Does this sound like RLS?

Hello good people of this site.I guess that posts like mine may have become annoying but I would be thankful if someone can answer my question.A few days ago I read about RLS. Before that i hadn't had any sympoms.The next day the inside of my thighs and the part above my hips felt uncomfortable The discomfort was relieved by movement but it wasn't worse at night.Quite the contrary.At night I am mostly fine .It seems to come at random.I atteibute it to my anxiety and that it's probably just some muscle soreness and the "need to shake" is more in my brain because i read the symptomsbut I am still worried.Could this be RLS?

[Madlegs1]

Highly unlikely.

Stop googling strange maladies.

Autosuggestion is extremely powerful.

😎

[Hidden in reply to Madlegs1]

Thanks for the response.

[Hidden in reply to Madlegs1]

One more question if you don't mind .Why do you call rls a "strange" malady?Doesn't an estimated 10% of the population have it?

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

It's probably just a figure of speech.

RLS does affect about 10%.

I can see you've looked it up in some detail. The more detail you read, about something the easier it is to convince yourself that you have it.

I almost managed to convince myself I was dead once.

It turned out to be sleep paralysis.

Or at least, I think it was.

I think you have some sensations which have become exaggerated by anxiety. The main symptom of RLS is not a sensation as such, it's the urge to move. It doesn't just suddenly appear one day, it's not random and it IS worse at night.

I hope your disomfort disappears and you can relax.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Thank you.Will surely work on it.

[Madlegs1 in reply to Hidden]

Strange refers to " not comprehensible" , which exactly describes our understanding of RLS.

Everyone has a different story and experience, regarding this strange syndrome.

The very word " syndrome" explains it all. It is not a straightforward sickness, but rather a collection of symptoms.

Think of Chronic fatigue, Lyme disease Haemocromatosis ,Lupus and so on.

All very strange.

The numbers are unimportant.

For each individual, it is 100%!

Cheers.

[Hidden in reply to Madlegs1]

Thanks for clarifying.

[RestlessDebbie in reply to Hidden]

You are absolutely right. It is very common, particularly in people of Northern European descent.

[Arjiji]

I recommend that you use a muscle relaxation, in bed at bedtime, probably the most useful for these cases is that of Dr. Jaconson. You can practice it in bed, if you sleep alone, or on a rug on the floor if you disturb your companion. It is a technique based on the contraction of the muscles accompanied by breath control (contraction + inspiration, hold for 5 seconds and expel the air while feeling the relaxation of the muscles). Concentrate your attention on muscle tension and relaxation. You do it 3 times for each large muscle group, and you will see how you relax. When you finish, don't be aware of your body, try to think of something pleasant, for example a book you read before going to bed, a pleasant movie, something that brings you happy memories without tension and lets sleep take over.

psychology-spot.com/jacobso...

I do some yoga exercises that suit me very well:

Lying on the bed, I link my left leg with my right as if one leg was curled around the other and leaning on my back I swing my body 5 times left and right. Then I switch the legs, the right curls into the right and I swing the same.

After lying in a prone position (face up) I support my head on the pillow and my heels on the bed and put all the muscles of my legs and back rigid and lift my body from the bed with only the supports of the ends keeping the air in lungs for 5 seconds, then exhale and release the tension. I do that 3 times.

Next exercise is to put the tips of the feet facing the face and contract all the muscles of the legs while I keep my lungs with air; then I relax the tension and expire. 3 times that exercise.

I'm okay. But remember relaxation and mental distraction into something pleasant. Forget spying on your body to see what happens to you.

I hope I have been helpful.

[HilsK in reply to Arjiji]

Hi Arjii

I'm all for anything that helps. I have practised yoga for nearly 30 years and I love and appreciate what it and meditation bring to my life but sadly for me they no impact whatsoever on my symptoms nor does distractive behaviour. Walking a few miles at night is often the only solution. Its such a weird 'syndrome' which seems to express itself uniquely in individuals as time goes on. With all the females in our family 'suffering' from it its both interesting and frustrating to watch.

I wish you well.

[RestlessDebbie in reply to HilsK]

I am sorry to hear that you are suffering so much. I have found two very good options, The first is a sustained release opiate that has allowed me to get a good nights sleep most nights. The other is Gabapentin. If you havent tried either i would highly recommend talking to your doctor. Nobody should have to ")ive with it," when these medications provide releif.

[HilsK in reply to RestlessDebbie]

Thankyou Debbie. I am now taking gradually increasing amounts of Pregabalin to achieve a level of relief from Augmentation which is creating some incredibly painful and incapacitating symptoms before they start to withdraw me from Pramipexole very slowly indeed .....

[Hidden in reply to Arjiji]

Hi Arjii

Some great ideas there. However when experiencing severe RLS symptoms, particularly when suffering augmentation muscular relaxation as you describe is impossible.

At my worst if I had tried that, within minutes, ( or even seconds) it would lead to quite violent involuntary twitching of legs, arms and shoulders. Relaxing brings on these symptoms which can only really be relieved by doing something.

It's not an effective means of relieving such symptoms.

However, it's a great idea to practise muscular relaxation when NOT experiencing RLS symptoms.

[Arjiji in reply to Hidden]

I agree Manerva:

At the time of movement crisis or if the RLS is severe, trying to relax the muscles is impossible and can cause a subsequent sudden contraction.

I wanted to explain that relaxation and these yoga movements can be integrated into "sleep hygiene", such as not having alcoholic or exciting drinks before going to sleep, or doing some exercise before 6:00 p.m.

Some people I know and myself have practiced what I explained, but just before going to bed, and before the involuntary movements begin.

In my own experience, I can tell you that by stretching the muscles of the legs half an hour before going to bed and the yoga exercises mentioned, I do not have leg movements; And if they ever persist I get up and practice those movements again and the second time I do them I can lie down and not suffer restlessness in my legs.

But I repeat my RLS is not serious, I do not have strong spasms or restless legs until moments before I fall asleep, when my brain enters the sleep-wake or light sleep phase.

Another thing that gives me good results if I wake up and it takes time to go back to sleep is to drink a glass of warm milk (as many of you know, milk contains tryptophan and this is a precursor of serotonin, one of the neurotransmitters involved in regulating the mechanism (sleep-wake).

But in serious cases, unfortunately there is no other recourse than to go to medication.

However, with these methods I have managed to sleep without taking DA, alpha2delta ligands, or opiates. Just a tiny dose of trazodone and sometimes a BDZ, Clonazepan, which is an antispasmodic.

Thank you for your attention and I hope someone finds my experience useful.

[Hidden in reply to Arjiji]

Thanks Arjiji,

Yes, sharing your experience will be very useful.

Interesting that you should mention sleep hygiene which is somthing I write about sometimes. It isn't always well received.

I usually try to explain how exposure to full spectrum light during the day and avoiding it in the evening and at night can be useful.

I also refer to the "15 minute" rule, which suggests that if you can't manage to get to sleep within 15 minutes, then get up. It's surprising how many people with RLS find themselves dreading going to bed because they anticipate lying there helplessly struggling to sleep.

At one time I used to stay in bed struggling for up to 6 hours before I learned this rule.

[Arjiji in reply to Hidden]

Hello partners

As I am a newcomer to this group, I ignore what has already been said in the posts and reading them all is a work of weeks.

But if I want to explain that the first treatment for insomnia is not medical, but psychological or perhaps both disciplines: it is firstly the "control of anticipatory anxiety" and secondly "sleep hygiene."

I am going to talk about the first point: when a person has a chronic insomnia problem, they fear going to bed because they anticipate the suffering of not being able to sleep, it generates anxiety. Anxiety is a mechanism that puts the brain and body on alert to defend themselves from danger, but it is a maladaptive mechanism because there is no reaction to freeing oneself from that danger, there is only fear, fear. That fear feeds insomnia and thus produces a malignant insomnia-anxiety-insomnia cycle.

To be able to sleep, you have to break that circle and this can be done with pills, anxiolytics, if the situation that generates insomnia is punctual, but if it is of long duration, the pills can increase the problem in the long term, since the body ends up get used to them and we start mechanisms of tolerance and / or dependence. Then it is more useful to learn psychological techniques to control anxiety, such as:

- Practice an aerobic sport 4-5 hours, not with high intensity, before going to bed; yoga, or a leisurely walk an hour before bed.

- Practice a relaxation technique also before going to bed.

- Thought control technique, which consists of not letting the brain engage in anticipatory thoughts of not sleeping. This is achieved by engaging the brain in enjoyable and distracting activities. The main one is HUMOR or LAUGHTER. Laughter has been scientifically proven to have pain-reducing and anxiety-reducing effects. Watching a funny movie or reading an interesting book before bed inhibits aversive thoughts about insomnia. Any pleasant activity that keeps our brain busy is good.

- Taking a glass of warm milk, an infusion of relaxing herbs, and / or a shower with neither very hot nor very cold water, also reduces anxiety and promotes sleep.

- Once in bed you can practice breathing and relaxation exercises and let sleep come; But if 20-30 minutes pass and you have not fallen asleep, it is best to get up and start reading something uncomplicated. or put on melodic or classical music until you feel sleepy and then go back to bed.

- De-dramatize the fact of sleeping little or badly for one or two nights because we have a resource to sleep on the third night, then if we can take a pill for insomnia, because if more days go without sleep, insomnia can become chronic. If we can get some sleep every night we will not take pills and we will continue with psychological treatment.

All this is complemented with the "Sleep Hygiene", which I will write in another post, so as not to be heavy today.

In severe cases of RLS this treatment will not help to remove the discomfort or spasms in the legs, which are the main cause of insomnia; but in mild cases it can help. In any case, practicing the previous two, Anxiety Control and Sleep Hygiene, can help to reduce the medication taken somewhat and make the disease less distressing.

[Hidden in reply to Arjiji]

This is fabulous Arjiji.

I have written myself about anticipatory anxiety and sleep hygiene.

It seems a lot of people with RLS find it difficult to accept that there are psychological elements to RLS, which, as you say, might not necessarily reduce symptoms but will ease distress.

Other aspects are that people "struggle" with their symptoms rather than accept them and many feel they have no control over the condition.

Thete also appears to be many examples of chronic use of benzodiazepines and antidepressants which may, in the long term be counterproductive.

Would you be kind enough to write your ideas in a separate post rather than reply to me in someone else's post. It might reach a "wider number" of people.

[RestlessDebbie in reply to Hidden]

OMG! I thought I was the only one with this level of it.

Did you start to have little limb or trunk jerks during the day that got progressivly worse before the night time hell on earth?

I feel your pain. Opiates have worked for me, and also Gabapentin.

Good luck!

[Hidden in reply to RestlessDebbie]

The symptoms I described earlier were due to augmentation caused by pramipexole, a dopamine agonist. Since I stopped taking pramipexole, I no longer experience those symptoms.