got restless leg syndrome?

19Jul09

(Warning – quite long blog ahead.)

Have you got restless leg syndrome (RLS) like I have?  We are not alone – my favourite author, Vladimir Nabokov suffered too. It is thought that 5% of the population (I suppose we are talking Western countries here) suffers also.

For those not familiar with this insidious and disturbing condition, restless leg syndrome is described so:

“The sensations are unusual and unlike other common sensations, and those with RLS have a hard time describing them. People use words such as: uncomfortable, “antsy”, electrical, creeping, painful, itching, pins and needles, pulling, creepy-crawly, ants inside the legs, numbness, and many others. The sensation and the urge can occur in any body part; the most cited location is legs, followed by arms. Some people have little or no sensation, yet still have a strong urge to move.” (Wikipedia, but no citation given; but it describes what I suffer.)

Well, last night, I had had to get up (as always) soon after going to bed, due to an excess of twitching and restlessness, and was pecking away - browsing the Internet in a desultory way – when I came across wonderful information about the condition.

I found Restless Leg Syndrome Australia’s Web site.  This is a great site and you can get a pile of information about this tedious twitching:

• Fact File On RLS
• What Causes RLS?
• Treatments for RLS
• Stories from people with RLS
• RLS FAQs

If you have or think you have restless leg syndrome, please visit the site – there is so much of interest there and, for a change, some real information that is so helpful.

If I have understood things correctly, the opinion is now growing that RLS is caused by a lack of iron so that some node or function area of the brain goes a bit haywire.  So treatment with iron supplements are recommended – but please do not rush off and throw iron down your throat – drugs taken to manage psychiatric conditions are thought to have a hand in this also.

But – a simple leg-stretching routine before going to bed is recommended and that is what I am going to start doing. Here’s a link to a great page that summarises the “facts” (as much as anything is a fact in the human body). And here’s a copy of the exercise diagram:

Here’s an abstract from that sheet (thanks to Professor John Murtagh and Australian Doctor magazine):

“Self-help
You may have found that something works
for you …

• Avoid any substances or factors that you
  know or suspect affect you.
• Use activities that can reduce symptoms,
  for example, a modest amount of walking
  before bedtime, massage or prescribed exercises
  (see figure). NB: getting out of bed
  and going for a walk or run does not seem
  to help.
• Good sleep hygiene, namely, regular sleeping
  hours, gradual relaxation at bedtime,
  avoidance of non-sleep activities in bed, eg,
  reading, eating.
• Diet. Follow a very healthy diet. Avoid caffeine
  drinks, smoking and alcohol.
• Try keeping the legs cooler than the body
  for sleeping.
• Exercises. A popular treatment is gentle
  stretching of the legs, particularly of the
  hamstring and calf muscles for at least five
  minutes before retiring. This can be done by
  using a wide crepe bandage, scarf or other
  length of material around the foot to stretch
  and then relax the legs (as in figure [above]).”

I am going to try this stretching. Good luck!  Let me know how you get on.

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Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• What is Restless Legs Syndrome?
• Medication For restless Leg Syndrome

Filed under: my story   |  7 Comments
Tags: disturbed sleep, legs disorder, medical, not sleeping, restless leg syndrome, restless legs, RLS, twitching legs