Why do punch and kick my legs asleep?

Answer 1

Answer#1

You may have simple restless legs syndrome. But if the kicking is especially violent or injurious, I'd be concerned you may have a parasomnia known as RBD. Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (although I doubt this.)

Talk to your doctor about it and inquire about requip or klonopin (generic available on both), these are both excellent for treating these symptoms. Don't delay, if I was your doctor I'd also want to know how well you feel you sleep. If you sleep poorly, I wouldn't prescribe you the regular sleeping pills like ambien or lunesta (they don't really help THAT much) I would prescribe you Klonopin, 1mg and Remeron, 15 mg, 30 minutes before bedtime.

Answer#2

I would like to add to the above by saying that I do have Restless Legs Syndrome. I am prescribed Requip and Mirapex by my primary physician. The combination of these two medications work wonderfully for restless legs. However, what you have described doesn't even come close to resembling the symptoms I experience from RLS. Although my RLS is sometimes so intense that I kick my legs just out of sheer frustration just trying to find some measure of comfort or relief, but this kicking is quite voluntary on my part. I also, at times, have to get out of bed and pace or walk around the house to make the awful sensations of RLS ease up a bit.

On the other hand, I also have involuntary muscle contractions/spasms which cause involuntary movements such as kicking, jerking, etc. This is neurological/nerve related and my PMP has prescribed Neurontin (Generic is Gabapentin), which provides some relief - all of which is caused by ruptured/herniated bulging disks pinching my sciatic nerve and some other nerve endings in my spine.

Finally, I would like to address the person who wrote the original two paragraphs of this response. Why would you suggest Klonopin, a benzodiazepine, that is used mostly to control panic attacks? And why would you recommend Remeron, which is normally prescribed to treat depression?

ADDENDUM BY PHYSICIAN: Klonopin is a treatment for the parasomnia, rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, which I believe this person may be suffering from.

Remeron is often used in conjunction with Klonopin to relieve these symptoms. Often these parasonmias are a result of distorted sleep-architecture; Remeron (a sedating tetra-cyclic antidepressant) restores normal sleep-architecture, often undoing the parasomnia (the violent REM sleep kicking.) Of course this is mere speculation until the person actually sees a doctor.