RLS: Various topics

[Guest guest]

To Dr. Levin: My question concerns drug holidays. My RLS doctor, who I

like very much, has suggested I try this, which I would really like to

do. For the past six months I have been taking .25 mg of Mirapex each

night about 9. It has been working very successfully and I am sleeping

better than I have in the past ten years or so. Except for a slightly

stuffy nose, I notice no side effects. (The nose thing is a minor

detail compared to the benefit of a good night's sleep, in my view.) I

was on Permax for a about a year (it never worked as well as the Mirapex

does) and twice tried drug holidays. The results were horrible. I

tapered down ever so slowly and carefully, but I found the less I took

the less sleep I got and the RLS was intolerable. I always gave up

after about 4 or 5 nights because by then I was getting absolutely no

sleep and was a basket case. Am I never going to be be able to take a

" drug holiday? " I must admit RLS rarely bothers me anymore, but I have

found if I do miss a dose the RLS is back with a vengence.

To Connie/Mom re " Listen Up Guys. . . . " : Thanks for a great letter.

Though I hardly every post, I read everything and found your letter

today particulary resonant with my own thoughts about RLS and this

group. I guess I'm coming more and more to the conclusion that, since

I'm not immortal (as I was at 25 :-) ), I just want to enjoy my life to

the fullest without getting overly bogged down with " health concerns. "

My mother in law is 87 and incredibly healthy and active. She seems

never to have become too wound up in health concerns. She eats a good,

balanced diet, exercises regularly without fail, has never smoked,

drinks only occasionally and has a healthy outlook on life. I think she

must be possessed of good genes, too, except that she has also outlived

her own parents by over a decade now. She has had and still does have

some very real health problems, but they don't seem to get the best of

her. I don't know what the answer really is. I do feel we must have

compassion for one another and try to accept people where they are in

their journey.

Pat Lee/54/Mesa, AZ