DB wants to buy me a TV for my birthday. Then I could watch TV in the prone position, as we would put it in the bedroom. Last night I said, "That would be nice." You see, I can't watch for very long in a chair, or scrunched up on the loveseat, because of my RLS, a fancy set of initials for a very bothersome, annoying, and down right nasty condition called Restless Legs Syndrome. It sounds so much more official in initials than spelled out. But it is really a medical syndrome. And it is really nasty.
If you don't have it, you can't possibly imagine what it is like. It's like, um, creepy, crawly things inside your legs. Or, more like, you HAVE to move your legs, or you'll throw up, or maybe even die. Or, your legs move on their own, and you think it will be better when they do, but it gets worse. Or, you make the mistake of rubbing them because you have to do SOMETHING, and then they get even worse.
My dad called them, "jumpy legs", and so I do, too. But they more than jump, they nag, and creepy-crawl, and make you sick, literally.
I have suffered with this syndrome since I was a child. My dad had them, my kids do, too, in various stages of severity. I was so happy to finally find a doctor who understood (and gave the syndrome a real medical name), because HE HAD THEM! At last!
Of course, he couldn't help much, because not much helps. Oh, if you can get into a tub of warm water (which I can't do anymore, anyway, because of my knees), eventually they will stop. But that's difficult to do at a concert, or a movie. You can get up and walk around, and SOMETIMES that will help, but that is also difficult to do at a concert or a movie. Although my co-workers are used to my doing that during a long meeting.
My current doctor, although she doesn't have RLS, has been interested enough to study it a little, and she has come up with quinine. Yes, quinine. (I asked her if there was enough in a gin and tonic, but she didn't think so.) So now, before I go to a concert or anyplace else where I might have to sit for a long period of time, I take one, and then take another with me for a backup. AND IT SEEMS TO WORK! Hallelujah!
The worse scenario for me is a long plane ride. But the quinine does help; it doesn't completely remove the problem if the ride is very long, but it seems to hold it off for two or three hours, and then I take another one.
It is a good thing I am an Episcopalian, because in our service, we are up on our feet, down on our knees, and up again. We only sit to hear the lessons and the sermon, and even then, we are up on our feet in between the Old Testament and the New, singing the Psalm, and then up again before the sermon, singing.
Anyway, back to the TV, I thought about it in the early hours when I had slept my sleep, but still needed to lie about, and decided that I don't watch enough TV to merit having one in my bedroom, and I don't WANT to watch that much TV. So now I have to break the news to DB when he wakes up.
By-the-way, those stupid RLS symptoms can be the worse when you go to bed. Luckily for ME, I can fall asleep, but for DB, he has to endure my moving legs all night long. Quinine helps me fall asleep when they are really bad, but when it wears off, my legs are running in bed, kicking him and keeping him awake.
Somehow, we've stayed married for almost 46 years; a queen sized bed has helped.
Life is good, even with RLS. Thanks be to God, Amen.
8:26 AM
I've been reading journals at this computer since 7:30, with time out for a couple e-mails. Now my legs and feet are very cold, but DB is still sleeping, so I'll do some thinking while I'm here.
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