Life of a Chemo Patient

The last couple of weeks I more strongly than before developed the feeling of near cramps, especially in my legs. It is a continuous feeling that at any moment your legs can get into a cramp, but they don’t. I can assure you, it’s no fun.

So I decided to ask my GP (PCP) if a muscle relaxant could help there. He offered  me a choice, either Valium (which would influence my head) or Sifrol, which is used against Parkinson’s Disease and Restless Legs. So I decided to try the last. I started last Friday, with a 0.088mg tablet each evening. Despite the fact that I didn’t like what I felt I followed instructions and augmented the dose to 2 times 0.088mg last night. That was enough.

My history should have taught me a lesson or two. I tend to have the wrong reactions to medications. And I had forgotten that I am hyper-mobile. Using a muscle relaxant apparently was not the right decision in hindsight. My arms and legs are numb, when walking I feel like a Madame Tussaud model on the catwalk, hardly able to move my legs or keep my balance. Every step feels like an augmentation in my experience with the spike beds and in my left foot the metatarsals seem to be spread apart by each move. I sleep badly, am extremely tired, my tinnitus augmented, constipation is worse and for the first time in years I feel apathetic.

So the decision was quickly made this morning. I quit (the Sifrol I mean).

~ by lodewijk bos on June 29, 2011.

Posted in actuality