I am a lark - rising at 6 o'clock so I'm normally off to bed at around 10 or 10.30pm. I take some heavy duty painkillers to help with joint pain and they have the 'bonus' effect of knocking me out as soon as my head hits the pillow. Oh... how I long for the luxury of an uninterrupted night of sleep but there I am, all snuggled up warm and cosy and well off into the Land of Nod when the 'Rottweiler' strikes. Generally, it strikes at about 2am, clamps its substantial jaw around my calf and before I know it, I have leapt out of bed, tangled my foot in the duvet, crashed my head into the wardrobe door and I'm hopping about rubbing my leg for England. The pain doesn't last that long but THE B*GGER has woken me up!
I try to get back to sleep and toss and turn for a while but then give up, turn on the telly (headphones on so as not to disturb beloved who is zzzzing away down the corridor). I channel hop and then settle down to watch a recording of the American sit-com Frasier. (It is one of our favourite programmes, we have seen them all a dozen times and can quote large chunks of the scripts to one another... how sad is that?)
I gradually begin to feel sleepy again, turn the telly off and snuggle down to sleep. Sometimes I can sleep through until 6am, but the 'Rottweiler' often sneaks in for another bite of the other leg at around 4am. More cursing, hopping and rubbing and mental questioning of exactly WHY I am putting up with yet another (rarely-mentioned) side-effect of Tamoxifen - cramps. I know why really and I know I should be grateful that the drug is (hopefully) keeping the cancer in check but at
2am when 'The Rottweiler' strikes it's a very different story!
P.S. Apologies to all owners of Rottweiler dogs - I know they can be lovely sloppy dogs but forgive me for using them in a purely analogous way to best describe how it feels.
FormerMember
Been there done that, I try to hobble to the bathroom because it has cold ceramic tiles and I find putting my foot down and stretch on a cold surface helps... of course first I have to get down the step into the bathroom without catapulting myself into the loo ;o))
I get a minor ache in my leg as I go to bed, but only get cramp if I move awkwardly. I sympatise with the tossing and turning to, lost count of the times I've nearly been strangled by the summer duvet!
Is the the longest passage of time between blog and comment? Maybe .... But here it is at 03:42 (note time of posting) and I am once again sitting here with a numb leg.
I have been tippy toeing into the local hospital to see Mr S, the consultant I have been referred to by my GP, for over 2 years in an attempt to find why I am having these leg problems. Not only have they failed, I have also failed to see the elusive Mr S. It is always an underling who seems convinced my leg problem is an attempt to get a sick note and benefits. Despite being self employed and running my own company.
All part of life's rich tapestry I suppose though. I am still here to moan about it because the oncology department has their act together, they are wonderful beyond words. I only wish other departments would follow suit.
I seem to be having recent problems with cramp in my leg,but now it seems to be going into the cramp if i'm just sitting or even standing,anyone else have this problem??
