How bad is this ......

T

toastythemosty

Cathlete
O.k., this might sound like a dumb question, but I have been cutting off my circulation to either my arms or legs alot while fast asleep. I wake up in the middle of the night and wonder where my arm or leg is since I don't have feeling in it. I have no idea how long I have slept in a position with the circulation cut off so I am wondering what harm there is when this happens, if any.

Charlotte~~
 
I am not a Dr. but I think this if fairly common. If when you start moving your arm or leg around and you don't get the "tingles" then I might want to have it checked out. Otherwise use an extra pillow or body pillow to lay on and see if that helps.


HTH

Kim
 
Don't know, but I sometimes have the same problem with my hands. Only it happens while I'm still awake. It just depends on how I'm laying, and sometimes I'm not really putting pressure on my arms at all. It's weird.
 
This reminds me of a true story.

Believe it or not, it's very bad. The feeling "where is my arm" or "my arm feels really, really heavy" is lactic acid build up. About 11 years ago when I took my fitness exams, we had a talk from a guy with one arm, he told us how he lost it. He got a little drunk one night, fell asleep (due to the drink he didn't wake up) and was laying on his arm, which caused it to lose circulation, long story short, he lost his arm. Circulation was cut for too long. Now must of us when we fall asleep on our arm(s) etc… we wake up, out body lets us know something is wrong, but for him, due to drink, he never woke up. Sad story. But also true.
 
Charlotte:

do not worry. It is not bad. The moral of Wayne's story is that excessive drink is bad.

I would say 4 mornings out of 7 I wake up and have to shake my hand, one of them, back into feeling because it has gone to sleep. No-one is telling me that I'm about to lose a hand.

If your circulation is that compromised, you will feel it and your brain will wake you up.

Clare
 
I have to make sure I sleep with my arms and legs not touching each other or my arms or hands under my head. It's been this way since I was very young. My arms and legs fall asleep easily. I used to keep my alarm clock on a dresser away from my bed so I had to walk to get to it because I had the habit of turning it off in my sleep and going back to sleep. One morning I shot out of bed to turn it off and immediately fell to the floor because my whole leg was asleep!
 
I will wake up up with one or both arms fast asleep from having them above my head for too long...that is fun to try to get them down to "revive" them. lol But I never thought that I would lose a limb from it...I think that would only be in an extreme case such as the one Wayne described....

~Wendy~

I smoked my last cigarette on March 17, 2004 at 10:00 pm!

http://lilypie.com/days/050519/1/0/1/-5/.png[/img]
EDD: 05/19/05
 
Yeah, Wayne...your freaking us out!!! :) Arm still doesn't feel quite 100% yet even from 7 hours ago, but don't think I will lose it. I am glad you did share the story with us...another reason not to drink to get drunk!

Charlotte~~;-)
 
Okay, Wayne's story is pretty freaky.

But, my limbs fall asleep ALL the time. The only position I can sleep in without some part of my body losing feeling is on my back, which is like the least comfortable position (at least for me). So I am a very tossy-turny sleeper. I'll sleep on one side, and that leg and arm will fall asleep, so then I'll flip over and THAT leg and arm will fall asleep... it's a truly vicious cycle. But, I'm happy to say that I still have all of my limbs and they are all okay, except for CTS in my right wrist, for which I now wear a wrist brace when I sleep so circulation to my hand is never compromised. I would think it would be pretty rare to lose a limb from sleeping on it too long. The moral is - don't drink and sleep. LOL!
 
I had a massage therapist say that massage can help this. She told me the muscles in my neck/shoulder were too tight thus restricting blood flow. You might want to give it a try.

Wayne, it's good to see you posting again! Thanks for the freaky story!:) I knew there was a reason I don't get drunk!

Trish
 
This happens to me once and again. I will wake up and something is "asleep." Sometimes I notice later int heday that the arm might be a little sore, etc., but it goes away. I think that you should just keep track of it and if you see a pattern, mention it to the doc. Usually, though, I don't think this is something to worry about.
 
Wayne's story is a good warning, but I wouldn't worry about, say, a glass of wine or two being enough to cause a problem. That guy was probably essentially passed out. And no, it's never a good idea to pass out. :+
 
Sorry people. Let me state that DRINK was the problem here. Because of this state (drink induced) he was not able to wake up when the rest of us would be, and hence, lost circulation, and lost his arm. But a glass of wine, or two, is not going to make you lose a limb, honest. It just reminded me of a story i heard a long, long time ago.

I often wake up with a dead arm, and think, OMG, cause it feels like lead, but pretty soon its make to normal.

Sorry to scare everyone.
 
There are only so many sheep a man can have in his life before he seeks the company of others. Bahhhhh Bahhhhhh Bahhhhhh

Thanks ladies :)
 
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