A thank-you

[Guest guest]

Thank- YOU. I think that we all needed to here that, because that's

what we are, a SUPPORT group. So glad that we were able to help the emotional

well being of your Mother, or any one else out there.

So thank you and God Bless le R.I.

[Guest guest]

I've been subscribed to this list for a couple of weeks now. I

subscribed because I figured out, in the course of doing some Internet

research, that RLS was the problem my mother was suffering some so

mightily.

My mom was diagnosed with Parkinson's several years ago, but the RLS

problem is fairly recent. However, she's been taking Sinemet and

related meds for quite some time, so there's not much more she can do

medication-wise. And besides, when one gets to " a certain age " one is

often taking so many different medications that the problems caused by

adding more drugs to the mix sometimes outweigh the benefits.

My mom also has email, so I forward much of the list correspondance to

her. (She tends to get rather overwhelmed with lots of mail, though,

so I haven't suggested that she subscribe herself.) What I wanted to

tell you all is how extremely helpful this has been for her! None of

her doctors had ever said anything to her about RLS, and she'd never

even heard of it. But once she read some of the descriptions of RLS

that some of you have given, there was no doubt that this was indeed

her problem.

I think part of the way the information on the list is helpful to her

is in knowing that she's not the only one with this " leg stuff " and

that she's not crazy, and part of it is that some of the advice on the

list has specifically been helpful. For example, several days ago

there was a post about a heated mattress pad, and when my mom read it

she sent my dad right out to buy one. It's made a huge difference in

her ability to sleep.

Between the practical advice and the knowledge that there is a support

community out there, my mom's quality of life has increased

dramatically in the last two weeks. She's certainly not cured, but she

doesn't feel so hopeless. She's actually getting a decent amount of

sleep two or three nights per week, up from about once in 10 days.

So reach around, everybody, and give yourselves a nice pat on the

back. You've done some real good deeds for at least one of your

co-sufferers. Thanks.

Gila