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Leg jiggling

MyDoorsAreOpen

MyDoorsAreOpen

Bluelight Crew
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Aug 20, 2003
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Does anyone else here frequently find themselves jiggling their leg when they're forced to sit somewhere for long periods of time? Nothing I learned in anatomy or neurology mentioned this phenomenon. It's more or less a tremor, though it doesn't really fall under any of the formal categories of tremor. It involves skeletal (voluntary) muscle, but it's voluntariness is questionable -- I've many times been accused of creating an earthquake by people sharing a bench with me, and been fully unaware of it.

Leg jiggling is definitely a peripheral nervous system activity that serves central nervous system purposes. (i.e. it's a psychological coping mechanism). Does anyone know exactly what it accomplishes, neurologically?
 
I'm not really sure how to answer your question, but I jiggle my leg when sitting somewhere a LOT, I tend to get bitched at if I do it in the car especially. I was asked if I had a tic disorder by a psych doctor from watching me do it, so I'm kinda curious about this as well. I'm an excessive leg jiggler honestly :(
 
it sounds like a magnesium deficiency. im not sure of it on the psych level but that happens to me after i take most amphs.

would you consider the 'jiggle' to be more of a 'twitch'?
 
Haha, maybe it's 'restless legs syndrome'? No seriously, look that shit up on Wikipedia.

I do the same thing when I'm laying down, I always feel the need to twitch my legs, play with my feet, kick a little and fidget. I think it's just some form of hyperactivity or havin excess energy.
 
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Are you talking about shaking your leg up and down, like while still keeping your toes on the floor?

If that's what your talking about then I think it's cause by anxiousness/boredom. It can occur in someone who's fidgety and has a hard time sitting still. I used to do it all the time without even noticing it when I was in high school. Usually just because I couldn't be sitting in a desk alllll day.

If it's something other than what I described then it could be muscle spasms
 
I do this all the time, even in bed sometimes while I'm falling alseep. I do this when I'm into somthing, and when I'm bored as well. My father does this also and he's an accomplished Dr. of pysc. I think it's just a habit really.
 
Sounds like restlessness related to boredom, anxiety, adhd (or any of it's known subtypes), or akithisia.

I do this all the time, it's voluntary but helps to keep my spontaneous, excited, and/or restless mind at ease, or at least that's how I've come to understand it.

I suffer from at least one/all of the aforementioned afflictions 90% of the time.
 
oops. Meant to type 'restless', damn autocorrect. Reckless legs syndrome though, sounds like someone whose legs have a mind of their own
 
*facepalm to the replies here*

It's your body's natural way to keep your blood flow going to your legs when you've been sitting for a while.

When you sit for long periods of time, the amount of bloodflow to your legs decreases (since your legs are continuously bent and the weight of your body is keeping your legs like that and putting pressure on them). As a way to keep the blood flowing to your lower extremities, you either bounce your legs or shift your bodyweight to different areas of your asscheeks.

It's the same when you sit on the toilet. The pressure from your bodyweight on your arteries and veins slows bloodflow. You shift positions in response.
 
I do this all the time even right when I sit down, but I have always done it. I always thought maybe it was part of OCD which I do have to some degree. I also notices that I tap my fingers a lot, I do believe that it is tied in with anxiety. I don't really mind it, but I do hate anxiety/depression which I suffer from. For the people that do jiggle their legs do you also suffer from anxiety or depression issues?
 
As in moving it up and down? I do that a lot when not taking my methylphenidate.

I can get muscle tremor from working out. Especially right above my knees and in my shoulders. I consider these two different things, the first one being psychological and the second purely physical.
 
I do it on occasion but not "too much" I think.

It happens to me a lot when I use mdma. My friend said it had to do with magnesium deficiency. I started taking magnesium vitamins but haven't been doing it long enough to see if it works.
 
Simply_Live said:
*facepalm to the replies here*

It's your body's natural way to keep your blood flow going to your legs when you've been sitting for a while.

When you sit for long periods of time, the amount of bloodflow to your legs decreases (since your legs are continuously bent and the weight of your body is keeping your legs like that and putting pressure on them). As a way to keep the blood flowing to your lower extremities, you either bounce your legs or shift your bodyweight to different areas of your asscheeks.

It's the same when you sit on the toilet. The pressure from your bodyweight on your arteries and veins slows bloodflow. You shift positions in response.
Click to expand...

Makes sense, though I guess you could boil this idea down to just "stress" or "tension", similar to other stresses that could cause this.
 
I'm quite a fidgety person and tend to always do this. My mum has said it's the reason I find it impossible to gain any weight haha.



33Hz said:
Someone once told me it's a sign of sexual frustration.
Click to expand...

Sadly I think to an extent this can be true, I have two occasions in my memory when I've noticed uncontrollable leg spasming come on when talking to women (only noticeable to me, not really obvious but just enough for me to think 'what the...?') However, on both of these occasions I have been outside at night time very under dressed for the weather, so with that correlation it could have nothing to do with nerves or sexual frustration or perhaps it's a combination of coldness and nerves...
 
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