What makes your feet fall asleep?
155675
This is definitely a strange sensation -- you get up out of your seat, and all you feel from one foot is an uncomfortable tingling. Or you wake up in the middle of the night, and you can't move your arm at all. And then, as your body part "wakes up," the strange tingling intensifies. Just what is going on here?\n\nUsually, you feel this familiar sensation after you've been putting pressure on part of our body -- sitting on a foot, sleeping on an arm, etc. When you apply this pressure for a prolonged period of time, you actually cut off communication from your brain to parts of your body. The pressure squeezes nerve pathways so that the nerves can't transmit electrochemical impulses properly. Nerve impulses carry sensation information from nerve endings in the body to the brain, as well as instructions from the brain to the parts of the body. When you interfere with this transfer by squeezing the nerve pathways, you don't have full feeling in that body part, and your brain has trouble telling the body part what to do.\n\nThis pressure can also squeeze arteries, stopping them from carrying nutrients to body cells. Without these nutrients, the nerve cells may behave abnormally, which can further interfere with communicating bodily sensations.\n\nDue to both these factors, the information transmitted from the body part becomes somewhat jumbled, and the brain receives strange messages. Some nerve cells don't transmit any information and others start sending impulses erratically. This causes you to feel a strange tingling sensation, which actually serves an important function. Your foot falling asleep for 10 minutes doesn't pose any health threat, but if you were to cut off circulation for an extended period of time -- several hours -- you could suffer serious nerve damage. The initial tingling sensation tells you that you might want to readjust your position.\n\nOnce you do move your foot, stretch your legs, or roll over off your arm, the nerve impulses begin to flow properly again. You don't regain feeling right away, however. There is a certain amount of re-adjustment time before the nerves transmit impulses correctly again. This increases the intensity of the tingling, causing the familiar "pins and needles" sensation.\n\nIf this has ever happened to you, you know that there are actually a few distinct sensations you go through as your body part "wakes up." The tingling may be followed by a more uncomfortable burning sensation, before your body part finally returns to normal. This happens because the nerves in your body are made up of separate long nerve cells that carry different sorts of impulses. These nerve fibers have different surrounding structures. Some nerve fibers have thicker "insulation" around them and so take longer to begin transmitting impulses properly after they've been squeezed. The fibers that transmit pain and temperature information are relatively thin, so you feel the tingling situations pretty quickly. Motor control fibers are thinner than the ones carrying touch information, so you can move the body part before you've regained complete feeling in it. Eventually, all the nerve fibers return to normal and you regain full use of the sleeping body part.
665060
It's called a myclonic jerk. \nThis term denotes a common experience with  sudden contractions of the big body muscles while falling asleep. This mostly causes a feeling of stumbling,  falling or similar and subsequently  waking up again.  The exact  cause  is not  known, it probably  is   some disturbance in the brain's functions  in the first  stage of sleep.  Surely it is common, and does not cause serious problems unless it  stops you from sleeping (but then you have general sleeping problems as well).
1095226
It's because when you're still for too long your circulation(blood flow through body) slows way down and doesn't get all through your extremities (arms and legs) properly.  That's what makes you feel kinda tingly. That's your body's way of telling you it's had enough of the computer chair and would like to go to bed.  Or get up and do some aerobics!
551582
I do. I guess it's kind of like a nice little cocoon. I fall asleep that way but tend to pull the blanket off while i sleep. And while i like to fall asleep with the covers over my head, I also keep my feet uncovered.
619693
I hate when that happens.\n\nMost likely you just slept on it wrong, cutting off the circulation somewhat, causing your leg to "fall asleep".\nJust do a little wiggly jumpy dance and it'll get the blood flowing back to it again .
841720
Lack of sleep is one cause.
276698
Try drinking milk before going to bed sometimes that helps me.  Also, it might be Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) you should mention it to your doctor.  There might be something s/he can do to help.
330842
that is your body's reminder to you that you need to move!\n\nusually when that happens, there is a loss of blood circulation from that area, and it "falls asleep." it's a painful reminder sent to us by our muscle tissue that it needs oxygen!
756855
If you're trying to fall asleep, I suggest Benadryl, also called diphenhydramine.  It's an antihistamine which causes sleepiness.  Take one capsule about 1/2 hour before you go to bed.\n\nIf you're trying to pass out because you can't deal with your life, I suggest you get help.  Seriously.
405807
Lack of sleep or nutrition. Ask your doctor.
137633
It's kind of a chain reaction, and it depends partly on your metabolism. If you have a low metabolism, then you're probably more prone to being tired, and the more you sleep the more in a rut you're getting. You need to exercise and get your body active. But it's also a mental thing; if you're relaxing too much, you'll start to get used to that and not feel the desire to be more active.\n\nJust let me know if you need something to keep you awake. I'll be right over!
923423
you can try to keep your feet elevated when you have time to sit or lay. you can soak them in warm water or try massage when possible, good luck
1146388
Could be caused by water retention. Don't drink too much water right before you go to sleep. Stack up up ur pillows so your head is placed higher than your feet.
43418
Numbness is a complete loss of feeling when you touch your skin. It may feel like the part you touch does not belong to you. Tingling is a pins-and-needles feeling that occurs when your foot "falls asleep." An occasional, slight tingling in a foot that lasts only briefly is not generally cause for concern. It is relatively common among bicyclists who ride long distances to develop numbness in the feet for a few minutes to an hour. This often occurs because of tight toe-clip straps. The problem may be prevented by loosening the straps or switching to a step-in shoe-pedal.\n\nMany conditions may cause numbness, tingling, burning, or stinging.\n\nNumbness, tingling, burning, stinging, or pain that occurs between the toes, especially the third and fourth toes, and in the ball of the foot may be caused by a noncancerous growth on nerves in the foot (Morton's neuroma).\nNumbness, tingling, or pain that begins in your back, moves down your leg and into your foot may be sciatica, caused by a pinched nerve (nerve root compression).\nFoot and ankle pain that occurs with numbness and weakness that begins in the foot and spreads into the toes may be caused by a pinched nerve in the ankle (tarsal tunnel syndrome).\nBurning, numbness, or lack of feeling in the feet may be caused by poor circulation to the feet. This is common in people who have diabetes or peripheral arterial disease. Poor circulation may lead to nerve damage (peripheral neuropathy).\nBurning, pins-and-needles–type pain is common in people who use alcohol regularly because alcohol directly damages the nerves.
1088570
you could learn meditation or soething that will relax you. The sound of falling water is really relaxing too. It makes me sleepy.
491851
They say that if you rub your feet with baking soda it helps. Also i am sure you can find all sorts of medicated powders in your local pharmacy. If it is a real problem talk to your doctor about it maybe he/she will have a medical solution to it:)
678823
Most cases occur when people are tired (well, duh); the monotony of driving on a straight road simply puts them to sleep. Most people can avoid that by resting every two hours, and taking a nap when one feels that it's getting difficult to concentrate.\n\nBut there is also a disease called narcolepsy, which causes people to brutally fall asleep at any time - that is more probably what you heard about. It was recently discovered that a brain chemical inbalance caused it, probably genetic, there is no cure, and no way to know *who* is affected before it occurs for the first time. About 0.05 to 0.16% of the population is affected, which makes 300,000 people in the US alone!