Why my legs are RESTLESS when I SLEEP and why am I loosing my sleep over it?! What I am missing here!!!!
I hear from patients saying "why my legs hurt a lot at night?" Also, symptoms like tingling, restless, cramping, crawling sensation, creeping, need to move, painful, discomfort, electric, etc sensations when your legs are still can lead to insomnia, anxiety and depression. It is called Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) or Willis-Ekbom disease.
You might be facing this problem or your loved ones might be suffering from this. Its a very common condition often misdiagnosed or under noticed or ignored since the symptom might be mild enough to cause sleep disturbance. Insomnia might be the primary worry then and not the cause for it. Whites and women are more prone to it. Genetic correlation is found.
Even though, the reason may not be known, it is correlated to: Low iron levels (can be iron deficiency anemia, or not anemia but still has low iron levels), Uremia (kidney problems), Neuropathy (neurological disease), pregnancy and lot other to mention which are minor.
What makes it worse?- Medications like antihistamines (Benadryl, etc), SSRI's (antidepressant medications), and anti nausea/vomiting medications. Caffeine intake, Worsening anxiety or depression can also make RLS worse . Your doctor can diagnose it clinically, but you doctor can diagnose may do some blood tests to find the reason. The best test would be Ferritin and iron saturation which reflects the iron levels.
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Even though treatment is not straightforward, some conditions might be simple fix like giving iron for low iron levels, changing the antidepressant medication or avoiding the aggravating medications and avoiding caffeine (in any form). There are lot of studies and following nonpharmacalogical methods are proven beneficial like: minimizing mental alerting works (playing chess, computer, cross word puzzle, etc), regular exercise, leg massage, and caffeine products avoidance. If it still bothers you, talk to you doctor to see if you would benefit from lyrica or some other medications.
Please let me know if a health related topic like this is helpful for you guys. Please share the story if you or your loved one suffer from RLS.