moving leg during the day

[srherendeen]

I have always had a problem with sitting still. I swing and move my legs throughout the day. I have had people to laugh about it and make jokes. At night, is when my legs start to "crawl" and move all night. Has anyone else had the day time issues? I am new to diagnosis with RLS but questioned the day time movement.

[rthom]

Hey Srherendeen!

I think you'll find a lot of folks here with the same daytime symptoms. I too have limb movements during the day and have as far back as I can remember. Glad you've touched base here, and look forward to hearing or helping more!

[ViewsAskew]

I think it depends on why you're moving them. I have what I call "pre'WED" - the creepiness isn't ramped up, but I just need to move and I know the sensations are only a few minutes away. Having an urge to move with or without sensations is considered WED/RLS. It's when you move and it's because you're nervous or it's just habit that it's not related. As rthom said, many of us have daytime symptoms.

[badnights]

Some people, including doctors, think it doesn't happen in the daytime or it doesn't happen in the arms (a good reason the name has been changed to WED). In fact the disease has a circadian aspect that makes it worse in the evenings and early night, but when it gets severe enough, it appears at all hours of the day. It's still worse at night , though , unless it gets really severe; then it may be hard to tell if it improves during the day or not.

[Chipmunk]

Yes, as Beth said, if it's WED it will get worse in the evenings and during the night and improve in the mornings. A lot of us have symptoms all day long. The key is that moving makes the sensations go away, no matter what time of day or night it is.

[srherendeen]

Thank you. I do move my legs. It doesn't bother me as much as during the day as the evenings but I move so much that people notice. I had a teacher in the 4th grade who actually brought in a rocking chair for me to have so I could continue to move my legs and rock at the same time while class was going on. Though, my biggest problems during the day are when I am in conferences or other meetings and cant get up for a long time. I have dealt with issues over the years and are just now figuring out how they are stem from the WED. It has been a vicious cycle.

[Chipmunk]

That was really sweet of your teacher - I love to hear stories like that!

What are some of the other things they think are related to the WED?

[srherendeen]

Insomnia, stress, leading to depression feelings, stressing out with tiredness giving way to migraines. We (me and mds)have been trying to fix the migraines, depression without trying to find the root cause. Does that make sence? I can confuse everyone.

[Chipmunk]

So basically sleep deprivation. Yes, makes a lot of sense. I struggle with finding a med for depression that doesn't make the WED worse and cause sleep deprivation that leads to worsened depression. In my case the depression far pre-dates the WED, as does the anxiety/stress, so solving my WED issues wouldn't eliminate them, although the WED certainly makes them worse. I used to get migraines as well but they are down by 95% after I cut out artificial sweeteners.

[badnights]

The teacher who provided the rocking chair knew nothing about your disorder but had the grace to see that you were not fidgeting on purpose , and to find a solution that suited the situation. I'm impressed, and I bet a lot of other things could be learned from that teacher!

In meetings, I stand up, or if it's not bad, I kick my shoes off and sit cross-legged, and maybe circle my wrists. IF it's really bad, standing up is the only thing. It's nice to get a wall to lean against, or the back of a chair to lean forward on. I just tell people, if there's a break while they stare at me, that I have to stand up for a while, and smile at them as if it's the most common thing on earth. In some types of meeting it might be hard to pull it off that smoothly.

[ViewsAskew]

I landed a two week contract with a large company. They wanted me onsite for more of it. That means being there by 9 AM.

I normally don't get up before 11 AM, and sometimes as late at 1 or 2 PM. I work "second shift" at home doing my consulting work.

The first day there, I had to take a walk by noon because of the WED. At 3 PM I was rocking in my seat during a conference call. Each day, the symptoms have started by noon I was freaked out - they never start before 4-5 PM.

Then it dawned on me....duh! I've been thinking my daytime symptoms have decreased so much, but it's just that my daytime is really afternoon and evening, according to my sleep schedule. So, I guess I get about 4-5 free hours before it starts. And, it is the pits to be in work clothes in front of others and in meetings while having symptoms. At home, I just get up and walk them off, take a break, water some plants. I'm not liking this onsite work very much!

[rthom]

Good catch though. Might have taken a while otherwise. Hope it levels out soon, preferably before the 2 weeks is up.

[Polar Bear]

I think Views' post shows how much we adapt our day to suit our condition until it becomes the norm.

When we then try to conform to someone else's norm... then.... wham...

[ViewsAskew]

PB, you are so right. I recently was thinking that things were so much better that maybe I could take a "regular" job.

HAH!

While I could if I was going to starve, it would be so difficult and I'd be so miserable. I'd have no other life except the work and trying to sleep an being tired.

[badnights]

I'm not terribly happy in my current job but I know I have it really good in some ways. My boss lets me work weird hours and trusts me not to cheat the system.

I was acting for him one week, and I made myself get to work at normal-person time, and stay until the end with no naps, no coming back in and working late. I was a wreck by the end of the week. Causes hesitation when I think of applying elsewhere.