It's Back

For anybody that read my previous blog, you may know that I have RLS. Restless Legs Syndrome can be pretty tricky to describe, but at some point in this post I'll do my best to do just that.

I ran out of my prescription for Artane about two weeks ago. For the last couple nights, the symptoms have begun creeping back. For me its not a slow irritating sensation in my legs that makes it hard to get to sleep. It's a terrifying jolt of nerve pain that courses through the back of my knees at the exact moment that my brain enters REM sleep. My legs kick out and it scares the shit out of me, getting my adrenaline pumping, and making it tough to get back to sleep. Repeat until morning. It also effects my elbows once in a while. I can tell in advance if it's going to be a particularly bad night because when I get tired there will be an unexplainable tense feeling in all four of my limbs. I'm feeling it right now. It's going to be a bad night.

Sometimes I would kick the steel bed posts or shelving and wake up my cellie and injure myself. I would often wake to the sound of things crashing to the floor, my foot in a sharp pain, and myself swearing. I was lucky to have understanding cellies.

When I was in prison I would pace back and forth all night in my cell. No amount of cramping, exercise, or sleep deprivation made it go away. I could sometimes nap during the day, but that's when the C.O.'s were being loud over the P.A. system and steel doors were slamming, people yelling, people pooping next to your head...... Anyhow, I eventually saw a Doctor and I got pills and I slept.

So, what do I do out here? I filled out the paperwork for health coverage while I was at CIP. I never heard a thing about it. I tried to track down the MNSure building, but it doesn't appear to exist. My aunt gave me a number to call but I don't know what to say. My mom sent me a link for open enrollment but I've already enrolled. So, how do you go get pills? I've never seen a Doctor for anything other than Salmonella but that was an emergency. What is a Doctors phone number? Can I just call a number and its a Doctor? How much is a Doctor? I just don't think I want to go to one. They will want to know all sorts of other stuff too I bet. Finger in my butt? Hand on my balls? No thanks, sir!

I think I'm going to try to live with the symptoms rather than try to figure out how to use a Dr. I went for 35 years without using any kind of pill. Granted the last ten years I could have slept through anything. Maybe it will go away.