Creepy Crawly sensation
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November 17, 2011 at 8:47 am
Hi everyone,
Does anyone have a good remedy other than taking medication to help me with the creepy-crawly sensation I am feeling in my legs at night? It is keeping me awake. I really would love it if someone had some advise for something over the counter or tips to get through the night. I would perfer not to have to take sleep pills or a prescription unless it gets worse. I don’t want side effects from more meds. I have tried meditating and going somewhere else in my mind…it helps a bit but I still lay awake and can’t fall asleep. Not a lot of pain associtated with it, just weird sensation that there are worms or bugs crawling under my skin! -
November 17, 2011 at 2:10 pm
Sorry, but I can’t think of anything OTC that I’ve tried that worked for me. Hopefully someone else has had better luck and can offer you an alternative. My wife has had some success with quinine but that was for leg cramps. Quinine can have some serious side effects so please do some research if you are thinking of using it.
Again, sorry I couldn’t be more helpful.
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November 30, 2011 at 3:55 pm
i’m not diagnosed at this point- but CIDP is a possiblity (Lumbar puncture in the morning). I have a hard time sleeping – well getting to sleep is no problem, but the night time sensation of my limbs falling asleep wakes me up. I tried benadryl, but I also have fasiculations, that made those worse, it helped me sleep at first though. I am now taking lyrica and am very happy with it, I can tell the second it wears off in the day (it makes me too sleepy to take it in the morning so I just take it at night), the need to crawl out of my own skin sensation comes back full force, so come nighttime i’m so excited to take it and have a break from that sensation. Good luck! Hope that helps!
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November 30, 2011 at 4:21 pm
If it gets worse I will probably have to try Lycra. But I am trying to stay off as many drugs as possible at this point and try and deal without. I am afraid of all the weird side effects associated with todays batch on ‘newer drugs’. For now I try to take my mind off of the sensation and go elsewhere in my mind. It has done the trick so far but who knows how long. Thanks.
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November 30, 2011 at 7:48 pm
I think we had the big discussion awhile back on the forum about a bar of Ivory soap for restless legs. Hubby tried it and said it helped. Snopes says the jury is still out on whether it works or not. Interesting to read all the articles about it though.
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November 30, 2011 at 9:34 pm
I completely understand! I went almost three months of waking up every 15 minutes or so EVERY night before I gave in to a prescription medicine, I needed sleep badly! Good luck! Laurel- interesting about Ivory soap!!!
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December 1, 2011 at 4:40 am
Sometimes I find overstimulation helps… it’s not so much that my legs have that creepy crawly feeling, it’s that it’s not consistent, not all in the same places or at the same time – that’s what wakes me up, that feeling coming out of the blue. So sometimes if I’ve been a few nights without sleep I’ll take some lotion, put in a few drops of peppermint oil and rub it into my lower legs. The peppermint stimulates the nerves so I’ve got a few minutes of 😮 but then pretty much wherever the peppermint is the sensations are consistently cool and buzzing, rather than randomly itchy, creepy crawly. It doesn’t always work but it’s better than banging your head against the wall. :rolleyes:
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December 2, 2011 at 8:28 pm
For the ceaseless cramping/spasms/fasiculations I have tried everything and everything:
*sticking my feet straight up in the air (looks as ridiculous as it sounds and while it amuses my 3 teenaged sons, it does nothing for the pain)
*Voltaren gel – prescription – is a gel that many diabetics use for the nerve pain in their feet. I have used it on my legs, feet, hands and arms (up to the elbow). It does help turn the burning/pain down a notch or two but certainly does not get rid of it.
*hot packs x 10 wrapped (with a towel wrapped tighter on top of them) on every part of my burning, screaming body. Makes my nurse feel better but doesn’t take the pain away. It does soothe my soul, however.
*medicines: thank goodness we are not living in pioneer times. Take the medicine that is available to you and prescribed by your doctor. A lot of people spent years developing them to help us. Then try to get a good night sleep and be thankful you are not born 100 years ago.
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