RLS and Pregnancy

[laulylou]

Hi,

I am 34 weeks pregnant. I have what I can only assume is RLS. I've never been diagnosed but when I sit or lie down at night my legs start to twitch and feel constantly uncomfortable like they're setting themselves up for a twitch coming. I've had it on and off for a few years but over the last couple of weeks it has been every night and it's keeping me awake for hours on end and it's like the more I think about it, the more it happens. It's starting to really affect me now as I'm tired in work and becoming really frustrated with it.

I've decided not to have any caffeine today and eating a banana to see if that helps. Any advice or suggestions would be very welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Laulylou

[ViewsAskew]

Hi,

I am 34 weeks pregnant. I have what I can only assume is RLS. I've never been diagnosed but when I sit or lie down at night my legs start to twitch and feel constantly uncomfortable like they're setting themselves up for a twitch coming. I've had it on and off for a few years but over the last couple of weeks it has been every night and it's keeping me awake for hours on end and it's like the more I think about it, the more it happens. It's starting to really affect me now as I'm tired in work and becoming really frustrated with it.

I've decided not to have any caffeine today and eating a banana to see if that helps. Any advice or suggestions would be very welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Laulylou

There is a a publication on pregnancy and WED/RLS on this page: http://rls.org/about-rls-wed/publications. It may help some.

It sounds to me as if this is WED/RLS. It's, unfortunately, all too common in the last trimester, making it somewhat unbearable. No one knows why - it seems likely to be related to hormones or to iron stores being low. You're likely already taking a prenatal vitamin, but maybe not an iron supplement. If you are not, talk to your doctor about doing so - it very well may help. Vitamin D has, recently, been shown to be related, so consider adding that (5000 mg is not excessive - it's how much I take every day). You likely already avoid alcohol. It may take a few days to see if the caffeine avoidance helps.

Other things you can do include taking warm baths (though some people find cold works better, or that they start with warm, then hit the legs with a cold spray), staying mentally alert (knitting, doing crosswords or Sudoku), or wrapping your legs in something snug - say using medical compression hose or using Ace bandages (do NOT wrap too tight! - also check with a doctor before trying compression - I have no idea if this is safe during pregnancy.

[aveerik]

Laulylou I had my first known symptoms of WED/RLS while pregnant while on a road trip, I swear I could have shoved my feet through the floor boards of the car. I hope it goes away when you deliver. I would try a pregnancy yoga class, stretching sometimes helps symptoms. Also make sure you are sufficiently hydrated, this is more important then ever while pregnant. A nice leg massage before bed may also help. Good luck

[Polar Bear]

Feet and legs into an icy cold bucket of water, as cold as you can stand, for about 20 minutes, splashing the water up your legs. For me it took about 20 minutes to take effect and often gave me enough relief to get to sleep. This was before I took the medication route.

[badnights]

Also check the Special Populations forum on this board. We have had a few people go through pregnancies with WED/RLS. They had problematic cases before even getting pregnant, so they had problems you hopefully will never encounter. But they can surely also give you advise.

Check also the Non-pharma section of this board. There are a lot of suggestions in there, but it would be worth the time culling through them and deciding which to try. Be careful about taking any of the suggested supplements without your doctor's ok.

One piece of advice is, when the sensations begin in your legs, don't sit/lie there hoping they will go away. Move right away, to prevent it getting worse. Once your legs are tired out from moving, lie down to sleep right away - get what you can. Body position can alleviate symptoms somewhat, but your options are limited when pregnant, for instance sleeping on your front is not an option. Legs bent into a quad stretch sometimes works for me - I have to loosen it up just before I fall asleep to avoid knee pain, tho.

When it wakes you up, just get up, do some exercises, and go back to bed.

Exercises can be wall squats, ankle raises (standing on your toes and raising your heels up and down), and leg raises (lying on your back, one leg up at a 30-degree angle for 20 seconds , 60 degrees for 20, 90 degrees for 20 - or whatever works to tire the leg out.). The last one is nice because you can do it while still lying down. It can be frustrating at first tho, lying still with only a leg in the air, until it kills the symptoms.

Just so you don't worry, you're not necessarily going to have RLS/WED forever. My sister is 48, and she had RLS during all three of her pregnancies, but has not felt it since. I didn't experience RLS/WED in my pregnancies, but now I'm the one with severe RLS/WED, and she is free of it, hopefully forever. (Our two brothers both have intermittent or mild RLS.)

[badnights]

One final comment: the symptoms of RLS/WED are relieved for many people - not all, but a large subset - by taking iron. I'm not sure if the following is changed by pregnancy, but for non-pregnant people who have WED/RLS (not for those who don't), a serum (blood) level of ferritin (an iron-storage protein) below 75 or 100 is reason to supplement with oral iron. Raising ferritin to at least 75 and preferably 100 reduces symptoms. You should as Ann mentioned have your FERRITIN level measured, which is not always part of the routine iron workup.

Second - if you're getting blood work done anyway, your vitamin D level should be at least 30; everyone's should. There is some research indicating increased severity of symptoms with lower vit D levels.

Third - deal with any other deficiencies (which you;re probably doing anyway!) eg. Mg deficiency can lead to cramping, B12 to fatigue; some people find their WED/RLS is worse when these things are not dealt with.