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Original poster

Restless leg syndrome sufferers - what does it feel like?

75 replies

AliciaWhiskers · 07/05/2020 17:30

Just that, really.

I'm wondering if I'm getting symptoms of it, but it's started really suddenly and I don't know if that's normal or not?

OP posts:
Heathcliff27 · 07/05/2020 17:32

For me it mainly affects me when i'm tired, leg starts twitching a moving involuntarily, isn't what I would call painful but is uncomfortable and annoying

BertiesLanding · 07/05/2020 17:39

This is going to sound very strange, but the closest I can come to describing it is that very squirmy "tickly" feeling you get when you desperately need a wee ... except in your legs, and the sensation builds up until you have to move them to ease it.

OldEvilOwl · 07/05/2020 17:51

You can't keep your legs still, feels like you need to move or stretch them constantly. Mostly when sitting down to watch tv. But moving them doesn't really help, so then you move them again - so annoying!

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ProseccoSupernova · 07/05/2020 17:58

Does anyone get this in their whole body? I woke up in the night last night coincidentally and just felt really agitated like I wanted to move, my brain was ticking over work stuff and just couldn’t seem to shut it down. Just couldn’t get comfy and had to keep changing my position as felt so restless and uncomfortable. Almost itchy but not! It was horrible!

OldEvilOwl · 07/05/2020 18:07

ProseccoSupernova yes I get this too sometimes, I wake up at 3am and can't get back to sleep. I'm literally going around in Circles trying to get comfortable

JimmyTheWeed · 07/05/2020 18:10

Like millions of ants are crawling around under your skin.

Original poster
AliciaWhiskers · 07/05/2020 19:07

So what I have felt is like a deep sort of intense burning in my legs and an overwhelming urge to move. The thing is that the more I think about it, the more I need to move. So it really feels partly, if not largely, psychological. It’s like the thought comes before the sensation?

OP posts:
cannaethink · 07/05/2020 19:12

I think it feels like I’ve got itchy bones. I only get it if I’m tired and up late watching tv.

Original poster
AliciaWhiskers · 07/05/2020 19:16

I’ve been getting it when I’ve been woken up by my son in the middle of the night and he asks me to get into bed with him for a cuddle. I get this overwhelming feeling that I. Need. To. Move. Then last night when I got back into my own bed it took ages to get back to sleep because I was having the same feeling.

OP posts:
StewPots · 07/05/2020 19:48

My right leg bounces up and down if I'm sat up but if I'm in bed I twitch or rub my leg on the mattress repeatedly, or like a really fast foot tap.

Absolutely maddening. Me, dad and DD all have it. I'm on ropinirole for it now as it was making me lose even more sleep 🙈

YahBasic · 07/05/2020 19:49

Exactly how Berties described it, just this overwhelming restless feel.

Magnesium really, really helps.

BlackCatsRule88 · 07/05/2020 19:54

Itching or aching inside your bones is how I’d describe it too. It’s not like a normal ache in your muscles. I feel like I have to stretch my legs. Magnesium has helped me.

SummerBreeze20 · 07/05/2020 19:56

I find it hard to describe, but I would best describe it as an unbelievable urge to move my legs (and arms sometimes). I find the best relief is to walk around, but I sometimes get relief from doing simple calf stretches when lying in bed .

Original poster
AliciaWhiskers · 07/05/2020 20:02

@SummerBreeze20 yes that's what it feels like for me. It seems to spread throughout my body. It starts in my legs but spreads everywhere and it almost feels like I can't breathe properly either.

I have got some magnesium somewhere so I will dig that out and give it a go.

OP posts:
foxyknoxy30 · 07/05/2020 20:03

It's like the feeling you constantly need to move your legs and they have a tingling until you do

fuuuuuuck · 07/05/2020 20:06

@YahBasic do you take supplements or cream/bath salts? I've tried them all.....no change 🤬

SummerBreeze20 · 07/05/2020 20:06

AliciaWhiskers it’s horrible, isn’t it!
I go through phases of having it, but I will definitely consider taking some magnesium during my next episode. I hope you find relief from it soon.

Original poster
AliciaWhiskers · 07/05/2020 20:06

When did it start for all of you? And was it sudden? As in one day you didn’t get it and then you did?

OP posts:
Birdyfly · 07/05/2020 20:07

I get this so bad lately. It's absolutely awful and keeps me awake. It's a horrible itchy feeling inside your legs that you can't scratch. It's gotten so bad that I actually have punched my legs to relieve it

pairofchairs · 07/05/2020 20:07

For me it feels like lightning bolts shooting through my legs. It borders on painful. It was always worse during my pregnancies, the only thing that would ease it was a hot water bottle.

DianaT1969 · 07/05/2020 20:21

I read this was cured by magnesium. No personal experience though.

YahBasic · 07/05/2020 20:22

@fuuuuuuck I’ve both increased it in my diet and take two tablets a night about an hour before bed. That’s when it’s worst for me.

fuuuuuuck · 07/05/2020 20:23

Thanks @YahBasic . May I ask what dose you take or which tablets they are please?

CoronaIsComing · 07/05/2020 20:25

For me, it feels like an overwhelming urge to over stretch my legs especially my thighs but no amount of stretching is enough.

mrswishywashy1 · 07/05/2020 20:32

The only way i can describe mine is as if my legs are balloons and someone is blowimg them up and they are at the stage where they are about to burst and i have to shake them about to disperse the air in them, I'm sure that doesn't make sense though 😂
I take magnesium for them and it really helps.