Sleep, Anxiety...Restless Leg Syndrome?
I want to keep this short and..almost to the point, I suppose. Im 21 years old, a college psychology senior, who's, well, had a very bad past 6 months, which has consisted of several life altering and stressful events. Being in college, my lifestyle wasnt exactly helpping me deal with my stress. So, at the beginning of June, I was starting to have trouble sleeping. It was almost like I felt scared to go to bed. A week later, I felt like something was terribly wrong. I thought I had something physically wrong with my head. I kept thinking "did I hit my head this weekend? It kinda tingles and hurts." One day, I couldnt handle the discomfort and went to the ER. Apparently, I was in the middle of having a panic attack. From that point on, everything for me has changed. I was suffering from anxiety and panic attacks all day long and wasnt sleeping. I went to see my doctor who, of course, prescribed me to an antidepressant called Celexa or Citapolram. It was with this medicine, on top of my anxiety and stress, that I started to get very severe Restless Leg Syndrome. I didnt sleep for about 2 weeks because my legs would move and jerk around on their own all day and night. I went to my doctor and decided to come off the Celeza because I know some antidepressants can cause Restess Legs. That was still in June. So far, ive changed my entire life in order to get over my anxiety and RLS naturally. Ive changed my diet, started exercising, been taking vitamins, and have been going to see a psychologist. It wasnt until maybe 3 weeks ago that I started sleeping a little bit again. y anxiety is getting better and I even went to see a neurologist/ sleep specialist for my Restless Legs. He decided to check my blood work for low levels or iron. My test results came back normal but he decided to put me on an iron supplement to raise my levels a little bit. My RLS is now bearable, but definitely still present. To this day, doctors still dont know what causes Restless Legs and there is no cure. Even though im working super hard to get my anxiety under check, which definitely is one with my RLS, my Restless Legs still being present sure isnt helping my recovery. Im young, im doing all these natural things to hep get my body and chemicals in balance. I know it will take time, but I just get really frustrated some times because my anxiety will sometime try to trick me into thinking I cant do it. I know I can, but its just hard when you have the bully that is anxiety trying to push you down every chance it gets. Also, I want to find other people that maybe understand Restless Legs. I know there might not be a cure, but I have hope and faith in my body and its ability to repair itself. I know my RLS will go away, once my body is back to normal...not even back to nromal...imaiming to be BETTER than I was before. Really appreciate anyone thats taken the time to read this (: Much love all! Thanks for hearing my story!
restless legs are a major pain! i get that way from time to time. usually when it happens with me, im at the point where i can barely even function because i am so tired. when it starts, i cant sleep and it makes it worse. i have found it helpful to take a walk when my legs start to feel restless and then go straight to bed when im done. also, i have heard that certain vitamin enriched lotions can help with restless legs as well as propping legs up at night. i hope you find a solution soon! best wishes! *hugs*