Posted by Roland B on June 06, 2008 at 00:55:16:

Howdy Folks. Are my symptoms hopelessly idiosyncratic, or is there anybody out there in this country, or any other, who is being tortured by the elements in the same manner as myself?? Pain is one thing, inconvenience another; what I experience has reached a point of being positively ludicrous, in addition to flat-out excruciating.

Most of the body of this post can be found under the "RLS" section of this site. But since obstructive sleep apnea is very much part of my diagnosis, I stand a chance of finding some information here. I have modified the post to include more information about my history with apnea.

I am a fifty-seven year old man living about twenty miles northwest of the Golden Gate Bridge at an altitude of about six hundred feet. About nine months out of the year the fog here goes in and out, frequently more in than out, and during these times the wind blows almost incessantly off the ocean when the fog is not in. Most of Marin county is much the same, though our community is probably the coldest in the Bay Area on average, and the fog here plus the winter rain are both very intense. I have lived here for fifteen years and in the general area for eighteen. What the fog and the associated winds do to me is so ghastly it almost beggars description; among the effects are intense, full-body RLS. More on this shortly, but first a little personal background:

I have lived in the Bay Area since I was ten years old; I grew up thereafter in Sunnyvale, went to school in L.A., and later made my home in San Francisco and outlying parts of the Bay Area. I am married with two teenaged boys. I am disabled, legally and practically, with several health problems involved in my 24-hour, unrelenting chronic pain.

I suffer from osteoarthritis, hereditary in origin (my mother wears her feet upside down); it affects most of my joints, especially my toe joints, my hands (which have only recently become a problem, but they are a very serious problem now), AC joints, wrists,thumbs, and elbows. Sometimes there is swelling; I have repeatedly tested negative for rheumatoid factors and lyme disease.

I also have hereditary obstructive sleep apnea and asthma; the latter, which I have had all my life, was not diagnosed until recently (I don't wheeze and did not realize that getting only one full breath out of every four or five was not just the way things are for everyone).

The sleep apnea can get pretty wild; it drove my first wife nuts thirty-five years ago and it's worse now. I've slept alone through most of my twenty years with my current wife (I do not wear a mask, despite the many options, for several compelling reasons which I would waste time relating here). I have found that an air bed which has a slightly inclined upper section built-in, effectively keeping me off my stomach, prevents many of the episodes which would otherwise occur, and if I am on a flat mattress I try to duplicate this effect with pillows. But if my arthritis is bad enough I may turn over in my sleep anyhow.
There have been a number of episodes in the last few years--as many as fifteen or twenty--when I was awakened by one of several familiar voices sharply calling my first name, only to find I was not breathing, or strangling to get air. In none of these cases was anyone else physically present and calling my name. The voices all had the soft sort of accent to be found in the general area between Memphis, Vicksburg, and Little Rock--where my grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles all come from--some of the voices sounded familiar, others were similar. Either my subconscious has cooked up one hell of a way of waking me up through crazy dreams, or my family on the other side would prefer I stay over here for the time being. I'm grateful for the help, whatever the source, but do you know what? This creeps me out, particularly after Ramona Bell's passing just a few days after I heard her Christmas Eve show on the radio (many of you know what I'm talking about, I'm sure).

Finally, I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Whether it really is fibromyalgia or not I don't know. But the symptoms are numerous, perplexing, and fundamentally wretched. To begin with, all my arthritis pain is apparently cranked up to a high peak by the fibromyalgia. Without continuous significant doses of painkillers, when the fibromyalgia is active, my arthritis pain levels go out the window. I've been dropped to the ground in public many times by the pain, though I am keeping it down better with my current blend of pharmaceuticals. When there is intense cold and damp outside, or when there is fog or the winds that precede the fog, I am in hell. Dry cold--like with snow--and inland winds, such as with thunderstorms, have little effect (thunderstorms, which we don't have here, make me feel great amd always have).

The onshore winds cause unceasing pains that oscillate and fibrillate, frequently resembling an attack with axe-handles, sometimes with icepicks, sometimes with blowtorches. These violent pains were first noticed in my legs and feet, where my arthritis first appeared, but now are all over my body. The winds also completely sap my energy and make me depressed for no apparent reason (the depression factor and the exhaustion when the fog starts in I first noticed concretely about 18 years ago when I moved to a warmer area--where the fog was mostly in only in the evenings--from San Francisco; traditionally, I simply don't get depressed for no reason, so the change was very noticeable).

As soon as the incoming fog bank gets within about ten miles of my home, the violent pain, which despite its intensity is quite basic and pedestrian in its manner of presentation, gives way to the mind-blowing, full-body RLS I experience. If I am on my feet and moving about, I don't experience RLS, just vastly increased pain and weakness. But usually I'm either trying to sleep, or lying down because of the wind pain and fatigue, when the RLS hits. Once it starts it can take two hours to get it under control with drugs; stretching no longer helps much, nor do showers(I taught Yoga thirty-five years ago and am no novice at stretching and conscious movement). In the short term I often have to awaken my wife and get her to roll a set of rubber balls covered with spikes all over my body, which under normal circumstances would make most people scream. I find myself compulsively stretching my limbs and arching my back almost to the point of convulsions, even kicking the low ceiling over my bed.

When at home or anywhere near the coast I have to try to anticipate the weather so I can work my painkiller schedule around the fog banks; this isn't easy, but being a human barometer, it isn't that hard either. If I'm not successful at pre-empting an RLS attack I have to step up my medication schedule to subdue it, because toughing it out is not an option. I am an empath by nature and have always been more sensitive to pain than most; also, some classes of drugs affect me more intensely at smaller dosages than they do some people (not generally including painkillers). For instance, I was unable to take either amitriptyline or nortriptyline when prescribed them for fibromyalgia--a lower dosage than I was actually prescribed caused me to feel horrible in both cases, and they rammed up my pulse (as did Vioxx, which I also discontinued after a single dose). I have no further interest in investigating anti-depressants; basically, I hate most drugs, even some I currently require, and do not ever want to feel mentally impaired. I have avoided recreational drugs and alcohol, for instance, for over twenty-one years. I also find myself sensitive to acetominophen; I have to opt for drug formulas with the lowest possible amount of this compound. I take opiated painkillers and have for some years; my RLS and wind/pain symptoms started several years before I started taking opiates, so they are not the cause (when I go to an area where the temperature is over eighty, my fibromyalgia and the associated weakness and depression totally disappear, leaving me with osteoarthritis symptoms only; in the desert or in other high heat/low humidity situations, the arthritis pain is much better too--I often forget my painkillers at these times for hours at a time).

I've thought of moving to the desert for years, and visit there when I can. Warm clothing keeps me warm but does nothing to stop the pain or the RLS; neither does a warm room. Humidity and especially air pressure seem involved (and who knows about things like positive ions, the Chinese elements and devious gnomes? Not I).

I may be one of those people whose fibro is viral-based; I had mononucleosis with two relapses at thirteen (and my spleen stayed swollen for years). I had German measles at least twice and possibly three times, as well as infant roseola as a baby. A barely noticeable cold sore in my gums near my back teeth--these started about the same time as the fibro--can produce hideous flu-like symptoms with flaring nerve pain all over my body; I have to try like hell to avoid all kinds of stress to keep this from happening. But the weather can knock me over the edge and make me very sick; this happens a number of times each year. At these times I often practically have to barricade myself away from my family and the outside world to avoid an unmanageable swamp of muscle pain, nerve pain, RLS, and emotional sensitivity. Additionally, I have had several back injuries in the past--this can prefigure fibromyalgia--including five or six whiplash injuries; for some reason, other drivers used to find my rear bumper a compelling target.

The rest of me is in surprisingly good health. Except for the joints, my body looks surprisingly young and strong (not so my face anymore). I am strong and limber and can get to the top of a mountain faster than most guys in their twenties (mostly because I climb one almost every day; it hurts, but keeps things circulating; I've also been a vegetarian since Nixon's first term). My heart is great, kidneys and liver as well, and I have plenty of lung power; even with the respiratory complications, I can sing operatically. But I sleep so poorly, and can be knocked over into overt illness so easily, that I can't work outside the home any more, and haven't been able to for years--an employee who gets sick all the time,stumbles about listlessly, has to lie down every couple of hours, and only sleeps about seven to ten hours many weeks, is probably better replaced with a drunk.

I've just about given up trying to get a more informed diagnosis from anyone who is on my medical plan. I get a lot of conflicting opinions from different specialists, but nothing that really seems to offer any hope. I have only met one other person who spoke of such pain as a result of fog--she said her son would get an allergic reaction and migraines when the fog was fifty miles away. I have asked to be sent to an allergy specialist for answers but have been turned down five times by as many doctors--"medical science doesn't support there being a possible causal link to allergies". Well, la dee dah! Somehow my mother's doctor feels exactly the opposite on that subject. I hate when professionals present subjective opinion as fact, especially when anyone with a long memory knows medical "facts" change from year to year! Practiced opinion I can respect, if presented as such.

At this point I don't know anything to do but try to get myself off to better weather (Catharine of Siena I ain't, and the suffering and ineffectual fatherhood are getting old). I write C&W songs as of late, but I'm not sure I can handle Austin! Hawaii's nice, but the humidity hurts my feet, tho' the fibro is gone there. Whatever!!

In any event, I want to hear from anyone who has found a connection between RLS and coastal fog, because right now I feel sort of like the Man from Planet X when I try to explain to people why they can take our famed "natural air-conditioning" and file it where the moonlight does not penetrate. I was in Palm Springs a couple of weeks back when it was 113 degrees. I went hiking and not even the snakes were out, but it was simply wonderful!!! I slept like a baby, at least until the air-conditioner froze my nose. Anyhow, if anyone has a similar condition, please let me know!! Thank you, and may God bless you and yours for bearing with me this far!

Follow Ups:

Follow Ups:

• Re: FOG and Onshore Wind = Pain + RLS?? Barb (Seattle) 17:31 6/11/08 (1)
  • Re: FOG and Onshore Wind = Pain + RLS?? Roland B 01:07 6/12/08 (0)

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