What gives a human the bed-time zoomies?

May 21, 2023 9:37 AM

When a friend of mine is trying to fall asleep, they suddenly feel that all of their joints hurt and need to be moved. They get some relief if they do a bunch of wiggling, stretching, and popping some of their joints. Any ideas?

If you have this experience, has anyone identified the problem for you? What helps the most? This comes and goes, and I'm also encouraging them to see a doctor.

posted by do puppets wear socks? to Health & Fitness (14 answers total)

Doesn’t seem like a problem to me - unless they experience it as one? I have this feeling if I haven’t exercised or stretched that day, or had enough physical activity.

How old are they?
posted by amaire at 9:41 AM on May 21, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Sounds like a generalized version of restless legs syndrome:

Restless legs syndrome (RLS), also known as Willis–Ekbom disease (WED), is generally a long-term disorder that causes a strong urge to move one's legs.[2][8] There is often an unpleasant feeling in the legs that improves somewhat by moving them.[2] This is often described as aching, tingling, or crawling in nature.[2] Occasionally, arms may also be affected.[2] The feelings generally happen when at rest and therefore can make it hard to sleep.[2] Due to the disturbance in sleep, people with RLS may have daytime sleepiness, low energy, irritability and a depressed mood.[2] Additionally, many have limb twitching during sleep.[9] RLS is not the same as habitual foot-tapping or leg-rocking.[10]

Risk factors for RLS include low iron levels, kidney failure, Parkinson's disease, diabetes mellitus, rheumatoid arthritis, pregnancy and celiac disease.[2][4][11] A number of medications may also trigger the disorder including antidepressants, antipsychotics, antihistamines, and calcium channel blockers.[5] There are two main types.[2] One is early-onset RLS which starts before age 45, runs in families and worsens over time.[2] The other is late-onset RLS which begins after age 45, starts suddenly, and does not worsen.[2] Diagnosis is generally based on a person's symptoms after ruling out other potential causes.[6]

posted by jamjam at 10:13 AM on May 21, 2023 [6 favorites]

I have an autoimmune condition that involves having inflammation around the joints, and I definitely need to do some moving and resettling when I go from being upright to lying down - mostly in my ankles and knees. It is usually a one-and-done thing, unlike RLS - I just have to stretch and wiggle and let things crackle until the fluid is redistributed or whatever. Not sure if that quite applies here, but it might be worth considering in the context of other joint pain or generalized achiness.
posted by restless_nomad at 10:26 AM on May 21, 2023 [2 favorites]

I have this too, and I’m pretty sure it’s restless leg syndrome. I’ve always been baffled by the leg emphasis when it’s whole body for so many people. Cannabis helps me fall asleep immediately so that things like tinnitus and RLS don’t bother me very much or for long.
posted by wheatlets at 10:32 AM on May 21, 2023 [3 favorites]

Sounds like RLS to me as well. Your friend can try magnesium supplements to see if it helps.
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:58 AM on May 21, 2023 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I’m neurodivergent and when I lie in bed, all the movements that my body wants to do and I haven’t listened to during the day because I’ve been focusing on non-body things, rise to the surface of my awareness and I can’t fall asleep until I shake them out.
posted by matildaben at 11:05 AM on May 21, 2023 [10 favorites]

Yup, sounds like RLS. Iron and magnesium make a world of difference for me. Your friend should get a basic blood-work panel if at all possible. If I take daily iron supplements, I can sleep like a normal person. If I skip a few days, I'll toss and turn for hours, even when I've had loads of physical activity in the day and am utterly exhausted.
posted by Mournful Bagel Song at 11:48 AM on May 21, 2023 [2 favorites]

Not neurodivergent (or only marginally so) but I have a similar experience to matildaben - it's like sometimes when I lie down to sleep it's the first time I've checked in with my body all day.
posted by mskyle at 12:27 PM on May 21, 2023 [4 favorites]

I got into a somewhat regular habit of yoga and magnesium before bed to deal with a similar problem - search for evening yoga or yoga for sleep. I like a particular video by a guy on YouTube, Move with James, but anything in that zone could help!
posted by punchtothehead at 12:49 PM on May 21, 2023

I get this too, and seconding bedtime yoga. Just 10-15 minutes will usually settle it down for me.

If I'm active enough during the day, as well, I usually can skip the evening yoga and be fine.
posted by bearette at 2:53 PM on May 21, 2023

I only recently connected anti-depressants to my occasional restless legs. Magnesium helps with muscle cramps and has helped some with sleep and restlessness. at low doses, it's safe. The supplement I have is a giant pill, so I cut it in half or quarters, and that seems a useful amount. A nighttime shower helps some, too.
posted by theora55 at 5:38 PM on May 21, 2023

Our youngest sibling has EDS and pretty much any change in position, but especially sitting to standing and standing to laying involves a lot of creaking, popping, and realigning.
posted by joycehealy at 8:32 PM on May 21, 2023

I've discovered that my RLS is connected to how much sugar/simple carbs I have in the evening, and is alleviated by magnesium (or not eating sugary/simple carbs food in the evening). The explanation I've been given by someone with a recent MS in nutrition (that I have probably mangled here) is that magnesium helps the body regulate the nervous system, but if there's a large influx of sugars, it often takes the magnesium to deal with that, and if you don't have enough in your body, it gets directed away from the nervous system. So supplementing helps.

I also get RLS to a ridiculously high degree from meclizine.
posted by telophase at 2:55 PM on May 22, 2023

Wriggling is how we instinctively burrow into the bedding we sleep in - you see other animals animals do this too, birds that turn around twice to make a hollow in the dust before they tuck their head under their wing, or the way cats with knead their bedding.

The instinct to wriggle deeper before we fall asleep is like the instinct to groom. It goes very, very deep and it is also comforting and a way to reduce anxiety. People also wriggle when they are touch starved. If you are not getting held you may start seeking deep pressure by pressing yourself hard against a mattress or rolling around in the bedding pulling them tighter and tighter around you. It can help you fall asleep.

It's instinctive to wriggle and stop wriggling when you find the spot that is free from draughts, or find the cool side of the pillow or get into the warm spot next to the sleeping parent whose body heat will keep you alive. A four month old baby is like a heat seeking missile. If you let it sleep in the bed with you in a cold room it's going to manage to find you if you aren't actively holding it. It has an instinct to plaster itself against you. This is why you don't sleep with a baby, because even if you leave a safe difference between you and it, it is going to start squirming closer.

With restless leg syndrome the circulation in the feet may be poor enough that there are metabolic by products that need to be removed. Think of the lactic acid you produce when your muscles work. It's got to be carried away to the liver to be reconverted into glucose. If there is a lot of it in your feet and legs because your circulation is crummy or you spent the day on your feet or sitting down, wriggling gets it started on that journey. Massaging your feet can make it easier to fall asleep if you have restless leg syndrome.

In short, they are acting on a healthy instinct. Gentle exercise like yoga before bed might cut down on the restless wriggling time. The pain may be because of increased circulation when they finally lie down. Numbness may be going away revealing the pain, or there be fluids moving at last that are trying to pass through inflamed tissue.

If it bothers them they should talk to a doctor about it. If there is pain it is good to get a diagnosis. Popping joins sounds like it is likely to be joint, ligament or cartilage related. They might also consider an anti-inflammatory twenty minutes before bedtime. If they once had or still have more than average flexibility, it would be worth going over a checklist for Ehlers-Danlos, but in any case they should investigate if they have arthritis.
posted by Jane the Brown at 8:34 PM on May 22, 2023