Wow thought I was crazy but its called Restless Leg Syndrome

[SmackinYaUp]

First of all ignore this ridiculously long post if it doesn't apply. You'll be bored to tears. I just thought it could possibly really help someone going through this without knowing what it is.

Sup insomniacs. I thought I was just being weird but what I was going through was actually just a mild case of RLS. Some people get this [censored] during the day and some even get it in their arms. Here's my first post to the forum at rls.org. Sorry, I can't get the quote to show up in paragraph form.


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First of all, it is absolutely amazing to find that I'm not crazy! This is such a weird frustrating problem to try and describe. I'd never wish RLS on anyone, but misery sure does love company.


About a year ago, I started having this really strange feeling hit my legs at night when trying to sleep. It wasn't a feeling like they'd fallen asleep - it was more like my legs just needed to twitch! The creepy-crawly feeling is probably the closest thing to describe it. It was extremely frustrating trying to explain it to my girlfriend.


Sometimes, I would fall asleep just fine for maybe a few minutes to an hour when my legs would suddenly get that overpowering sensation and actually twitch. Then I'd wake up and be stuck for hours. I had no idea what was wrong. In fact, I didn't even think anything was wrong other than I was letting my mind be weak or was psyching myself out expecting it to happen and therefore causing it.


Anyways, what I did to fight it was turn my AC on and freeze the apartment. I'd also drink a lot of cold water. If I could get cold and then jump under my cozy blankets, I could fall asleep.

Eventually this all went away and I forgot about the problem until one day a few months later I saw one of those pill commercials on TV describing my exact symptoms and giving it a name. I was so excited/surprised to realize that other people already knew about this condition and that I wasn't the only one.


During this last week or so, its come back pretty much every night. I fall asleep for a few minutes (not sure how long) before suddenly waking up. One time I think I woke up to my legs feeling weird, several times I woke up for no reason that I can remember, and then one time it was just my phone. But every time I can't go back to sleep because of that strange restless feeling in my legs. It makes me feel hot and irritated so that I freeze my girlfriend out with the AC and get very snappy with her at night. I also can not cuddle or lay with her on these nights - my irritation combined with her body heat makes it unbearable to lay with her. Whether or not I'm going through a RLS phase, I can NOT sleep in a house that is even barely warm. A night without a chilly or cold room is a night without sleep.


I know I definitely have some of the symptoms of RLS but after reading about some other peoples' experiences I feel pretty lucky. It hasn't really affected my life other than causing frustration some nights.


Here are the the main things I can think of that I have changed lately that I suspect could be behind this recurrance:

-Started going back to the gym again - lifting weights and running
-Been drinking lots of milk lately after going a long time without drinking enough. I read somewhere that milk/calcium can irritate RLS.
-Going through stress with the girlfriend
-Change of seasons


So finally, I get to my questions
1. Is it possible to tell if this is definitely RLS or could it just be symptoms of stress/change of routine?
2. Is RLS a progressive condition?
3. Do the above routine changes have a significant impact on RLS?
4. Is my teeth grinding related to it? I have always ground my teeth in my sleep.


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[Tron]

Oh. I thought this "Restless Leg" business was just bouncing your knees while you are sitting.... Which I used to do all the time, but overcame fairly easily with a little bit of willpower. Having your leg twitch uncontrollably when trying to sleep, on the other hand, sounds pretty unfortunate.

[T.J. Combo]

Is this like when you get an itch inside of your leg and the only way to relieve it is to punch your leg?

By inside I mean like actually inside the skin, it's like an itchy, uneasy feeling of the muscles. I imagine it's caused by poor circulation because other fat guys agreed to having this problem.

I opened this thread expecting to see something about how some people continually pop their knee up and down while sitting somewhere. This is something I also do, it's like a subconscious thing that I can't really turn off unless I notice it.

[T.J. Combo]

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Oh. I thought this "Restless Leg" business was just bouncing your knees while you are sitting....

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Awesome, i'm glad at least one other person has or has had this problem. I feel less odd.

[SmackinYaUp]

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Oh. I thought this "Restless Leg" business was just bouncing your knees while you are sitting.... Which I used to do all the time, but overcame fairly easily with a little bit of willpower. Having your leg twitch uncontrollably when trying to sleep, on the other hand, sounds pretty unfortunate.

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Some people do get it during the day, but its a little more than that from what I've read.

For me, its just a single twitch that wakes me up and then that strange, hard to describe feeling that keeps me up. So its not like uncontrollable spasms or anything. But, like I said, mine is pretty mild.

[Big Poppa Smurf]

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Oh. I thought this "Restless Leg" business was just bouncing your knees while you are sitting.... Which I used to do all the time, but overcame fairly easily with a little bit of willpower. Having your leg twitch uncontrollably when trying to sleep, on the other hand, sounds pretty unfortunate.

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Some people do get it during the day, but its a little more than that from what I've read.

For me, its just a single twitch that wakes me up. So its not like uncontrollable spasms or anything. But, like I said, mine is pretty mild.

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do these twitches occur with dreams? sometimes i get these random twitches as i'm falling asleep, but sometimes in dreams, if i fall off of a building or something, my legs will twitch when i hit the ground and this wakes me up

[RedWave]

Reminds me of the Seinfeld where Kramer complains his girlfriend has the "jimmy legs".

[SmackinYaUp]

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Is this like when you get an itch inside of your leg and the only way to relieve it is to punch your leg?

By inside I mean like actually inside the skin, it's like an itchy, uneasy feeling of the muscles. I imagine it's caused by poor circulation because other fat guys agreed to having this problem.

I opened this thread expecting to see something about how some people continually pop their knee up and down while sitting somewhere. This is something I also do, it's like a subconscious thing that I can't really turn off unless I notice it.

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I think you're describing the same thing as me. Go to rls.org for more information, but I don't think it has anything to do with bodyfat or circulation. I have no issues with either but still suffer occasional bouts of RLS.

[SmackinYaUp]

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Reminds me of the Seinfeld where Kramer complains his girlfriend has the "jimmy legs".

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LOL that sounds hilarious. Nice name for it.




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Oh. I thought this "Restless Leg" business was just bouncing your knees while you are sitting.... Which I used to do all the time, but overcame fairly easily with a little bit of willpower. Having your leg twitch uncontrollably when trying to sleep, on the other hand, sounds pretty unfortunate.

[/ QUOTE ]

Some people do get it during the day, but its a little more than that from what I've read.

For me, its just a single twitch that wakes me up. So its not like uncontrollable spasms or anything. But, like I said, mine is pretty mild.

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do these twitches occur with dreams? sometimes i get these random twitches as i'm falling asleep, but sometimes in dreams, if i fall off of a building or something, my legs will twitch when i hit the ground and this wakes me up

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No, its a lot more than that. Hard to explain, but those who have it but haven't been able to identify it yet will just know what I'm talking about when they read this thread.

[blinden84]

I will get this on occasion when I'm trying to go to sleep. It sorta feels like my lower body just doesn't want to go to sleep, it wants to walk around or run or something, even though I'm really tired. Frustrating for sure.

I keep kicking my legs and [censored].