Weird sensation in one leg at night

[cynhash]

I started CPAP approximately a month ago.  Have noticed about every other night I wake up in the middle of the night with a sensation that is quite excruciating in the back of my upper thigh.  It feels like one would feel if they have lain on a hard object for many hours and then suddenly had that object pulled away like a bandage over a really tender wound.  I rub the spot and find that the entire upper thigh is painful but also without feeling at all (if that contradiction makes any sense).   It always happens when I've been lying on my back (until CPAP I had never slept on my back).  Recently I have noticed these sensations starting within 5-10 minutes of me lying in bed on my back, and I immediately turn to my side.  It is always ONLY in the left leg.  It feels like it is coming from a "knot" or something, but when I feel around the leg, I can never find a tender spot.   I am a female in her 50s with hypertension and hypercholesterolemia, but at last check no diabetes.  I have my own business that keeps sitting at a desk for hours on end, so I thought that may be part of the issue except that I have done that for years and only recently (since CPAP) has this been happening.  Sound familiar to anyone else out there?   It has me pretty concerned because when it happens, it is quite jolting and wakes me out of a sound sleep (and I'm a really sound sleeper).

[cynhash]

Sounds really plausible,especially the "stress" and "caffeine" part.  I drink a lot of iced tea right up to the time I go to bed.  I don't smoke and never have though.   I'm not diabetic, although my mother is and I did have it gestationally.  And stress?  I'm living with my young daughter maintaining a 2nd home away from husband so she can pursue preprofessional training and paying for it via a home business with 24-hour deadlines and in the face of EMR and international outsourcing an uncertain future.  This will be for at least the next year and possibly many more depending on how the ballet training goes.  'Nuf said.  I've already had the polysomnogram and will try to call my sleep doc in my home state on the hypopnogic seizure issue.  If I try to lie on the unaffected side, it seems okay.  I use the CPAP every single night through the entire night and find the mask intrusive, but the effects of CPAP extremely helpful otherwise.

While we're living in a different state for daughter's ballet, we only have medical insurance for a dire emergency (HMO from home state), so as long as I know it's not something that has lethal implications like DVT (or maybe neuro/spine issue that will knock me out of commission at a time when I simply cannot be out of commission), then I'm majorly relieved and can limp through (sorry -- clumsy pun) until I can see my appropriate docs when we return home for holidays.  In the meantime, I can fix the issue of caffeine, work on getting my weight back down to a reasonable level, and improve the quality of my diet, although I'm not exactly sure what I can do about some of the stressors under current circumstances.  

Thanks for your response.  I will let you know how it goes.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Two possibilities are there.It can be hypnogogic myoclonic seizures. Twitches while falling asleep are called hypnagogic myoclonus, myoclonus being any sort of involuntary muscle spasm and hypnagogic referring to sleep. It's not known exactly what causes the twitches, but they appear to be associated with anxiety and faint stimulus like noise.

Secondly,it can be restless leg syndrome. Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a disorder of the part of the nervous system that affects movements of the legs. Because it usually interferes with sleep, it also is considered a sleep disorder.
Sometimes restless leg syndrome can be caused by diabetes, iron deficiency anemia, Cigarette smoking, magnesium or Vit B12 deficiency.

Polysomnography (sleep testing) may be necessary to diagnose the sleep disturbances and determine if you have periodic limb movements

Try avoiding day time naps and pls don’t take any caffeine before bedtime. Try to sleep in a room where there is little noise and pls don’t feel stressful and anxious regarding every day’s worries just before bedtime. You can try meditation for stress and if the condition does not improve then you can take some mild sedatives.

Hope it helps.Take care and pls do keep me posted in case of any additional queries and how you are doing.