Video Fitness Forum  

Go Back   Video Fitness Forum > Video Fitness Reader Forum > General Discussion

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 01-09-14, 08:14 AM  
intelsana
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: NYC
Relieving restless legs/kicking at night with exercise

Hi everyone. I am wondering if anyone has had issues with restless legs and kicking at night. I recently moved in with my boyfriend and unconsciously I keep kicking at night forcing him to leave the bed and go to our guest room.

I have been doing some research and some of the things I came up with are trying compression stockings and doing yoga/stretching.

I am wondering if anyone has had this issue and been able to relieve it with exercise. Non exercise tips appreciated and welcome as well (I just didn't want to make this too off topic)
intelsana is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-09-14, 08:26 AM  
starbelly
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Netherlands
DH used to kick in his sleep and injured me on more than one occasion. He went for a sleep study and it turned out that he has a form of sleep apnea. He was fitted for a mouth guard and the flopping stopped. I don't know if that is typical, but it was welcome relief and he noticed that he feels more rested since he has the mouth guard (but he never realized that he had a sleep disorder).

I have also heard that some people have low levels of certain salts which can trigger muscle spasms/kicking. DH's aunt had success with this http://www.schusslersalts.com/wcm/mb...-07/index.html

I hope that you find a solution!
starbelly is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-09-14, 08:47 AM  
Sarah-lara
VF Supporter
 
Sarah-lara's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2003
I am no expert, but if you're having a lot of daytime sleepiness or trouble sleeping in general, I'd run this past a doctor or sleep clinic first to rule out anything more serious than RLS.

With that out of the way, I am sure the yoga will help if it helps you feel calmer. Here's a list; I would highly recommend the caffeine and sleep steps from it. Some people have luck putting a bar of soap in their beds, which I am sure is a placebo, but who cares why it works (I'm currently reading Mind Over Medicine, a book on this subject).

There are various things that can cause sleep kicking and many of them might have a slight uptick in intensity because of exercise and probably a major uptick if you do exercise right before bed (like BFS and hypnic jerks both can.) So if you notice that, you might be able to time your exercise more in the morning to see if that helps.

I had (have?) a seizure disorder and have kicked and flailed at people quite a bit in my time and discussed RLS and other limb movements at a support group so I've heard a lot of stories. The big thing I can tell you is not to consciously try not to kick because that's a surefire way to kick (like Dr. Strangelove trying to control his wayward arm.) I also noticed back in the day on certain medications, my legs would automatically kick when I watched active people, like a soccer game on TV.

Some people use a magnesium supplement called Natural Calm, which didn't help me, but tastes pretty good.
__________________
Sarah
Sarah-lara is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-09-14, 08:51 AM  
bee
VF Supporter
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Magnesium glycinate.
bee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-09-14, 08:57 AM  
alisoncooks
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: TarHeel country
My DH does this. He doesn't kick but he will just slide his leg up and down. We jokingly refer to it as his "dancing a jig."

He finds it worsens when he drinks caffeine in the afternoon/evening.
He was diagnosed with sleep apnea and he doesn't do it as often now that he's treated for it (CPAP).
alisoncooks is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-09-14, 12:57 PM  
msladybug
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
You might try avoiding sugar in the evening.

I found that my after dinner treat of sorbet would set me off. I assume it's the sugar in it.
msladybug is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-09-14, 01:01 PM  
bzar
Exchange Moderator
 
bzar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: PalmTreeVille
i used to frequent an ADHD forum, and one of the comments (in addition to the magnesium suggested earlier) was to place a really heavy blanket/quilt over the lower half of your legs.
__________________
~jeannine


Miyagi: Wax on, right hand. Wax off, left hand. Wax on, wax off. Breathe in through nose, out the mouth. Wax on, wax off. Don't forget to breathe, very important.
[walks away, still making circular motions with hands] ~ Pat Morita, The Karate Kid, 1984


disclosure: in the years 2002-2004 i had a professional relationship with a distributor of fitness videos; see profile.
bzar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-09-14, 02:39 PM  
videofit
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
I have this intermittently and it seems to have nothing to do with exercising or not exercising. I take 250mg magnesium with my 5 mg melatonin. Frustrating at times.
__________________
"Think for yourself, or others will think for you without thinking of you." Henry David Thoreau
videofit is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-09-14, 03:25 PM  
Lisa C
VF Supporter
 
Lisa C's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Chicago suburbs
I don't kick (as far as I know!) but sometimes at the end of the night while in bed trying to fall asleep or watching TV my legs do get restless. I just want to shake them and it drives me crazy.

When it happens I do get out of bed and stretch my calves and hamstrings. It seems to help.

I am not certain of the correlation, but it seems to happen after leg intensive workouts for me.

My sister says she has this also and she swears that eating a banana every day helps her. I'm not sure. I do eat a lot of bananas, but still have this problem.

Also, check out this other thread I found with the "restless leg syndrome" tag. (I'll tag this thread as well.)

http://forum.videofitness.com/showthread.php?t=136557
__________________
Lisa C.
Lisa C is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-09-14, 03:31 PM  
monterey vidiot
VF Supporter
 
monterey vidiot's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Monterey County, California
No harm in trying this: put a bar of soap (anything but Dove) under your bottom sheet.
__________________
"It takes work to change the shape of this muscle." Susan Harris in The Firm Vol. 1, talking about the triceps, in 1986
Still working on my triceps after all these years.
~Cynthia
monterey vidiot is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
potassium, restless leg syndrome

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:35 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
© 2009 Video Fitness