Periodic Limb Movement Disorder

Tuesday afternoon I had the follow-up appointment to my sleep study test. 

I can't explain it, but I had another bad panic attack. I was shaking as I drove to the appointment. The nurse practitioner did not take long to put me at ease after I walked into the office. She introduced herself, said it was nice to meet me, asked me to sit and then said, "Well, you have periodic limb movement disorder."

Diagnosis

Periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD) is a sleep disorder where the patient moves limbs involuntarily during sleep, and has symptoms or problems related to the movement (from wiki). I have no idea what these movements are like in my case. They can range from small twitches to wild flailing. Yes, I can appreciate the humor in the imagery of this.  I guess I am closer to the small twitches end of the spectrum since the tech apparently didn't even notice. I do know that in my case the symptoms or problems related to it are waking up frequently and extreme fatigue.

The report says, "Bursts of periodic limb movements were observed (PLM index 11/hr), causing most of her arousals from sleep."  I was told anything over 5/hr was considered abnormal.

It looks like I had arousals approximately 9/hr.

At first it didn't sound like a terrible number to me. But then I thought of it this way. That is every 6 minutes. Imagine lying in bed and then every 6 or 7 minutes someone going:

* tap tap tap* wake up.

and then 6 minutes later:

* tap tap tap* wake up.

again and again and again.  All night long.  You'd probably feel kinda shitty the next day, right?

Cause

Why am I having these weird leg movements while I sleep? Good question! They couldn't tell me. I was given a sheet with a list of possible vitamin deficiencies and other disorders such as diabetes that could cause it. But they said generally it is idiopathic, meaning they have no idea why it is happening.

Treatment

The treatment is to pop a pill 30 or so minutes before I go to bed. The recommended pill for me is Gabapentin (generic for Neurontin). I am honestly not sure exactly what it is. I haven't been able to decipher all the medical jargon yet. I know it is some sort of anticonvulsant medication.  Is it supposed to stop the brain from telling my legs to move? Is it supposed to prevent the leg movement to happen or prevent me from waking up when it does?

Afterthoughts

So I filled my prescription later that afternoon and took a pill before bed on Tuesday night. Wednesday morning I woke up feeling wonderful. I was actually able to get to work on time. I was actually fully awake as I drove to work. And guess what else? I continued to feel great ALL DAY LONG. Seriously, I was an entirely different person. I did not have a headache. I could focus on my projects at work. When I got up to walk somewhere I actually lifted my feet instead of shuffled like I usually do because I am too tired to pick them up. I didn't slump in my chair. I took my boyfriend out to dinner last night and I remember having a little smile on my face and shaking my head at one point. I was thinking to myself that I couldn't believe I was feeling this good. I didn't have to force myself to go out somewhere after work. I wasn't struggling with all my might to keep my eyes open.  It had been over two years since I felt this good.

It shouldn't need saying, but I was elated. After two years of searching, I finally had an answer. And it seemed I also had a solution. I could barely contain my excitement all day long. And I kind of realized that just like no one could really understand how awful it was to be me, how awful I felt, for the last two years, no one could really understand just how happy and excited and relieved I was. I was trying really hard not to get ahead of myself. It was only one day, afterall. But how could I keep calm and guarded when I was so filled with hope? When it seemed my life was about to change so dramatically for the better.