I have Restless Leg Syndrome, or, as Kramer on Seinfeld so aptly described it, "the jimmy legs." This is an honest-to-God medical condition (Chris) and it can be pretty miserable. My restless legs got really bad during pregnancy and are aggravated, I found out last week, when I take cold medicine -- I actually got restless arms one night after taking some Nyquil.
I've found one thing that helps (well, other than sleeping on my stomach with my legs folded in a weird way) -- homeopathic leg cramp tablets with quinine. They're not foolproof, though. So imagine my excitement when I came across an ad for prescription Restless Legs relief in an Entertainment Weekly. I almost dropped everything and called me doctor to ask him if the drug was right for me right away!
But then I read the list of side effects. They included the usual -- nausea, headache, nosebleeds, etc. But the drug apparently caused some people to fall asleep suddenly when performing other tasks, such as driving. The drug may also cause patients to develop impulsive behaviors, such as pathological gambling.
I think I'd prefer not to develop a gambling problem at this point in my life. I'll live with my jimmy legs for a while longer.
I've found one thing that helps (well, other than sleeping on my stomach with my legs folded in a weird way) -- homeopathic leg cramp tablets with quinine. They're not foolproof, though. So imagine my excitement when I came across an ad for prescription Restless Legs relief in an Entertainment Weekly. I almost dropped everything and called me doctor to ask him if the drug was right for me right away!
But then I read the list of side effects. They included the usual -- nausea, headache, nosebleeds, etc. But the drug apparently caused some people to fall asleep suddenly when performing other tasks, such as driving. The drug may also cause patients to develop impulsive behaviors, such as pathological gambling.
I think I'd prefer not to develop a gambling problem at this point in my life. I'll live with my jimmy legs for a while longer.
Comments
Seth and I have been talking about jimmy legs quite a lot lately. A couple of weeks ago, I had them bad!
I found that if I do yoga, they don't bother me.
Weird that cold medicine makes yours worse.
I'd say if its bad (and I can't imaging RLS being good), I would try it out!
There's your nurse's input- happy jimmy-ing!
Holly