Ever get "the Jimmies"?

[Hogarth]

It's when your leg twitches uncontrollably right around bedtime. I hate when that happens. I like to think *I'm* in charge of my legs.

The only cure is sleep, I think ... or shock therapy.

[eileen from OH]

1. No, but I've gotten the "willies"

usually when someone posts anything about the sexual attraction of Donald Rumsfeld.

eileen from OH

[Hogarth]

3. Oh, man ...

... that gives me the heebie-jeebies!

Time for bed; this I know ... because my leg tells me so.

[eileen from OH]

9. Hmmm, okay we've got

the "jimmies"
the "willies"
the "heebie jeebies"

all of which sum up our thoughts on the Repubs!

WE NEED AN ACRONYM ---- The JWHJs!

Go to bed, Hogarth. Perchance to dream, hopefully not with shaking appendages.

eileen from OH

[Bolo Boffin]

2. I thought you put jimmies on ice cream cones!

Who knew?

[Tripper11]

4. Wow! I'm not the only one!?!?!?!?

It happens to be when I am particularly tired. Usually I am trying to stay up to watch the end of some program or becasue if I went to bed I would be up too early.

[ronzo]

5. Yessir... the jimmies, the willies and the joneses.

they happen.

[Maddy McCall]

6. Lack of potassium?

Could that be it?

[LastKnight]

7. i just seem to get them randomly...

but i had a few knee injuries from soccer awhile back... nothing that ever required surgery, just minor stuff but its taken its toll, i can tell when the barometric preasure changes (the old feel the weather in the bones stuff) now and i know im going to have problems when im older. it just uncontrollably shakes. i cant really stop it, i just put my hand on it and hold it down and hope no one notices. anyone else think thiers is due to prior knee injuries?

-LK

[Bundbuster]

12. I had 3 knee operations 30 years ago...

and get that twitch/shake occasionally. I've always chalked it up to nerve damage (there's increasing numbness too), which I think the surgeons warned might occur.

[haele]

8. A lot of times, shaking (and sudden sharp aches) is caused by

lack of potassium. Eat more bananas and sweet potatoes! Temporary dehydration can also cause the shakes in the extremities.
Another issue can be that there something pressing against your sciatic nerve cluster, your femoral nerve, or there's something wonky with your lower back that will manifest itself when you're laying down (or sitting for long periods of time). If you are a cubicle rat or someone who sits a lot during the day, it's possible that there might be issues with your lower back.
If that's the case, use a lower back roll to keep your spine from constantly compressing at that point, and try getting a body pillow so that your knees will be bent and your lower back supported as you go to sleep. Also, do a short 2 or 3 minutes of stretching activity -while standing up up, bend forward, gently shake the shoulders and relax the arms, raise your arms, bend (lean) backwards, then relax and shake again - before you go to bed.

I've been there and am still "doing that" - I've got enough herniation in my L3/L2 that it affects my right leg at inopportune times (like when perching on a ladder running cable or driving around for any period of time) - but not enough to need surgery. As my therapist says, if you're feeling the pain in your lower legs, that's a worse sign than when you feel it in your back.

Good luck

Haele

[TeeYiYi]

10. My parents . . .

. . . drink a can of Ensure before bed to keep nighttime leg cramps away. Now I've started the same routine and it works. (I don't mind the taste of vanilla Ensure.) I think it's the calcium and potassium that helps to stop the cramping.

TYY

[camero]

11. No, but I get the willies

It's when your thingie twitches right around bedtime. Oh God, not again. :silly: