# Restless Leg Syndrome FUCKING SUCKS! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 16, 2007, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665 "2007-11-16T10:37:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665/141 "2007-11-19T20:49:07Z")
> [@lobstermobster](#): > > I’m just tightly wound, high energy, and overstimulated. I don’t need to put a medical name on it and complain about it. My mommy and daddy told me I was special when I was little so I don’t need to be sick. Nobody here cares whether you identify your **own** physical ailments as bona-fide illnesses or just personality quirks. You can get cancer or cholera and call it a mild head cold or a fit of the sulks, if it makes you feel better. We just think it would be nice if you stopped mocking **other** people’s ailments as “hilarious made up or pointlessly defined illnesses”. Especially when (as you were finally forced to admit) you have no idea whether their ailments are made up or not. > [@lobstermobster](#): > > And even if you do have disease a or syndrome b I would like to think we could all just lighten up and have a sense of humor about our flaws. That’s pretty rich, coming from somebody who is evidently so sensitive about her smoking that she didn’t hesitate to [shoot the bird at a little kid whom she merely _overheard_ criticizing her for it](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=437215). Or is having a sense of humor about one’s flaws something that only applies to other people? ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665/142 "2007-11-19T21:14:20Z")
Can the symptoms of RLS extend themselves to the spine area? I don’t have any leg symptoms, but I’m always feeling this _itch_ (not a pain, an ache, or anything else) in my spine region that feels better if I stretch or arch it for a minute, but you can’t keep it that way, obviously. Makes it really hard to sleep, but also affects me in the daytime. I’m flexing as I sit here typing this. The only way I can describe it to my husband is that “my back hurts”, which isn’t really a good description. ---
**Author:** ![Flipshod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f19dbf/32.png) [@Flipshod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flipshod)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665/143 "2007-11-19T21:15:35Z")
[QUOTE=Khadaji] **Flipshod** we have different symptoms. For me, just keeping still would be torture. Others here describe it like an itch in the muscle. For me it kinda feels like when you run a finger down the sole of your foot - only the full length of my calf. I move to relieve that feeling. A machine to prevent movement would be tortuous. [/QUOTE] No, I agree. I woudn’t want to be forced to not moveif I felt the need to move. As a kid, I thought that if I mashed myself into place with the weight of the mattress, that feeling would go away, but it never did. The machine I imagine would create so much movement in my legs that likewise, the feeling would go away–I just wouldn’t have to move them myself and could learn to ignore the machine. Relatives I have who share this condition, recommend all sorts of remedies, but the deep knee bends is the only one I know that works every time. (and I spend half the year doing lots of running, and heavy exercise doesn’t seem to affect whether my legs start jittering.) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665/144 "2007-11-19T21:23:36Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Not only am I not dying fast enough to suit some people, but I was suspended a couple of years ago for the mere mention of it in passing simply because in the minds of various idiots I couldn’t possibly have been doing anything other than fishing for sympathy. I mean Jesus. [/QUOTE] You’ve confused me, **Lib**. Did they think you were fishing for sympathy, or for Jesus? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665/145 "2007-11-19T21:49:06Z")
[QUOTE=bbs2k] Okay there hero. Settle down. My comment was made in jest, and you are just trying way too hard. [/QUOTE] This cracks me up. I will be calling people “hero” all day. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665/146 "2007-11-19T21:54:27Z")
[QUOTE=kaylasdad99] You’ve confused me, **Lib**. Did they think you were fishing for sympathy, or for Jesus? 😃 [/QUOTE] Either way. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665/147 "2007-11-19T22:29:29Z")
Is it always just the legs? My whole body spasms like that when I’m falling asleep, but sometimes it’s just the legs. I’ve never really noticed the itchy feeling beforehand, so maybe it’s something else entirely. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665/148 "2007-11-19T23:04:57Z")
I’ve got RLS & tinnitus. I don’t know how people can _imagine_ they have them without knowing for sure. In the case of RLS. it’s pretty obvious to anyone you sleep with, too. For me, it’s like my legs desperately need circulation, to be massaged, to stretch, and to flex and move all at the same time. It’s like an incredible itch you can’t scratch, but it’s not an itch. It’s all these other sensations that scream for attention just as urgently, though. Sometimes massaging them helps, sometimes I take the side of my fist and pound on them hard, 'til it hurts. It actually feels good, and causes them to calm down a bit. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665/149 "2007-11-19T23:37:39Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] Sometimes massaging them helps, sometimes I take the side of my fist and pound on them hard, 'til it hurts. It actually feels good, and causes them to calm down a bit. [/QUOTE] Perhaps these help by stimulating more blood flow to the areas? Given what others have said about believing it’s related to circulation, could be. Or maybe you’re just scaring the friggin nerve ends into submission. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665/150 "2007-11-20T00:11:49Z")
[QUOTE=EddyTeddyFreddy] Perhaps these help by stimulating more blood flow to the areas? Given what others have said about believing it’s related to circulation, could be. Or maybe you’re just scaring the friggin nerve ends into submission. [/QUOTE] I suspect you’re right. I don’t know. But my technique more or less works. That’s enough for me. I’ve never even bothered mentioning it to a doctor. If it got bad enough Id rather have my legs amputated, maybe. Otherwise, what’s a doctor going to do? The latest drug du jour? No thanks. I hate pills. Especially pills for something doctors themselves don’t understand. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665/151 "2007-11-20T01:27:17Z")
[QUOTE=Antinor01] Is it always just the legs? My whole body spasms like that when I’m falling asleep, but sometimes it’s just the legs. I’ve never really noticed the itchy feeling beforehand, so maybe it’s something else entirely. [/QUOTE] I think a lot of people have that “falling asleep” spasm (I vaguely recall that there is a term for it, but I don’t recall it), but that isn’t restless legs. Restless legs, are, well, restless. You would like to keep them still (or ideally not think about them at all), but staying still simply isn’t an option. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665/152 "2007-11-20T01:52:50Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] I think a lot of people have that “falling asleep” spasm (I vaguely recall that there is a term for it, but I don’t recall it) [/QUOTE] That would be a myoclonic twitch, or hypnagogic jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665/153 "2007-11-20T02:42:54Z")
Ok, I’m really late to the thread, so I won’t comment on anyone who is clearly here only to provoke. Oops, too late! Sorry. But I had restless legs syndrome, which I called “the creepy crawlies” before I knew it had a name, during opiate withdrawl and for a few weeks after that. I had to constantly move my legs and try to stretch them as much as I could. My arms were sometimes affected, too. It was absolutely horrible and I couldn’t take antihistamines to sleep because they made it worse. What worked about 75% of the time was taking a hot bath immediately before going to bed and masturbating when I got into bed. :o I’m not kidding. It relaxes my whole body, but the effects were temporary, so I had a small window of opportunity to fall asleep. The only problem was when it was so bad that I would have to get up every couple of hours to take a bath. So I’d be bathing and, yes, masturbating like a mother fuck, all night long. Even long after being off opiates, I still couldn’t take antihistamines, but a few years later, they no longer affect me. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665/154 "2007-11-20T03:18:56Z")
Yeah, I described this in a GQ thread that basically asked the question, “is RLS for real or bullshit?” But since many people have this bizarre tendency to presume nothing they don’t personally experience is real, I’ll add my situation to the others. I’ve had this for about ten years, before the medication (which I don’t use) was advertised. When I first saw the commercial I was shocked that other people had this as well. For me the best way to describe the sensation is that it’s as if I’m sitting on a metal plate that’s vibrating/buzzing. I too have the need to stretch or move, but I don’t have the involuntary herky-jerking movements that some others mention. I just often find myself sorta rolling my feet against one another. Like a cricket trying to chirp! I do wonder if it’s related to the bouncy leg thing, because I have always had that when I’m nervous – so do many members of my family, although I don’t think they have RLS themselves, so it’s not a 1:1 correlation. When my RLS is acting up, bouncing does seem to relief the stress. Walking and stretching do too. I also noticed that it was worse when I was briefly on Zoloft. BTW, I’ve got the tinnitus/RLS combo platter too, **levdrakon** – which is SO awesome, isn’t it? Two ideopathic things that basically don’t have a cure! Sometimes I feel as if my nerves are firing too much electricity or something. Anyway I totally concur with the OP. It SUCKS and it’s hard enough for this lifelong insomniac to fall asleep. I sure as hell didn’t need this shit to exacerbate the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665/155 "2007-11-20T04:46:59Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] Did you mean Guin and **Lobsang** , not Lobstermobster? Cause that would make more sense to me. [/QUOTE] You owe me a new monitor, keyboard AND mouse. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665/156 "2007-11-20T04:49:49Z")
[QUOTE=Nutty Bunny] masturbating when I got into bed. : [/QUOTE] TMfuckingI!!! ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665/157 "2007-11-20T05:13:54Z")
I don’t have RLS, but I’ve got something that seems sorta similar - whenever I’m getting close to falling asleep, I itch like fucking crazy. Not just an annoying little itch, either, but an intense, burning itch that changes location on my body and keeps me up hours past when I should have gone to sleep. SO I know what it’s like for people not to believe you about this shit - even the doctors I’ve seen haven’t had a clue, beyond “Maybe it’s psychosomatic” or “You should try to change the laundry detergent you use on your sheets” (happens in every bed/couch/hotel room I’ve ever been in, and the brand of laundry detergent makes no difference). I only hope someday they come up with a medication for this - I’ll gladly take the ridicule of the skeptics if I can finally get a decent night’s fucking sleep. The hambone’s connected to the spleen bone, Woody ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665/158 "2007-11-20T05:40:49Z")
[QUOTE=woodstockbirdybird] I don’t have RLS, but I’ve got something that seems sorta similar - whenever I’m getting close to falling asleep, I itch like fucking crazy. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I’ve gotten something almost like that, but probably not as intense. And I do have RLS\*, so I always thought this was another aspect. \*Actually, a med I take _causes_ RLS, so I take another to relieve it. Oy. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665/159 "2007-11-20T06:07:23Z")
[QUOTE=woodstockbirdybird] I don’t have RLS, but I’ve got something that seems sorta similar - whenever I’m getting close to falling asleep, I itch like fucking crazy. Not just an annoying little itch, either, but an intense, burning itch that changes location on my body and keeps me up hours past when I should have gone to sleep. \The hambone’s connected to the spleen bone, Woody [/QUOTE] My husband calls his version of this “chase the itch.” He scratches one thing after the next - he says it gets pretty annoying, but it’s not intense. ETA: I mean his version isn’t too annoying, not yours. Unlike others in this thread, I don’t care to speculate on your personal experience of life. (Mmm, ham and spleen pie.) ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665/160 "2007-11-20T06:16:38Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] I think a lot of people have that “falling asleep” spasm (I vaguely recall that there is a term for it, but I don’t recall it), but that isn’t restless legs. Restless legs, are, well, restless. You would like to keep them still (or ideally not think about them at all), but staying still simply isn’t an option. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=darth nader] That would be a myoclonic twitch, or hypnagogic jerk. [/QUOTE] ahh, good info to have. Thank you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restless-leg-syndrome-fucking-sucks/426665.md?page=9)