RLS: hidden problem..CONNIE

January 14, 1999

Hey Connie...while I was reading your mega-long 100 mile

didn't-leave-anything-out description of your RLS attack...(sorry, but as

the longest winded person in the group, I just HAD to stab ya with that

one).....I came across a sentence that really jumped out at me. You wrote:

" but I can't make any noise or wake anyone up.......... "

I think that is a key problem and a real aggravator to our RLS. We've said

it before, when we've wondered why we'll squirm forever in bed with a

partner, but if we move to another bed or the couch, we can get to sleep.

Maybe it comes under the catagory of claustrophobia? I just know that it's

how I felt the other night when I had a bad RLS attack at a movie theater.

I was in the middle of a row with my friends, but there were people

blocking the end of the row. I remember squirming around, darting glances

to the sides and back of the room...like a caged animal preparing my exit

routes. I really think the idea of NOT being able to easily get out, was

making it all worse. And I also noticed myself thinking, " No one else

knows that I'M going crazy here. It's just not fair that I have to sit

quietly and endure this without bothering anyone else. "

NOW...those were the thoughts. BUT, I KNOW that they weren't positive

thoughts. I should have just gotten up, walked, excused myself, and

employed my Zero Tolerance idea and said the hell with the other folks. It

was NOT smart to try to " endure " the RLS attack. It just got worse and

worse as the movie went on.

BTW...if anyone wants to practice responding to RLS during a movie, get

yourself VERY tired and then go see " Shakespeare in Love " . It's a real

leg-kicker!

Jill, 46

Payson, AZ

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