Has Anyone Had Body Twitching Before Sleep?

Falling asleep at night has been difficult since I've been off the pain meds and sleeping at home for the past two weeks.  I'm not sure if what is happening is normal or not, so I thought I'd put it out there.

Prior to surgery, I'd pop on my CPAP, lie down, and within 15 or 20 minutes, be out like a defunct light bulb.  Now, however, it seems like my legs and my neck are full of mad quantities of energy.  Both of my legs are twitching in a big enough way to make my cat shy away from them at night.  My neck twitches make my head go from one side to the other, and I'm wide awake.  Sometimes it happens juuuuust as I'm about to drift off.  Last night I tried to tire my legs out my purposefully wiggling my feet for a few minutes.

I am awake today, so I guess I got enough sleep-  I'd just rather not twitch myself into slumberland.  

I'll be talking to my nurse practitioner and/or surgeon on September 1st, so will see about this.  That said, has anyone else had these problems early on in their journey?  I feel like a marionette that's been carved out of wood from the cocoa plant! 

Pinocchio on PCP,

-LB

Iron deficiency can cause restless legs/periodic limb movement disorder, but sometimes they just occur randomly. Good idea to talk to your NP or doc about it. Neither RLS nor PLMD is particularly dangerous on its own, but they can shorten your sleep period and fragment your sleep.

Thank you, 4FurKids- 

I didn't know that about the iron deficiency.  I'm taking liquid iron on top of the multivitamin, but not sure if I'm taking enough.  (It says 1/4 of a teaspoon, and I have no idea how many drops that is.)  I'll probably up the iron to be safe, but obviously will talk to my doctor about it even if it's calmed down by the end of the month.

*nods*

Dancing in my sleep,

-LB

More water

Thank you, Kathysj-  I'll look into this, though I seem to be getting all my hydration in-  between 48-62 oz a day.  *nods*

H2O,

-LB

I have not had my surgery yet but both myself and my wife get this occasionally. I had no idea that it could be linked to iron deficiency. Both of us drink plenty of water with no less than 70 to 80oz a day.

Hi cc583,

Thanks for responding-  The fact that you and your wife get it without having had surgery makes me think it's not necessarily directly related.  We'll see what shakes up when I up my iron intake.  I, too, get all my water in, so who knows.  (Well, my doctor, but obviously I have to wait until I see him.)  Good luck with your surgery!  

Anticipation,

-LB

Thank you! Good luck with solving the twitching issue, hopefully your doc will have some good advice for you. I know it sucks!

Are you taking Zofran? Zofran caused my mouth and tongue to twitch uncontrollably when I was trying to fall asleep. It felt like they were possessed. I got no sleep the first night after surgery because of it. They stopped giving me Zofran the next day and it went away.

Hi Maria27,

No, they never gave me Zofran-  It sounds like you had a pretty awful experience with it!  I'm glad they took you off.  

Live and learn,

-LB