Re: The caffeine connection

January 9, 1999

i've also found an interim solution to rls symptoms - just get pneumonia

and be on tons of additional medication and look out the window at a

forecasted total of a foot of snow failing gracefully to the already frozen

icy ground and the twitches magically fade away.

JACK

wheeeeeeeeeezey in western nys

At 06:14 AM 1/9/99 -0500, you wrote:

>From: isbills@... (Shirley H Isbill)

>

>Hello group,

>My legs have been bad for the last week, (they were fine over the

>Christmas week) but I have found yet another quirky source of relief -

>coffee! I remember someone mentioning that their doctor suggested this

>to them, and everyone thought it sounded nuts, but guess what? It works

>for me. This is a last resort at night, because I will still not sleep,

>but at least I won't be twitching and miserable. And sooner or later

>exhaustion takes over and I do sleep some. Another last resort is

>tylenol and codeine. The problem with this, other than the obvious

>addiction risk, is that one worked fine at first, and now it takes two

>for relief to happen. This is the story of my life when it comes to this

>category of drugs, and the main reason I won't go the zanex etc. route.

>Caffeine is a drug also, but presumably of a more benign nature.

>Just thought I'd share this for anyone who is getting really frustrated

>and angry with increased symptoms. I have a fresh pot brewing now!

>ne, wired but twitchless, 58, Lawrenceville, NJ

>

>___________________________________________________________________

>You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.

>Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html

>or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]

>

>------------------------------------------------------------------------

>

January 9, 1999

Well, Shirley, I know exactly what you mean about the caffeine now. I was at

my sister's house for dinner and " computer work " last night, just love all of

these people that call me when their computer's go berserk on them, but I did

get a good dinner out of it...LOL. About an hour after dinner (around 9:00

pm), my sister made up a batch of wonderful cappucino's. Well, didn't have to

take all of my RLS meds last night, had no RLS, but was up until 3:30 this

morning. So, I think there is something to the " caffeine " thing when other

things fail, but unfortunately, for me, and obviously you, the result is

being wide awake.

As for the meds, I have been fortunate enough to have been on the same dosage

of Vicodin now for over two years without having to increase it. My dosage is

1-2 5/500 tabs a night. I always just start out with one tablet, and on

occasions, which is several times a week, I feel the spasms starting up, I'll

take the other one. To this date, I cannot ever remember having to take more

than 2 in a night. I never did like the idea of taking meds of this nature,

but in my case, these seem to be the only ones that really work for me, along

with a small dose of one of the benzos (Valium, Xanax, Ativan, Ambien,

Restoril...I forgot the rest). I've been on all of them at one time or

another along with the Vicodin, but all in very small dosages. Saw my doctor

on Thursday and she said that in going over my medication history, it looks

like we will just have to probably " rotate " benzos " as needed " when they seem

to be losing their efficiency. Works for me.

Sorry, this message turned out longer than I had intended it to.....have a

wonderful day.

Restful Nights,

Jodi

Shirley H Isbill wrote:

> From: isbills@... (Shirley H Isbill)

>

> Hello group,

> My legs have been bad for the last week, (they were fine over the

> Christmas week) but I have found yet another quirky source of relief -

> coffee! I remember someone mentioning that their doctor suggested this

> to them, and everyone thought it sounded nuts, but guess what? It works

> for me. This is a last resort at night, because I will still not sleep,

> but at least I won't be twitching and miserable. And sooner or later

> exhaustion takes over and I do sleep some. Another last resort is

> tylenol and codeine. The problem with this, other than the obvious

> addiction risk, is that one worked fine at first, and now it takes two

> for relief to happen. This is the story of my life when it comes to this

> category of drugs, and the main reason I won't go the zanex etc. route.

> Caffeine is a drug also, but presumably of a more benign nature.

> Just thought I'd share this for anyone who is getting really frustrated

> and angry with increased symptoms. I have a fresh pot brewing now!

> ne, wired but twitchless, 58, Lawrenceville, NJ

>

> ___________________________________________________________________

> You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.

> Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html

> or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]

>

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

>

January 9, 1999