Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

My doctor told me not to take naps during the day. However, I have always LOVED naps, and find that my legs usually don't bother me if I take a daytime nap. With my nights as miserable as they are, I feel like catching up on some sleep can't be that bad of a thing, but I definitely don't want to be making things worse for me. I have been taking fewer naps since my Dr. told me not to, but haven't been able to get rid of them completely, and honestly, I'm not sure I want to.

So, in your experience, do naps make things better or worse for you?

Only my opinion but I reckon if you aren't getting sufficient nighttime sleep then grab it when you can. Naps would only be worth giving up if they improved your sleep during the night,

Often with RLS you need to get sleep when you can get it. If you're not getting good sleep at night and your doctor isn't helping you with that, then you really have no choice.

Most definitely, take the nap. Your doctor is giving you bedtime hygiene advice, which is appropriate for insomnia that has no obviuos physical cause. It's not appropriate advice for neurological disorders that affect sleep, like Ekbom disease/RLS. No matter how tired you get, when the RLS is in you, you are not going to sleep, so you can become seriously sleep-deprived in a very short time, and it is very important to get what sleep you can.

No amount of "hygiene" is going to let you sleep at night when you're experiencing symptoms. I'm upset that your doctor is giving you harmful advice, and that in the bigger picture so many doctors still don't know much about matters of sleep. On the other hand, someone else just posted in a different thread that her doctor told her husband to never EVER wake up a sleeping RLS patient. So some doctors do get it!

That only applies if you aren't getting enough sleep at night

Everyone tells me that,"not to nap during the day". It doesn't matter, I have forced myself to not take a nap, no matter how tired I was. Then that night EKD/RLS hits and I'm awake all night. So then I'm really a mess. So I now take a nap whenever I can. RLSers or EKDers must sleep whenever they can.

Blessed and restful sleep (whenever) everyone.

BETTY/WV

Always take sleep when you can get it, especially if its RLS-free sleep that will get you the restoration you need.

I don't have many problems with symptoms these days, but I still take naps in the middle of the morning or early afternoon almost religiously.. Although part of that is a side effect of Methadone, I don't let it bother me too much because I still sleep great at night.

I agree with the others on this. For a long time I had to grab snatches of sleep whenever I could. Any attempt to do otherwise would have been futile as I was frequently "overcome" with sleep. Those naps were the source of my survival. After I had to quit working I decided to give my body what it wanted when it wanted it, and not having to interrupt sleep to meet the demands of life, I began to heal a bit. This was during the same time I got started on CPAP for my sleep apnea. It was a long slow climb, but the need for naps became less overpowering. I did have some periods when the meds for my legs were working and my nights were better, and then I did work towards getting my sleep times more in line with a normal schedule. But hey, ya gotta sleep, however it has to happen.

I just posted about my naps at a diff thread here. I've been taking naps in the late afternoon all my life, as do other members of my family. It does not ruin any nighttime sleep at all.

I just read about a study of older people and naps which found that daytime naps did not worsen night sleep quality or quantity and in fact raised alertness and mood.

Personally I get fantastic quality sleep during the day so I nap whenever I can. Sometimes it will move my bedtime later, other times I will just sleep through 'til the next morning. Either way, it's lovely and far too infrequent.