PSA..., for the children

[Mercy]

I have restless leg syndrome. Big whoop. It does not hurt or impair my abiility to use my legs. Contrary to how it has been portrayed in comedic circles, it does not cause me to spontaneously high-kick or involunutarily kick the cats. It is not Tourette's of the legs. In fact, restless leg syndrome is actually a misnomer as the sensations are not restricted to the legs. It was not something I talked about because it was not a "real thing" until I saw a commercial about RLS six/seven years ago.


Last night was particularly bad. Bad is relative; I got little sleep Sunday night and maybe an hour's sleep last night in five to ten minute increments. So I spent the night bouncing around in my own head and eventually mulling over the first time I was aware something was not right. I was five years old and like many children at that age, I was reluctant to go to bed. There were bugs in my bed, or so I told my mum. It was the only explanation my young mind had for the creepy-crawly sensation I felt when under the covers at night. Of course there were no bugs in my bed. Mum pulled the bed clothes off my bed to show me. I was told it was merely the linens settling around my legs and to stop being difficult and go to sleep. I was told in that way that meant bugs in my bed would be the least of my concerns if I did not stop making up stories to avoid bedtime. This was also the first I remember losing sleep for multiple nights in a row; the start of my insomnia. I never again spoke about the twitchy legs until eight years ago when I sheepishly mentioned it to K.


By the time I was in third grade I was getting phantom pains in my limbs. An arm or a leg would start to hurt for no reason and the pain would last for at least ten minutes to an hour or so. Someone told me it was just growing pains and perfectly normal. It was another year or so before I figured out that "growing pains" was just adult-speak for "all in the kid's head". That was when I stopped mentioning the pains. It was also when I learned not to make a fuss over little pains or even acknowledge any sort of ailment unless it was obvious and debilitating. This was the reason last year I brushed off what seemed a minor sinus infection until it resulted in a ruptured cornea. I still get the phantom pains, maybe a couple of times a year, and found out that they are another symptom of Willis-Ekbom disease/RLS.


In my mother's defense, there would have been nothing to find had she taken me to a doctor all those years ago. There is nothing to observe unless one is being monitored by certain machinery at the exact moment the sensations occur. Doctors only figured out RLS existed about twenty years ago and there is little understood about it after two decades. That is still no excuse for how my mother chose to react to the situation. I bring this up because some of our members are now parents or will be soon. Kids say the darndest things and many of those things are complete fabrications. But not every preposterous tale is made up, some are merely misinterpreted.


-m.

[Beldaran]

I was horribly ill for 29 years. Doctors told me I was allergic to milk.

After 29 years of violent vomiting, torturous stomach pains, literally praying for death at times, and wild visits to the emergency room costing tens of thousands of dollars, I got lucky and some smart doctor took a detailed scan and noticed that all of my intestines were organized completely backwards and were tangled up beyond recognition. I had ten minutes to live, he said. I signed a form and had major surgery.

Now I am completely healthy! I can hardly believe it.

I don't have much of a point, except I share your feelings about people not taking you seriously when you complain about symptoms. When I begged for morphine, I was told to leave because I was a drug addict.

I wish more doctors would listen more closely to their patients.

[ctrl-alt-delete]

I have restless leg syndrome. Big whoop. It does not hurt or impair my abiility to use my legs. Contrary to how it has been portrayed in comedic circles, it does not cause me to spontaneously high-kick or involunutarily kick the cats. It is not Tourette's of the legs. In fact, restless leg syndrome is actually a misnomer as the sensations are not restricted to the legs. It was not something I talked about because it was not a "real thing" until I saw a commercial about RLS six/seven years ago.


Last night was particularly bad. Bad is relative; I got little sleep Sunday night and maybe an hour's sleep last night in five to ten minute increments. So I spent the night bouncing around in my own head and eventually mulling over the first time I was aware something was not right. I was five years old and like many children at that age, I was reluctant to go to bed. There were bugs in my bed, or so I told my mum. It was the only explanation my young mind had for the creepy-crawly sensation I felt when under the covers at night. Of course there were no bugs in my bed. Mum pulled the bed clothes off my bed to show me. I was told it was merely the linens settling around my legs and to stop being difficult and go to sleep. I was told in that way that meant bugs in my bed would be the least of my concerns if I did not stop making up stories to avoid bedtime. This was also the first I remember losing sleep for multiple nights in a row; the start of my insomnia. I never again spoke about the twitchy legs until eight years ago when I sheepishly mentioned it to K.


By the time I was in third grade I was getting phantom pains in my limbs. An arm or a leg would start to hurt for no reason and the pain would last for at least ten minutes to an hour or so. Someone told me it was just growing pains and perfectly normal. It was another year or so before I figured out that "growing pains" was just adult-speak for "all in the kid's head". That was when I stopped mentioning the pains. It was also when I learned not to make a fuss over little pains or even acknowledge any sort of ailment unless it was obvious and debilitating. This was the reason last year I brushed off what seemed a minor sinus infection until it resulted in a ruptured cornea. I still get the phantom pains, maybe a couple of times a year, and found out that they are another symptom of Willis-Ekbom disease/RLS.


In my mother's defense, there would have been nothing to find had she taken me to a doctor all those years ago. There is nothing to observe unless one is being monitored by certain machinery at the exact moment the sensations occur. Doctors only figured out RLS existed about twenty years ago and there is little understood about it after two decades. That is still no excuse for how my mother chose to react to the situation. I bring this up because some of our members are now parents or will be soon. Kids say the darndest things and many of those things are complete fabrications. But not every preposterous tale is made up, some are merely misinterpreted.


-m.


I was horribly ill for 29 years. Doctors told me I was allergic to milk.

After 29 years of violent vomiting, torturous stomach pains, literally praying for death at times, and wild visits to the emergency room costing tens of thousands of dollars, I got lucky and some smart doctor took a detailed scan and noticed that all of my intestines were organized completely backwards and were tangled up beyond recognition. I had ten minutes to live, he said. I signed a form and had major surgery.

Now I am completely healthy! I can hardly believe it.

I don't have much of a point, except I share your feelings about people not taking you seriously when you complain about symptoms. When I begged for morphine, I was told to leave because I was a drug addict.

I wish more doctors would listen more closely to their patients.

You guys must not have tried prayer.

[Beldaran]

I seriously hope you are kidding.

[ctrl-alt-delete]

I seriously hope you are kidding.

Lmfao, I was. I am a Christian, but I'm not crazy(I realize the comedy of this very phrase). @Glitch (http://armageddongames.net/member.php?u=38658) can attest to that.

Edit: The funny thing is, I only read the first couple sentences before I decided to troll. You even said you prayed, @Beldaran (http://armageddongames.net/member.php?u=38841) .

Edit 2: Now that I've read the full posts, I realize my joke was in terrible taste. Those stories suck, but I'm glad things are getting better for the both of you. It's funny, Mercy, I actually have had similar experiences to you. I self diagnosed it as fibro-myalgia.

[Mercy]

Bel', good to hear you finally got a doctor who deserved his degree. It sounds like volvulus (small intestine or full?) which has me shocked it took 29 years for a proper diagnosis. I am guessing they had you pegged as a colic-y baby and a "sensitive" kid when you were growing up. How glad are we that prayer failed you?

ctrl', I gave up prayer as a kid when I heard about how well it worked for Jean Harlow.

Seriously though, no worries here. There are such worse things than RLS (Bel's former condition being a prime example) that it is almost embarrassing. My intent was to point out how parents listen to children with adult ears and sometimes forget that children speak from limited experience and understanding. I could have just as easily regaled the forums with the tale of my constant childhood companion/babysitter who, at age ten, played "grow-up" games with the impeccably groomed neighbor around the corner. That was pre-Adam Walsh and no one talked about the dangers of snatchers and molesters much then. No one batted an eye when I complained that the neighbor and my companion would go into a closed room to play private games without me. The cackle I let loose when, over a decade later, his mum announced how shocked! she was that her son had just come out of the closet was not appreciated.

-m.

[Brasel]

My dad and my grandma have RLS. They never sleep. I am amazed at how my dad gets so much done every day with so little sleep every night. I, thankfully, haven't had any indication of having it. My dad was on some experimental drugs for awhile that helped him sleep through it, but he was sore as hell the next day.

I'm not a parent yet. I'll take what you said into consideration, though. I do intend on having kids one day, when my life slows down a bit.

[Beldaran]

I didn't mean to unload my story in your thread. It just fell out because I resonated with what you wrote. :)

[SUCCESSOR]

Prostate-Specific Antigen?

I have RLS. Can make standing still and sleeping difficult and sometimes long drives intolerable. I understand what you mean about parents not listening to kids. I am certain that when I was a kid I had a bladder condition, possibly even still. I have always urinated much more frequently than others and holding it caused me severe discomfort to severe pain. To this day I have never consulted a doctor about it because no one ever seemed to be concerned about it. I still pee very frequently(and not a little bit). I have had a boss get on to me about bathroom breaks to which I said, "I pee a lot. I can't help it and if you don't like it fire me. If you do, however, I will see a doctor and if I have a medical condition, which I am certain I do, I will sue your ass." I don't know if such a suit would hold up in court but he never bothered me again.

[Mercy]

Bel', unload away. That is what this place is for, and my amphigourique posts.

Successor, I do leg stretches before bed each night and they seem to help. The stretching makes the difference between maybe a little vague buzzing for a few minutes or hours spent imitating one of Galvani's test subjects. I would be more concerned with bladder issues, though. It could be something as relatively benign as a small bladder but possibly indicative of something more serious. Have you been checked for diabetes? Does stress seem to be a factor? Have you tried daily Kegel exercises?

-m

[SUCCESSOR]

Bel', unload away. That is what this place is for, and my amphigourique posts.

Successor, I do leg stretches before bed each night and they seem to help. The stretching makes the difference between maybe a little vague buzzing for a few minutes or hours spent imitating one of Galvani's test subjects. I would be more concerned with bladder issues, though. It could be something as relatively benign as a small bladder but possibly indicative of something more serious. Have you been checked for diabetes? Does stress seem to be a factor? Have you tried daily Kegel exercises?

-m


Stretches do help a little. When it is really bad I usually get up and take a bath with the water as hot as I can stand and epsom salt if I have it. When I have to drive long distances I usually have to get out every couple hours and jog in place or similar leg workouts.

In regards to my bladder I doubt I have a small bladder as when I go I go a lot. I do kegels and doubt weak kegel muscles are the problem. I haven't been checked for any medical conditions at all. My whole life I have been the model of perfect health. With the amount of Soda I have drank since about age 16 makes me worry about diabetes so I may go get checked sometime. And stress is always a factor. I still have generally good health. I only get sick when my diet slips up. As I have said in another thread I need to get back into shape.