REMBD and Neurodegenerative Disorders

"You're probably gonna be okay, but lets run a bunch of expensive tests to make sure. Oh, and you should buy all these pills were selling too."

My girlfriend has been getting pissed because I keep waking her up a 5 am kicking my legs around. She's mad that I won't go to the doctor for RLS. I told her that I know it ain't RLS but I'm not sure what it is.I've been kinda trying to figure out whats going on...I have a hard time with the whole loosing consciousness part of sleeping, like I can lay there for a while all ready to be sleeping and motionless with eyes closed and just not loose consciousness. Plus, I'm awoken fairly easily depending on the noise and if its strange or not (I remember my uncle commenting about it when I was a kid over there for a sleep-over and he woke me up with the sound from his socks rubbing on the carpet as he walked by the couch I was sleeping on, I remember it being a new noise and had to wake up and turn to look what it was even though the decible level had to be minimal, he's all: "Man, you're a light sleeper!")I've noticed that sometimes when I'm falling asleep I'll start dreaming before my body becomes paralyzed and then I'll swing my arm out in bed to stop something in the dream. Or I've been startled awake by an actual real sensation of falling when I was dreaming that I fell (you know when its real when you're heart starts racing). I don't ever talk or get out of bed though. I tried unsuccessfully to induce lucid dreaming (making a point to identify sleeping cues.. actually, if you've never heard of this its kinda neat: Pick a common activity as your cue... say: getting into the car. Everytime you get into the car, make a point to question whether your dreaming or not, really question it for real and try to determine that you are or are not in fact dreaming. You'll get into a habit and then if you get into a car in your dream, you'll question whether you're dreaming and can figure out that you are. Then you get to have all the fun you want to. Problem for me was that everytime I realized that I was dreaming, I would wake up )Okay, where was I...Sometimes in the morning I kinda wake up and have noticed that I just was twiching my leg or moving and flopping a bit and I do think its a reaction to a dream. ( I've never heard of the REM-BD before, but I think I might be on to something now. So thanks for sharing! )Anyways.... Also one morning I was already slightly awake around 5 am and then I noticed that the birds started chirping outside. I think that when I'm sleeping, the birds chirping at 5 am wakes me up just enough to loose the paralysis enough that when I'm reacting to dreams my legs actualyl start moving in the bed.Have you noticed any correlation between how heavily your sleeping and how much moving around or talking your doing? I feel like I only move either at the start or the end of the sleep but not during the middle.You said you don't want pills, but both diphenhydramine (benadryl) and melatonin have worked at making me sleep more heavily... heh "I took NyQuil once... woke up and had a beard" was that Mitch Hedburg?
I've heard the melatonin gives you nightmares though, and benadryl can dry you out a bit. I don't take anything everynight, but I think those do cut back on the "RLS". Maybe you could try something like that and see if it makes you react less. Equate brand Diphenhydramine is way cheaper than the Benadryl brand by the way.(sorry for the random thoughts thrown together, I've been typing this while doing other things and heavily editing and just slapping it together)

The thing about the REMBD that really stuck out was the arm/leg movement and I don't see that in the insomnia. Isolated cases can be caused by all kinds of crap including just caffiene or some anxiety or something. Yeah, I'm betting there's some genetics involved too. Yikes, I'm definately avoiding that at this place in my life I already know that I'm lazy and filthy. I've never "slipped between" but the sensation I get that leads to the waking does seem to stemm from fear. You're right, its like you're afraid that your gonna wake up, so then you do wake up. So, like me, you experiece it more at the beginning or end than the middle... You say: " as my awareness of being asleep grows, the depth of my sleep lessens", but maybe its visa versa: as the depth lessens your awareness grows. Eh? Just a thought...I was thinking about it, and realizing that the REM sleep is in the middle and my problems are on the ends makes me think it might have nothing todo with this REMBD... but then again, maybe it has something to do with the transiltion to REM. Any clue? I haven't read much yet. Awe man, I just love smokin' weed. I quit though, 'cause I'd rather have a good job. Which pisses me off that that is even a decision I have to make. But that's another story. Why? How old are you? (I'm 30) You're welcome. Best of luck.

Ever try Ranitidine? The off brand stuff is cheap and I find it to be really effective.