Dreams -- The Jerk Update

Oh yea Brandi. I got dreams too! And I bet some of them now are more bizarre than yours! HA!

Life is better. I'm now off the drug that was causing my restless legs to run rampant, but that doesn't mean they've stopped. After running all the tests, my doctor decided there was no serious underlying problem causing me to jerk uncontrollably. She did cut my blood pressure medication in half (I attribute that improvement to my regular daily bike rides) and prescribed something new for the leg jerks.

But one thing, especially medication, always leads to another. Remember me riding in the clown car down a road in Bali in my sleep? The latest medication, Levadopa, is providing me with even wilder dreams that have no rhyme or reason. At least I knew the clown car ride in Bali was probably triggered by Julia Robert's bike ride in Eat Pray Love! I really should start keeping a journal because this new stuff is nuts!

For instance, Wednesday night I was hanging out with Cameron Diaz at the premiere of her new movie. Cameron Diaz is not particularly somebody I think about on a yearly basis. In fact, I can't name one of her recent movies, much less her new movie. The premiere was at an outdoor amphitheatre/Roman ruin. I somehow got lost and couldn't find my way back to Cameron or the car in Section 5 in the parking lot. I ended up in the nudist viewing area which was below ground -- down where they kept the Gladiators before they sent them into the ring. The nudists were all middle-aged, flabby, grey, and not so pretty. I kept searching through my large tote bag for my cellphone to call my parents to let them know I'd be home late. LOL! You'd think I was having an LSD flashback or something, but honest to God, I never did drugs in the 60's and 70's!

The wild dreams seem to be subsiding a little, but I hate using these drugs. Number one -- I'm sure Levadopa is what some of my students took back in my teaching days for seizures. They slept through class when they'd had the medication. Literally, I took one of the pills in the afternoon last week because I was crawling out of my skin and literally passed out until Craig came in the door after 6 p.m. So it can only be taken at bedtime. And the Requip I formerly took was another dopamine drug similar to what my father took for Parkinson's. So neither of them create a blissful state, but until the restless leg syndrome gets down to a level where I don't go insane every time I try to sit and watch a movie or get through a flight, I'll be taking something with dopa in the name.

Anyway, things are looking up! My EKG was normal for the first time ever. In the past, they've always seen an irregularity in it, questioned me about whether I've ever had a heart attack, and sent me to the cardiologist. Now I just need to get the rest of my maintenance appointments scheduled and I'll be good to go.

Too bad I can't take any photos of these dreams! The nudist viewing area scene was truly a classic!