Have you we tried NOT to move your legs?

[rudedoodle]

I've got so frustrated at times at myself and thought, "just wise up and don't give into the feelings".
But the build up in my arms and legs just is unavoidable, I have to move.
What happens if you don't?

Have you tried to fight it before? Or is it as impossible as I think it is?

[Polar Bear]

Oh... I have been there.
Lying in bed telling myself that this is just a sensation, ignore it, only to jump up to shake arms and legs and get some movement going.

You ask.... what happens if you don't move........
I don't think that this can happen, you just gotta gotta move. No question about it.

Trying not to move - impossible - eventually.......a jack in the box comes to mind.

[rudedoodle]

I've often thought if I could stay still long enough maybe it would reach a peak and die off again. Can't do it though!

[Polar Bear]

Tried that..... it cannot be ignored.

[sleepdancer]

I used to have a bed with a railing across the bottom with just enough room to tuck my toes under it and try to brace them from moving. My legs showed me who's boss!

[Wayne]

I've often thought if I could stay still long enough maybe it would reach a peak and die off again. Can't do it though!

I can do it. Maybe I don't have RLS as severely as others or maybe the medications are doing enough to let me ignore it. I can sit still for extended periods with only an occasional small adjustment to my legs.

Only when I'm trying to sleep does it invade my consciousness enough to bother me.

[badnights]

Without meds, it would build to explosion point if I ignored it. The longer I ignored, the worse it got. I never won (except once, and that's a different story).

Since I've been on meds, I've found that different meds do different things. The hydromorphone I'm on now allows me to lie still. The malevolent forces are still there, carousing in my bones, but I don't have the urge to move. I can't sleep either, of course, and I keep my muscles tensed up subconsciuosly.

Last year (or was it the year before?:cry:) when I was on gabapentin (Neurontin), the opposite was happening. The sensations were almost gone, but I was still compelled to move. I would lie in bed making small, fast, repetitive kicks for hours. It was quite pleasant except for the fact that I couldn't sleep.

The combination of experiences was interesting because it showed me clearly that the sensations and the diagnostic urge to move are two separate things, each with its own cause. (I keep wanting somebody to collect all these pieces of information, so that eventually someone can put it all together and figure out WHY. but the world doesn't work that way --sigh--)

[ViewsAskew]

(I keep wanting somebody to collect all these pieces of information, so that eventually someone can put it all together and figure out WHY. but the world doesn't work that way --sigh--)

Over the years here I've often wanted exactly the same. Maybe if we compiled some of this and sent an annual report to the RLS Foundation's Medical board, they'd at least read it, lol.

[fraujoolie]

If I try to suppress the movements, my legs will just jerk on their own. It's almost like a static electricity charge... it builds up, and if I don't move, it will jolt my legs for me.

[badnights]

Maybe if we compiled some of this and sent an annual report to the RLS Foundation's Medical board, they'd at least read it, lol

Hmmm.......
No, no, I have to finish my thesis first
But it's a reasonable idea. Really is.

[moonlight]

Hi have tried on many occasions....don't move the legs ..or arms and the pain builds up so much that I move like I have exploded ...it's horrible.

Have often though mind over matter but in the end legs win.

I never stay still have noticed no matter what I'm doing I'm moving ...like now at the comp I'm twiddling my toes.

[jwmissy]

Ha ha, big joke. There is just no way you cannot move. Been there done that and it doesn't work. I'll try holding it in for awhile and then all of a sudden I can't take it anymore and I jump up real quick and scare everyone around me.

[Betty/WV]

I have tried not to move my legs, and it is impossible. I think I would go nuts if I tried to hard. Once when I was in the hospital and they me benadryl
my legs were so bad that my one leg would jump in the air all by itself.

BETTY/WV

[Kimberly]

my legs were so bad that my one leg would jump in the air all by itself.

BETTY/WV

LOL....Hi Betty.....I explain to people that at night I often look like I have tourette's, with repetitive movement in both arms and legs. NOT moving is not an option...it's never worked! In fact, I do a LOT of purposeful movement to try and stave off the uncontrolled movement...sometimes it helps, sometimes not.

For me...the feeling is like a build up to a sneeze...and then Wham! I find it interesting that tourette's patients can sometimes control their movement for short periods of time, but it builds up and then all heck breaks lose.

I also find it interesting that our disease is considered a 'sleep' disorder.....if I could stop the movement....I'd sleep just fine....doesn't that make it a 'movement' disorder even though it's triggered by the onset of sleep? things that make you go ummmm?

[badnights]

It IS a movement disorder - actually, a sensori-motor disorder because there are disruptions to both the motor and sensory systems (the urge to move, and the wierd sensations/pain, respectively).

Also it has a strong circadian component, so it undoubtedly involves the sleep systems as well, and is called a sleep disorder with some legitimacy. Not to mention that the main reason it's a health concern is because of its negative impact on sleep.

But I refer to it as a sensori-motor disorder, not a sleep disorder, mainly because most people think of sleep disorders as something trivial.