Dear Dew,

I am so happy that you did not hurt yourself when you fell. I am sorry too about the spasm. Do you think you should contact your doctor's office? I get the jolts inside my stomach and chest in the evening, but they've never really made my whole body twitch.

Can you try going to bed every night at the same time, even if you aren't that tired yet? Bring your laptop, the newspaper or a book and your cats with you and try to relax. I take Skelaxin and Ambien CR 12.5 mg at bedtime (Skel at 8 pm and Ambien at 9 pm) so that I ensure that I fall sleep. I may wake up periodically from pain, but at least my body is in the habit of "bedtime" and gets rested. My script for Skelaxin is for 3 a day, but I only take it a bedtime because it makes me so tired. It is a muscle relaxer.

Please take care and try to chill. I liked FMichael's suggestion of the "mindfulness based stress reduction" programs and actually just ordered a few books in that topic that my therapist recommended. I am hoping that by learning some of this stuff I can start to try to reduce the pain and other symptoms of RSD. Like you, I struggle with the sadness almost every day of what I've lost. My therapist has asked me in the past why I am not mad - I can't figure that one out. My RSD just makes me cry a lot. Anyway, I hope you get some much needed rest soon and that your spasms settle down.

XOXOX Sandy