HELP! Could my young child be suffering with RLS?

RLS occurs more frequently in certain populations, including people with end-stage renal disease, women during pregnancy, and people with iron deficiency. Also, RLS/WED in the elderly and children brings other challenges. Sharing your experiences may be extraordinarily helpful to others.
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ScaredMom

HELP! Could my young child be suffering with RLS?

Post by ScaredMom »

HELP! Could my young child be suffering with RLS?

Last night at 11pm my husband and I were online desperately searching for what was wrong with our 3 year old son. RLS popped up when we typed in symptoms. So here we are, asking for help in making sense of what appears to be a miserable, painful experience.

Our son woke up from his room, ran into see us and was asking for our help. His legs were moving and he couldnt seem to stop them. He did 'bicycling' while lying on his back, kicking, squirming and turned over on his hands and knees, kicking his legs out behind him.

He was very uncomfortable. We got him into our bed where he continued to kick his legs almost violently. The movements appeared to be involuntary but it could have just been a three year old not knowing what else to do with obviously painful problems with his legs.

We put him in a warm bath and he calmed down/woke up a bit more. Then we got him into a recliner and he continued to kick, wiggle his legs as he fell back to sleep and for maybe 10 minutes after he appeared to be out.


I had my husband get out the video camera in case it happened again as I knew there was no way to explain it all to the doctor. It was quite a scene. Fortunately, he slept the rest of the night in the chair and had no recall in the am.

We are both educated people but scared by what we are seeing. I dont think it was a night terror as he seemed more "awake" and the leg kicking/movement was the primary problem.

I did some research and my grandmother and mother both report restless leg symptoms and iron deficiency/anemia in the past. I have never suffered this miserable RLS fate but have had a diagnosis of anemia during my pregnancy.

After putting some clues together, we also remembered our son experienceing leg symptoms after getting some cold medications with guaifennisin in them. Again, he was miserable and moving his legs uncontrollably.

Are we in the right place? Does this sound like RLS? What can we do to help our little boy.

Kelly
AKA Concerned mom

ViewsAskew
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Replies to this post in two other places - General topics and New to RLS.

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