For years, Mary Rose struggled to get off to sleep or to stay asleep, because she felt like she was being attacked by insects.
“Imagine having a swarm of bees buzzing inside the skin of your legs, biting you,” she says, describing the sensation that overwhelmed her.
“It’s really very, very painful.”
Now in her 80s, the art historian has a condition called restless legs syndrome (RLS), which tortures her at night.
“It makes you want to scratch your legs and get up and walk about – it was just impossible to lie down and sleep because one’s legs were twitching in this uncontrollable way,” she explained.
The symptoms were so severe, she didn’t want to go to bed at night.
‘No sleep at all’
Mary Rose can’t remember when the problem began, but the condition went undiagnosed for years.
“People would say ‘oh you’ve got cramp; you must take quinine or sleep with corks in your bed’. And I did all these things.”
Of course, they had no effect. She also tried rubbing ointment into her legs to ease the stinging sensation, but that never lasted long enough to let her sleep through the night. Visits to her GP also failed to bring relief.
Eventually, she was referred to the sleep clinic at Guy’s and St Thomas’s hospitals in London, where she’s now being treated by neurologist Dr Guy Leschziner.
“Restless legs syndrome is a common neurological disorder that causes an irresistible urge to move, particularly at night, and is often linked with unpleasant sensations in the legs,” Dr Leschziner explains.
“It affects up to one in 20 adults,” he continues, “and can cause severe sleep deprivation.”
At its worst, Mary Rose was surviving on only a few hours’ sleep at night, sometimes even less.
“I have had complete nights without any sleep at all,” she says.
“If I was very tired, I’d sleep, then wake for an hour or two and sometimes get up.”
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