Is it just me or…..

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Sojourner
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Is it just me or…..

Post by Sojourner »

Is it just me or does this happen to you. Some time ago I have adopted a routine of reading in bed. I know that flies in the face of typically recommended sleep hygiene but nevertheless it was better than spending hours alone at night watching tv, reading, puzzles, playing rock, scissors, paper against myself etc. For me I felt it was much better for my mental health to be in bed, snuggled in with my loved one as opposed to the alternatives just mentioned. Condensed version, I find that after I take my meds and crawl in bed, I can often be quite comfortable for 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours and even longer as long as I am reading. Often I cannot keep my eyes open and will momentarily drift off. After a time, I literally cannot keep my eyes open. About, then I close the e-book, put it on the night stand, and try to get to sleep--takes all of about 20 seconds. More often than not, like tonight, once my head hits the pillow I am wide awake and my rls symptoms appear (in less than a minute) and most often in the form of those electrical shocks. I have fooled with the reading routine, when I take my meds, how much meds I take, etc but the described pattern seems to consistently manifest. I understand the "distraction" theory but it boggles my mind how quickly I can go from extremely sleepy and relatively symptom free or at least relatively content and comfortable to having full blow rls symptoms--in the blink of an eye. That's a pretty much abbreviated version but I think you get the idea. I'm wondering if others experience somethin similar on a regular basis.
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Polar Bear
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Re: Is it just me or…..

Post by Polar Bear »

I also read at night however I let myself fall asleep while reading.... book/ebook lands wherever, the same with my spectacles.
Very rarely would I put the book down etc and settle down to sleep.

I do understand what you are saying and can go from falling asleep on the sofa, into bed in 20 seconds, and be wide awake.
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
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ViewsAskew
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Re: Is it just me or…..

Post by ViewsAskew »

I can go from zero to 60 in about 6 seconds flat..well, you get the analogy. I do get warning signs, but that's during the day. When I'm more tired, it seems to be an on-off thing.
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

Managing Your RLS

Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

Sojourner
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Re: Is it just me or…..

Post by Sojourner »

I'm sure you guys (gals) have heard the joke about the themos bottle and "how do it know," but it's like that with rls. I mean, how do it know when your trying to sleep? Re-reading that sentence seems kind of silly or worse. Anyway, I sometime think it's all in the eyelids. Maybe rls is luking in the background and as soon as someone closes their eyelids for more than 20 seconds while in a horizontal position it pounces. If you're in a vertical position maybe it's all in how you blink your eyes. (Theme Music from the Twilight Zone plays) Can you sleep with your eyes taped open? (More music)
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Yankiwi
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Re: Is it just me or…..

Post by Yankiwi »

I can usually get to sleep within about 10 minutes. Each time I wake up I have painful legs. I try to get up and stay up for anywhere between 15 minutes to an hour until they settle down. During this time I read standing up and stretch. No way can I get back to sleep without a break but I usually can then. Usually I'm up twice in the night but on a bad night it can be four times.

Polar Bear
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Re: Is it just me or…..

Post by Polar Bear »

Sojourner - it's always great to hear some humour, however dark :)
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
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badnights
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Re: Is it just me or…..

Post by badnights »

I like the pipeline analogy. Our nerves are like pipes running between brain and limbs. Wonky signals are constantly being sent from our limbs to our brains, but they're blocked at some point from actually reaching the brain. Think of them as being blocked just after they reach the lower brain, before they can have any effect on conscious awareness.

But these wonky WED signals are low-priority traffic, so when we're moving or stretching, the pipeline is full of the sensations generated by those activities, and there's no room for the wonky sensations. As soon as we stop moving, the WED signals fill the pipeline again. Reading or other mental activities can fill the pipeline, too, just like physical activity does, and that's where the analogy fails me. They can only fill the part of the pipeline that's in the brain (since reading doesn't involve the limbs), and the blocking point is somewhere in the brain, so it still works in ways I don't understand.

I didn't actually make this up, even though it's so non-scientific. It's a feeble attempt to explain various theories I've read on the mechanisms of WED/RLS using the gate-control theory of pain. It makes sense to me to think of reading, moving, & stretching as activities that fill up the pipeline and leave no room for WED; and as soon as we relax, that pipeline is emptied out, and the WED signals that were there all along fill it up.

What's interesting is that people with chronic pain who have managed to end their chronic pain are thought to have actually built neural pathways that replace the ones that had been sending the pain message.* So why shouldn't WED patients be able to grow new neural connections and ditch the old ones?

I just don't know how. Ha ha.

* (This is from a great book called Explain Pain by - two doctors whose names escape me).
Beth - Wishing you a restful sleep tonight
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I am a volunteer moderator. My posts are not medical advice. My posts do not reflect RLS Foundation opinion.

Polar Bear
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Re: Is it just me or…..

Post by Polar Bear »

This analogy of badnights' makes a beautifully simple way to explain to non sufferers just how WED might be working on us.

I will actually think of cars and make a story.

The WED cars are lurking in the background during the day while the upmarket cars travel around on their upmarket tyres and fabulous suspension.
Upmarket cars then go to the garage for the evening/night and out come the WED cars, a bit scratchy and worse for wear, rough tyres, no suspension and bodywork rather damaged with sticky out bits... all ready to try a few wheelies and hand-brake turns.

Through the evening and night these WED cars go careering through our pipes/streets as they cause aggravation making the most of their time. Until the quality cars come out for the next day and take over the roadways leaving little room for the shabby little WED cars to do their mischief (most folks think this mischief is just a cheeky nuisance but us WED sufferers know the real torture).

Most of the WED cars then retreat for the day, excepting a few cheeky ones that will always be bold and up for the challenge of giving us some annoyance despite having to fight the upmarket car traffic for the privilege..
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation

Sojourner
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Re: Is it just me or…..

Post by Sojourner »

i think all the analogies are great. I guess what I'm curious about it how quickly, for myself and others, that my rls symptoms can go from virtually nonexistent to 0 to 60 as Views elegantly describes. I have fainted quite a few times in my life and know that I can quickly go from feeling pretty good to waking up on the floor. But, that is usually due to a a very definable outside stimulus and I think the "fainting" process is pretty well understood. It's too bad that this type of pre/post symptomology cannot be studied or easily researched as it sometimes seems so dramatic that something very definable must be happening somewhere in our bodies. Of course I don't know what physical measurements such as brainwaves, blood chemistry, etc. would need to me monitored or how to do it so quickly. Not to mention the cost. Anyway, just blabbering.


Wishing all who visit here some peace this night
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Polar Bear
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Re: Is it just me or…..

Post by Polar Bear »

Sojourner - I totally understand what your blabbering means..... I get a feeling, some sort of an indication, just moments before my RLS/WED symptoms kick in, it's like..... zero/ flicker/ boom.
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation

jul2873
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Re: Is it just me or…..

Post by jul2873 »

I have some favorite audio books--much loved books that are non-suspenseful and happy--and listening to them almost always puts me right to sleep. I have some soft ear buds and put a bud in one ear and lay on my other side. But I love the story of the cars!

badnights
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Re: Is it just me or…..

Post by badnights »

I almost never have symptoms appear out of the blue. I think that's because they're always there to some degree or other, buzzing in the background. They ramp up, they ramp down, sometimes I think they actually go away; but if they do, they creep back like thieves. I don't really ever get a sudden onset.
Beth - Wishing you a restful sleep tonight
Click for info on WED/RLS AUGMENTATION & IRON
I am a volunteer moderator. My posts are not medical advice. My posts do not reflect RLS Foundation opinion.

ViewsAskew
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Re: Is it just me or…..

Post by ViewsAskew »

I've long said I get "pre-rls." But, whether pre-rls or mild RLS that is there but manageable can all the sudden be awful. Sometimes it is more gradual - a crescendo over many measures. Other, it happens in two beats.
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

Managing Your RLS

Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

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