On 9/11/2001 I was diagnosed with Restless Leg Syndrome. That is the day I was placed on Mirapex. At first it was great because I was finally able to get some sleep at night. It started so subtle that I didn’t even notice my compulsive behavior. I was always the type of person to keep a clean house and take good care of my children. Without even knowing it I became obsessive about my house to the point that I would often stay up all night doing odd things like touch up paint, paint grout lines on my tile floor. I didn’t like the color so I repainted again and again. Compulsively painting each line with perfection. If I noticed that I got a tiny bit of paint outside the lines I would clean it and then if I would take off too much paint I would have to meticulously paint the line again. This went on for weeks. I was beginning to think that something just wasn’t right with me. I made an appointment with a psychiatrist and was then diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and placed on Adderall. Not knowing that my new behavior was due to my RLS medication, I was needing to increase the Adderall dose. My doctor continued to increase my medication until I reached 80mg a day. My brain and body were speeding so fast I couldn’t slow down for anything. I couldn’t think straight most of the time. I felt like I was super mom but in reality, I was heading for disaster. I was making poor choices. I started compulsively shopping and hiding the amount that I would spend from my husband. I would write in my prayer journal asking God to help me to stop the compulsive shopping and other obsessive/compulsive behaviors. I was making very poor choices and spinning out of control. I was destroying my marriage and my family. I became so out of control that I ended up with criminal charges. All during this disastrous time I had no idea that my medication had anything to do with what was going on in my life. My legs were at peace and not driving me crazy anymore. I was becoming quite creative as well. I did each one of my children’s rooms in a different theme. When I would mow the lawn, I would do it 2 and 3 times to make sure it was immaculate and extremely even. I would sweep up the lawn clippings off the driveway and sidewalk. The driveway and sidewalk would not come clean enough just by sweeping so I would wash them down with the water hose until I felt that it was as clean as possible.
It’s 1 am and I finally am starting to feel tired enough to go to bed.
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