Tingling/Ticklish Feet Trying To Fall Asleep?

I've had a similar problem and I also have RLS and I'm fairly sure there's no direct relation between the two.

With me, I don't know if you'd quite call it tickling, but it's the feeling as if someone is trying to scrape something like the point of a cocktail stick under the nails of my toes – not hard enough to draw blood, but just so as to be almost infinitely annoying. I had it as a child of under ten years, I had it in my fifties and I've had a touch of it in my sixties. Fortunately, for the events in my sixties, I've had the odd tranquillizer and/or sleeping pill to help resolve the issue.

If you find or get told the medical, neurological or psychological term for the condition, please let us know.

Hi Kyle,

That must be very annoying for you!

I quite agree you probably don't have diabetes, but I still think it wouldn't be a bad idea to see your doctor, and maybe get some general blood work done. Everyone needs to do that occasionally, just to make sure all is in order.

I have that tingling thing in my hands and feet sometimes, so I can sympathise. But in my case it's peripheral neuropathy, which is one of the known symptoms of an auto-immune condition I've had for the past 20 years. The likelihood of a young man having a similar condition is negligible.

I do occasionally have bouts of RLS as well, especially when I'm a bit stressed or anxious. I agree it's a completely different thing, but I suspect it might be possible to deal with it in the same way. When I get the urge to move my legs in bed, I stop myself moving for as long as I possibly can, till the urge is so overwhelming I can't resist and have to move. I find that by repeatedly doing this, I can gradually overcome the sensation. These attacks only last a few nights at a time, then I go back to normal for a few months (till the next time I get anxious about something!)

If you're really desperate, it might help to try an over-the-counter antihistamine. But it has to be one of the first-generation histamines - the older kind that make you sleepy, not the modern ones that claim not to have any sedative effect. The three that I know about are promethazine (Phenergan), chlorphenamine (Piriton) and diphenhydramine (Benadryl). The names in brackets are the European brand names, which might be different if you're elsewhere in the world.

But a word of warning. These medications aren't addictive, but you can quickly develop tolerance to them, just like sleeping pills, and they'll soon stop working in a couple of weeks if you take them every night. They should only be taken for a maximum of 3 consecutive nights, and only once or twice a month. The idea is to break the pattern of anxiety about sleeping for a couple of nights, which is often enough to solve the problem.

If you go for antihistamines, you need to take the dose about an hour before going to bed. They're not sleeping pills and take a while to make you sleepy. If you wait till bedtime you'll be awake for an hour or so waiting for them to work, by which time you'll be so anxious they won't work anyway! Start with the smallest possible dose and never take a second dose later in the night, however desperate you feel. Although these meds only have a mild sedative effect they can still make you feel pretty groggy and hungover the next morning if they're taken too late in the night. This is particularly important if you're driving yourself to school (which I believe is fairly common in the US for young people your age).

To summarise: get a medical check-up, but it doesn't sound as if you have anything to worry about. This is far more likely to be a transient problem due to mild anxiety.

I thought I was the only to suffer from this! What you describe is exactly what I have! I can fall asleep on the settee day or night whilst watching tv without any problem but as soon as I go to bed it starts, like you I get pretty angry to the point that sleep is impossible. The only way I can describe it is it feels like I have to "scrunch" my feet up and it then returns immediately! It's a weird sensation that only comes when I'm about to sleep. Did you ever get an answer to this problem?

I get the exact same thing, what I find that helps is avoiding drinks with caffeine or energy drinks. Every night that I have a Pepsi with dinner or a coffee in the afternoon it accrues.

I have this and it's maddening. I clench or press hard under one foot with the other. Or I get up and walk. Nothing really helps til sleep. It does seem to happen in cycles. Sometimes spraying icy hot type stuff helps a bit. My latest theory is that it happens when I eat a bunch of sweets in the evening, but that's probably not it. My husband has restless legs and it seems like he describes, but in my feet. I hate this

Hi,

I am facing similar problem from last seven years and i have only found one solution to this. Not sure if this will help everyone.

This ticklish sensations mostly occurs at night. So my only solution is to wash my feet with soap twice or thrice before i sleep. After washing just wear your sleepers and avoid walking bare foot.

Also after washing feet, while you are trying to sleep, let your feet dry before wearing blanket because even a small particle on your feet can cause this sensation.

I have been practicing this from past 5 years and washing feet really helps.

Hi, I have the same issue, what I do, I wash my feet before sleeping and apply some moisturizer or coconut oil on my feet and it works. You can try.

i have tickly feet at night really badly. i havebfound magnesium or magnesium acetate helps. when I don't have access to that sometimes lotion with socKS helps. it's awful!!!!