Inspired by Saffron's legs --- restless legs

[Serena]

I occassionally have restless legs at night, does anyone know why and how to stop it?

 

[Otto's Doll]

Nope, but I also suffer from this once in a while. It is not consistent, but very annoying when it happens. Anyone else?

 

[Pam]

I always chalked it up to having an over-active day and making the muscles extra tired. Sometimes my legs will literally bounce up and down......

 

[lightningcoach]

My husband suffers from this. Extra potassium or just taking a multivitamin at night seems to help him alot. It got so bad that he would shake me right out of the bed.

 

[Serena]

LOL, ok, mine aren't that bad.

 

[Pop Daddy]

sometime my arms just seem out of place, I dont know what to do with them, cant get comfortable

 

[Serena]

Jason, when I get like that I wrap them around somthing. Either another pillow or a stuffed animal.

 

[tiggersmom2]

I HAVE to rub my feet against my husband's legs every night until I go to sleep. When I was a little tyke, I rubbed my feet against my Mom! I guess I have compulsive feet!

 

[WillyJ]

Can't help with your problem Laurie. . . but I do agree that Saffron's legs can very inspiring. . .

 

[Pop Daddy]

Originally posted by Serena
Jason, when I get like that I wrap them around somthing. a stuffed animal.

I am a hetro

 

[nuke]

I had a feeling there would be a Willy comment about Saffron's legs on this thread.

 

[NHAnn]

After a sleep study about 5 years ago, DH was diagnosed with Resless Leg Syndrome and also with Periodic Limb Movement Syndrome (PLMS) ...the latter of which he says "I guess that's as close as I"LL come to PMS"

The restless legs can be occasional and occur during the day as well as night, and actually is more commen in women than men.

The PLMS is ore of a sleep disorder , in DH's case, more severe...enough to interfere with his sleep (AND mine)....adn he ended up needing a referral to a neurologist and a fuill sleep study. I told him to tell his fancy sleep specialist that I could have saved them all a lot of money on the sleep study and just timed the leg spasms for him ...but of course they wanted all the other stuff recorded through the night too...heart and REM and so forth. Anyhow...DH's legs would "jump" so hard and frequently that a decent nights sleep for him or me was impossible. Literally jouncing the bed...as oftern as 4-5 times a minute sometimes. This developed fairly quickly from an minor annoyance to a really serious sleep deprivation issue over a period of less than a year. I guess there are some neurological connections between this and Parkinson's Disease, and he's had to use a combination of medications..... a sedative type thing to help fall asleep, and a mild form of some type of medication used w/Parkinsons and/or seizures to help control the "jumping". Not much fun.

I think they actually sell some stuff over-the-counter for controlling the occasiona bout of restless legs. Deficiencies of certain vitamins and/or minerals can aggravate the problem and so sometimes symptoms can disappear after having a baby when your body "settles down" or after getting the right dosages of the right vitamins....through a balanced diet and/or supplements. And just like with the PLM, the "usual" sleep disturbing things aggrate it even more...alcohol, caffiene, stress......

was this TMI??? sorry!!

hope it's not an ongoing problem for you Laurie!

 

[Serena]

Willy, thanks for the thought anyway. lol

Jason, so am I, but I gotta make do with what I have. Which is a cute little teddy bear.

 

[Serena]

Ann, I hope not. I'll have to keep track of when it happens.

 

[rwade428]

A tylenol PM does the trick for me when I feel mine are going to act up!!

 

[nkjzmom]

Laurie, I hate the way they feel! I felt it worst when I was pregnant...my OB/GYN told me to eat a banana every evening. It actually did help. Maybe it's the potassium?

 

[Serena]

It sure couldn't hurt. I'll go to the store tomorrow. It's not anything major, it just feels like I need to go run a mile or two. And since I probably couldn't run a block, it's annoying.

 

[Feralpeg]

I have it on a fairly regular basis. It usually helps me to take Advil. I started having it after I had my hysterectomy. Just one of the lovely things that started happening to me! I don't know what's worse the leg thing or the night sweats. Yuck!

 

[Pugdog007]

I have this sometimes and have been concerned that it may be a symptom of Parkinsons or could develop into Parkinsons. The symptoms just seem so similar.

It's really uncomfortable and can even seem painful. My legs are hurting just thinking about it. For me it always occurs at night, usually when I'm trying to get to sleep.

I'm surprised it's as common as it sounds like it is on this thread.

 

[phamton]

Originally posted by NHAnn
After a sleep study about 5 years ago, DH was diagnosed with Resless Leg Syndrome and also with Periodic Limb Movement Syndrome (PLMS)


The PLMS is ore of a sleep disorder , in DH's case, more severe...enough to interfere with his sleep (AND mine)....adn he ended up needing a referral to a neurologist and a fuill sleep study. I told him to tell his fancy sleep specialist that I could have saved them all a lot of money on the sleep study and just timed the leg spasms for him ...but of course they wanted all the other stuff recorded through the night too. Anyhow...DH's legs would "jump" so hard and frequently that a decent nights sleep for him or me was impossible. Literally jouncing the bed...as oftern as 4-5 times a minute sometimes.

My husband has PLMS also! He also did a sleep study. His limb movement includes both ams and legs. I can't count the number of times he has hit me with a jerk of his arm. I had to laugh when you said you could time the spasms. Me too! I count to 15 and he has another jerking spasm.

His does not interfere with his sleep at all and his sleep cycle is normal. I'm the one who needs a sleeping pill to sleep through all the jumping. They put him on ambien and Depakote and it didn't help one bit. I threaten to tie him up with duct tape so I can get some sleep. Did you find anything that worked for your husband?