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I used to be able to get to sleep in 5 minutes flat, but lately(Around when I turned 13) I've found that whenever I try to relax, my toes will start to tingle, and twitch involuntary. I am worried about it(Which might be part of the problem) but it's becoming extremely irritating. Have any of you had similar problems? I could really use some help.
occasional muscle twitches are very normal at sleep onset. If it becomes excessive, it might be a sign of restless leg syndrome.
You might consider checking if you are depleted of iron, magnesium or zinc, maybe reduce daytime stress.
Raipat made a very informative (and correct) post, take his advice. Definitely eliminate other possibilities first and take the supplements he suggested in case you are deficient. However, when one reaches adolescence, their biological clock changes in such a way that they cannot go to sleep (or have great difficulty) until late at night... iirc it's somewhere like midnight. When you become an adult (if you go by the age the brain is finished developing, 25 or so) you have the same issue, only the time moves back to more like 10pm. For this reason a lot of people make very valid arguments that middle school and high school shouldn't begin early in the day (middle school was 7 am for me, high school was 8 am), rather a time more like 9 or 9:30 am is better for health and a students ability to perform their best cognitively.Quote:
Originally Posted by EmbraceTheLazy
As far as twitching being something normal on sleep onset, Raipat is right again. One pretty common example is a called a hypnic jerk (or myoclonic jerk, it's technically a form of myoclonus either way, but hypnic is technically more specifically relating to when it happens at the onset of sleep). Myoclonus, according to wikipedia: "Myoclonus is a brief, involuntary twitching of a muscle or a group of muscles". So, you likely don't have anything to worry about, unfortunately it still might be annoying if you can't get it resolved. Restless leg syndrome is pretty noticeable, so even without being a doctor you ought to be able to determine (and have a high chance of being right) if you actually suffer from it. Most people that claim to have RLS just feel somewhat restless. People with RLS have the legitimate incapability to not be constantly moving their legs. It is technically closely related to what is called akathisia, which is characterized by the compulsive need to be constantly moving (rocking, fidgeting like mad, etc.). I thought the two might be the same thing, but I couldn't find an answer when I looked it up just now (I didn't look too hard), but it seems that, if there is a difference, akathisia is most likely to be a side-effect of (or the lack of) a drug, whereas RLS doesn't depend on that.
A supplement that might help you besides what Raipat mentioned is melatonin. It's a hormone that is produced in the brain when you are in an absence of blue light (blue light refers to a wavelength of light that is similar to sunlight). It can help you feel a bit sleepy (nothing too strong), and personally it makes my limbs feel kind of heavy in the sort of way that they are relaxed and don't feel like moving much. It might not necessarily make you feel sleepy either, but it typically still helps you to drift off to sleep.
Thanks guys, this was really helpful.:goodjob2: