Sweet Dreams

I'm a medicated mess! I'm on medications to counteract the side effects of other medications and I finally got to my breaking point this last week. The restless leg syndrome -- yes, I actually have it -- finally put me over the edge! I was in the dentist chair on Tuesday morning and my legs started to jerk uncontrollably at about two minute intervals. The dental assistant was trying to finish up a temporary cap on my crown. Each time my legs would jerk, she'd think she'd hit a nerve! So she was frantically trying to hurry as fast as she could go to get me out of there. With a mouth full of cotton, I couldn't explain what was happening, so I'm sure she thought I was a kicking nut about to go dental on her. Usually when the leg jerks strike, it's in the afternoon when the time-released medication I take is wearing off, but being reclined on my head for two hours with all the blood draining away from my legs not to mention the possible drug interaction with the novocaine had put me in R.L.S. hell. It turned into a Laurel and Hardy scene with the assistant being so frantic to get me out of there that she forgot to do a color match for the new crown and literally did it at the front door in the reception room.

Pedicures have also become impossible. For some reason, the uncontrollable leg jerks always strike when I'm in the chair having my toes done. It always induces puzzled giggles from the Vietnamese toe torturer which turns to exasperation by the time they get to the applying nail polish stage. I literally have to hold my leg down by pressing on my knee in order to keep my leg still enough for them to finish the job.

And it's not just the embarrassment at the nail salon or dentist's office -- it's literally crawling out of my skin on flights and not being able to sit though a movie or watch television on my own sofa without being in misery. And the current medication I'm on just seems to intensify the leg movement rather than suppress it.

So I scheduled a doctor's appointment yesterday to try and solve the problem. My blood pressure, for the first time I can ever remember, was actually too low. I have white coat syndrome (my blood pressure shoots sky high when I enter a doctor's office) and I'm on B.P. medication for high blood pressure, so not even that medication is working properly. My doctor, who is normally extremely nice, seemed a little exasperated by my pharmaceutical complaints, but she came up with a plan to figure out just what the hell is going on! So today I go cold turkey on most of my medications except for the Nexium. The Nexium actually works like a charm. (As it should since it costs an arm and a leg!)

The doctor prescribed a sleeping pill which I was extremely skeptical about. Why add another fricking medication to the mix! But I finally gave in once the pharmacist explained the multiple qualities of the drug that will help with the withdrawal from the other medications and get me through the next few weeks.

I took the first pill last night and it worked. Once I finally drifted off to sleep, I was navigating the streets of Bali in the world's tiniest little car dragging my feet on the ground to brake when I met obstacles. The little clown car had the loudest muffler in the world which actually woke me up at 6:00 a.m.! I'm thinking that loud muffler was my snoring??? HA!

This too shall pass. This too shall pass. This too shall pass.

I go in Monday for bloodwork to make sure the sudden ramp up with the leg jerks isn't due to any underlying condition such as Parkinson's, anemia, kidney failure, etc.... I'm not too worried. I'm fairly confident the leg jerks were brought to me by the miracle of modern pharmaceuticals!

But meanwhile, I'll be cruising the roads of Bali in my clown car every night! Who knows, if we could get this leg jerk thing solved, maybe I might actually be able to fly there someday!