostly it is an intense tickle feeling. As a child I’d tell my parents that it felt like I had butterflies in my legs instead of my stomach. Try to imagine someone dragging a hair brush down the sole of your foot. That’s the closest I can get to describe what the insides of my legs feel like during an attack.
One of the most bizarre things about RLS is that it strikes when I’m tired and need to rest. Or it can hit while sitting in a car, a bus, train or airliner, places where I can’t get up and move around. There were nights I tried stuffing my leg between the mattress and the wall, using heating pads, ice packs, stretching, bike rides at 0130, or a shower. Exercise actually seemed to exacerbate the sensations. Mostly I’d just ball up a fist and beat the ever living shit out of my legs, as the pain was more tolerable than that damn tickle. It was impossible to read, watch TV, or anything else as the whole of my existence became wanting my legs to stop. How many times did I think “I know this won’t kill me, but right now I wish it would.”
Others with severe primary RLS have turned to alcohol, illegal drugs and even suicide. Some have lost jobs and marriages. I lost a job because of it – how many times can someone call in half asleep? Even though my RLS is now controlled by medication, I still have insomnia. It turns out RLS causes high levels of glutamate to build up in the brain which causes loss of sleep though the RLS sensations have been mostly alleviated. And, recent research has shown men with RLS have shorter life spans than men without the disease. Oh well, big fucking deal.
So now I have two afflictions that are in the DSM. RLS and a type of autism called a nonverbal learning disorder. There are two more chronic illnesses I have, but those are another whole subject. RLS sucks, and so does the NLD. Autistic? Holy shit. RLS? Kill me now.
