My restless legs syndrome got so bad I couldn't sleep but lovely Susan and Roland helped me out – Hayley Matthews

I can go without most things if needed: sugar in coffee, a daily shower, breakfast etc. However, the one thing I don't function very well without is a good night’s sleep.

We all need to get our sleep (Picture: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

The heat hasn't bothered me, I can usually sleep in most conditions, hot, cold, on the sofa or the edge of a razor blade – you get my point.

The one thing that stops me from falling into the land of nod is restless leg syndrome (RSL) and, recently, it has been truly horrific!

Normally some iron supplements, co-codamol, a leg rub, feet straps (to relax the muscles) or all of the above, will do the trick to send me to dream land, but not this time. Something’s changed.

It's so painful and irritating I could easily take a chainsaw to my legs come 4am and saw them both right off! A few nights of little to no Zzzz and I'm ready to go fighting in the street.

I even bought a foot-spa, and no I didn't get a free prawn cocktail or recipe book for the best vol-au-vents and devilled eggs! It’s 2022, not 1980, but the foot-spa should be given the respect it deserves. It helped a little, but my RSL was so severe, more action was needed!

In absolute desperation, whilst in Ocean Terminal with my boys, I saw the bright lights of Holland & Barrett. I'd been reading all week about supplements that can help RSL, with online forums suggesting magnesium, so decided to pop in.

The lovely Roland pointed me towards some high-strength magnesium, explaining what it does and, as I was explaining how medication I take can deplete the body of magnesium, a little sweet voice popped up in the background saying, "Oh I didn't realise that".

A lovely woman who worked there, Susan, and I got into an interesting conversation about restlessness during the night, supplements, vitamins and how they affect your body.

She was incredibly knowledgeable. She went over and above to be helpful as I think she could see my desperation and tiredness as I stood rocking the buggy with the boys asking for their lunch.

I don't mean this to sound like a brag for Holland & Barrett, more a brag for how knowledgeable Susan and Roland are and how people need recognised for their kind efforts.

When you walk into somewhere, vulnerable and in need, it makes a huge difference to be helped by knowledgeable staff with a huge smile on their faces. Susan and Roland are really exceptional when it comes to supplements and vitamins and their knowledge is just phenomenal, so much so that when we all got home (with a big bag of magnesium flakes, CBD oil, vitamin B and iron tablets) I slept the whole night. Everyone was a bit happier for it the next day, including me.

It may not sound like that big a deal for those who can just put their head on the pillow and drop off, but for someone who feels like they've got 1000 ants crawling about inside each leg holding mini machetes, trust me a good sleep means that everybody in the household gets a much happier Hayley in the morning.

And nobody wants me tired, because I look like Zelda from Terrahawks on a bad day.