Sleep-Movement Disorders

You might feel the effects of a sleep-movement disorder soon after you lay your head on your pillow. Other times, your symptoms might happen when you’re already sound asleep. But no matter when you have them, the muscle aches, twitches and leg cramps can make it almost impossible to get comfortable, stay relaxed and get enough Zzs. And if you have a partner sleeping in the same bed as you, a sleep-movement disorder can make it hard for them to get enough rest, too.

Understanding your sleeping patterns and how your body relaxes to fall asleep is the first step in diagnosing a sleep-movement disorder. Often, we’ll do a sleep study so that we can keep a close eye on your heart rate, brain activity, blood pressure, blood oxygen level and muscle activity in your arms and legs. We may also record your sleep on video to compare your actual movements and how often you wake up in the middle of the night to those electronic signals we’ve recorded. You can take part in a sleep study at one of our sleep centers or in your home. You can also do it at night or during the day — whichever is easier for you and your work schedule.

These tests, along with a physical exam and a neurological exam, can help us see how often you wake up, how your body responds to sleep disruptions and what may be causing those disruptions. These tests also help us find out if you have any other underlying sleep-related conditions like sleep apnea that could increase your risk for sleep-movement disorders.

All these tests will give us the information we need to plan treatment that will help stop the sleep-movement disruptions from happening.

Types of Sleep-Movement Disorders We Treat at Cleveland Clinic

Sleep-movement disorders affect everyone differently. Some of them even overlap with each other and other types of sleep disorders. Among the most common are:

• Restless legs syndrome: This type of sleep-movement disorder causes uncomfortable or painful sensations in your arms or legs. It makes you want to get up and move around or stretch even when you’re ready to fall asleep.
• Periodic limb movements of sleep (PLMS): PLMS causes sudden leg or arm twitches, kicks or jerks during sleep — sometimes every 20 to 40 seconds — making it hard to sleep soundly. Often, these movements aren’t enough to wake you up, but they can disrupt your body’s ability to rest and recover, like sleep apnea.
• Leg cramps: Leg cramps can happen when you’re sleeping, forcing you awake suddenly and leave you feeling sore all night. They can happen every month and sometimes more often. These types of leg cramps put a lot of strain on your muscles.
• Parasomnias: This large group of sleep disorders (although not technically movement disorders) causes unwanted physical events or experiences that disrupt your sleep. They include things like night terrors, sleepwalking, sleep paralysis, rhythmic movement disorders (head banging and rocking) and REM sleep behavior disorder where you act out or vocalize your dreams often in aggressive or violent ways.

Meet Our Sleep-Movement Disorders Team

Cleveland Clinic’s team-based approach to care means you may have providers specializing in sleep disorders from different areas of medicine. Who you see will depend on your unique condition. Your team may include a variety of sleep specialists:

• Neurologists and neurophysiologists.
• Pulmonologists.
• Otolaryngologists (experts in sleep surgery and upper airway assessments).
• Psychiatrists and psychologists.
• Primary care providers, internists, pediatricians and family medicine providers.
• Nurse practitioners and physician assistants.
• Dentists (skilled in oral appliance therapy).
• Sleep technologists.

How we treat your sleep-movement disorder depends on how disruptive it is to your sleep and if you have any other health conditions that might be causing it. Sometimes, lifestyle and behavioral changes are enough. Your provider might recommend a specific exercise routine, a strict sleep-wake cycle or finding at-home remedies for relieving pain and discomfort. Meditation, yoga and cognitive behavioral therapy may also help.

Few sleep movement disorders require medical therapy. But in some cases, if your condition is severe or happens more often, your provider may recommend sedatives, muscle relaxers or antiseizure drugs. These medications can help manage your urge to move, calm the nerves in your legs and arms and relieve some of the pain and anxiety that come with sleep-movement disorders. For restless legs syndrome, however, your provider may prescribe oral iron supplements or even iron infusions.

Taking the Next Step

Not getting enough sleep because of a sleep-movement disorder can wreak havoc with your world. It can drain you both physically and mentally. With help from Cleveland Clinic’s sleep medicine specialists, you can rest easily knowing we have the experience and skill to figure out what’s causing you to move in your sleep. And we’ll craft a personalized treatment plan that will help turn your dreams about sleeping through the night into a happy reality.