Flying to Singapore with RLS
It seemed that all I learned during this year of RLS education was to be put to the test, in March of 1999, when I received a 4a.m. call from Singapore. My mother, 74, who works as a cruise hostess for a travel company, suffered a stroke, when her ship pulled into Singapore. She called, scared to death and very much alone, from the hospital and asked me to come quickly.
I had to make a trip to San Francisco, first, to obtain an emergency passport. I dressed VERY comfortably for what would be almost 48 hrs of travelling in tight spaces. Because I've learned, from the group, to carefully choose my plane seat, I purposefully asked for an aisle seat. There were none left, but the lady said there was a row with only two seat, rather than three, and that I could take what was marked as the middle seat (Seat B), but that it was really an aisle seat. KEWL. I took it.
Well, when I got there, I found that it was SEAT A that was missing...the one by the window. My seat was the middle one, but there was no chair between me and the window. But Seat C was still the aisle seat and I was going to be trapped for two hours. Still, not TOO bad....more leg room because there was extra room where Seat A used to be, but I wanted to be able to stand up. The guy next to me wanted his wife to sit with him...but SHE had a middle seat. No DEAL! I'd rather have my middle seat and the extra leg room to my left. Finally, another lady took his aisle seat and let him go sit with his wife. I had the nerve to ask her..."Do you by any chance care to switch one more seat and have MY seat?" She DID!!!!
So I got my aisle seat. This isn't an amazing story....except that it shows the lesson I've learned about how we CAN think ahead and adjust our surroundings and help minimize our chances of RLS, allowing ourselves better opportunities to respond positively to them...like to be able to get up and walk. As it turns out, I never had to get up during the two hour flight, but I'm almost sure that if I'd been cornered into that first inside seat, I'd have been fidgeting, big time.
Now...moving right along to the Singapore Airlines flight...approximately 19 hrs of travel, in an Economy section seat. I was in a row of three seats, but I cringed when I looked across to the middle where there were FIVE seats across!! How do those people do it? 19 hours in a middle seat with about a foot of leg room? Most of the people were sitting as still as rocks, but there was a tall good sized fourteen year old boy across the aisle from me, and I wanted to scream FOR him. Poor thing. He was soooo uncomfortable. I watched his legs, arms, and body wiggle and I had no doubt what he was experiencing and it was mostly while he was sleeping. He never stopped moving. Sadly, I never had a chance to talk to his parents about it....wish I had.
When I checked in at Singapore airlines in San Francisco, I asked for an exit row seat. I'd heard they had tons of leg room because there was one whole row taken out, between them and the row in front of them. Well, the person right before me had taken the last exit row seat. So, I took the aisle seat in the row in front of the exit row. It was perfect!!! There was a personal video monitor (for movies, games and maps of our progress) in the back of the chair in front of me, and I had earphones with a pretty long cord. For a good part of the trip, I just stood up behind my seat, in the exit row, leaning over the back of my chair, and watching the movies. The lady in the middle seat was thrilled, as it allowed HER to get up and stretch without disturbing ME. In fact, at the start of the trip, I told the lady in the middle seat, next to me, "If you EVER want to get up and stretch...I don't care if it's every 15 minutes...just tell me. You can't imagine how thrilled I'd be to get up and let you out." She thought I was nuts, at first, but then she saw that I was getting up and down a lot on my own, so she didn't hesitate to ask, when she needed to get out.
When we first sat down, the lady to my left saw my HUGE black carry on bag and suggested I stick it in the overhead. I said, "Nope, sorry, I need it close by. I plan to be in and out of it a LOT." So, it was crammed into the foot space in front of me, which left me very little room. Not good...but better than being without it. About half way to Hong Kong, she leaned over and said, "Now I know why you didn't put your bag overhead...you've been in it a million times!" It was true. In that bag, I had:
Change of shoes...slippers.
Portable CD player, earphones, and my favorite CD for getting to sleep during an RLS attack.
LOTS of my favorite suckers.
Tension Tamer tea.
Tension Tamer supplements.
Sleepy Time supplements.
A bottle of Jasmine oil
Vitamins, minerals, DHA, and all my daily and nightly things.
A bottle of drinking water.
Reading material.
Everything BUT my Thumper (a big massager/vibrator I use for when the RLS really knots up my muscles)
The first two hours weren't bad...but then, they brought that dinner cart down the aisle. For some reason, once I saw the cart, my legs started going nuts. Anticipation of being trapped in my seat? Maybe. So, I quickly grabbed some Tension Tamer supplements, and swallowed a few. That takes time to work, so I was still going nutso when they put my tray table down...arghhhhhhh....and gave me my dinner tray. I asked for two cups of plain hot water, and dropped a Tension Tamer tea bag in each one. Awwwwwwwwwww....that, and the distraction of eating the dinner, and I was in good shape. For a while.
After dinner, I tried the earphones on the plane...trying all their channels for music or a good movie. The effect was the same as when I try reading a TV Guide...instant RLS. The uncertainty of it all just drives me nuts....flipping through channels, not really mentally involved in anything, only surface involvement. Yeeeech!! So, I pulled my OWN CD player out of my bag and listened to MY music. I was able to sleep for an hour at a time for the next four hours. Each hour, when I woke up, I'd stand up behind my seat, do some stretches, several heel lifts, and then sit down with the earphones and sleep for another hour.
By then, I became less anxious about the long trip, having survived more than half of the first leg of it....so I was okay. Had breakfast coming into Hong Kong...no problem....did a lot of standing in the exit row, massaging my legs a few times, and trying not to be jealous of the people in the exit row who had their legs stretched out and could just stand and walk forward. Oh well.
On the last stretch...going into Singapore...three hours....my legs started up again, so this time I tried my bottle of jasmine oil. I just inhaled the aroma and tried to relax. It worked for a while, but finally, I resorted to my good old sucker. That kept me busy until we landed.
Looking back, I'd say there was never a time that was "just horrible". I expected to have RLS during the flight, and I did have it, but I always knew I was prepared with several ways to fight it. The trick was to avoid that panic/trapped feeling, or to let it develop for too long and get out of hand.
While in Singapore, I was so exhausted and worked so hard with my mother's caretaking and making plans for her return, that I didn't have much problem during the two weeks. I walked a LOT...a WHOLE lot...and kept up with my vitamins and supplements, and only took my Tension Tamer tea or supplements on one or two occasions. But, one day, I was on a tour bus going through the city and my 22 yr old son was with me...big kid...took the outside aisle seat. He has RLS, too. So I was crammed into a little inside seat. THIS was NOT good. Legs went wild. I ALMOST asked him to let me stand and go to another seat, but I stuck with my tricks and pulled out another sucker...STOPPED looking at the map and deciding where we were (same effect as the TV Guide, again), and looked out the window and enjoyed the sights. It worked enough to get me to our stop and not create a problem.
Coming home, believe it or not, we flew First Class. It was the lap of luxury!!! My mother's health insurance paid for her ticket and for a doctor to escort her. She treated ME to my own ticket. I let the two of them sit up front, while I sat in a single seat....no one in front of me...no one around me....ALL by myself.
AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW....foot rest, personal movie monitor...linen covered tray table...wines, sushi, caviar.....I tell ya, my legs didn't DARE show up!!!! I was able to walk freely in the wide open area of First Class...back and forth to the front row where my mother was, and where I had to continually do things to help her be comfortable. I didn't mind any excuse to walk. It was wonderful!!
The two weeks in Tucson were no trouble...maybe just a twingy night or two, but mostly, again, I was too exhausted and sleep won out. But when I finally got home this week...OY!!!! My first three nights were restless as can be. Maybe sleeping an hour at a time...tossing..waking with RLS in arms and legs...but not wanting to walk the floors, so I kept using my concentration tricks (in this case, doing my clogging dance steps in my head, because I hadn't unpacked my CD player, yet). I kept getting to sleep, but couldn STAY asleep. Finally, on the fourth night, I slept great. I figured it was mostly anxiety over all the bills and paperwork and laundry I had to face...but then, I realized that it was that special time....one week after my period...when I've been noticing, for the last six months, that I always have a few restless nights.
Next month, I plan to double up on my DHA/Neuromins when my period comes..and see if that's what changes during the week after. SOMETHING is changing during that week of each month....and needs to be adjusted. I'll find it.
So...that brings me to, tonight. I think I'm through the few days of restless sleep. I can tell, tonight, that my body is quiet, again, so I plan to sleep well.
I've written about my trips, and my bag of tricks, before. I know that some of you would rather take pills than go through ten gadgety therapies or responses to your RLS attacks. That's fine. To each his own. But I hope this travel diary gives some of you some ideas and maybe a new determination and encouragement to keep looking for ways to take charge and respond to your RLS attacks in positive ways...whatever they are. I'm still convinced that Zero Tolerance (stopping it immediately) and avoidance of panic or a trapped feeling, are the most critical steps you can take.
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