--would not produce those kinds of symptoms all the way down the leg, past the knee, as the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve, which is the one compromised in meralgia parasthetica, stops just above the knee. Typically, symptoms from that conditions are limited to the outside thigh, though they can be quite debilitating.

This sounds more like something that may stem from the lower spine or the sciatic nerve distribution. And, there is certainly the possibility that this is not primarily nerve related but circulatory, given that you say that position shifts change the severity of symptoms.