Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

This is my first pregnancy and I'm up for hours at night with RLS. I am 28 weeks. I did some research about magnesium supplements and figured I'd try those. I asked my dr. office and they said they were fine to take, but didn't tell me how much or what kind (citrate, glycinate, etc.). Has anyone had luck with magnesium supplements during pregnancy and if so, how much and what kind did you take?

Did you have WED/RLS symptoms before you got pregnant. WED can occur in the last trimester of pregnancy and hopefully will disappear about one month following delivery of your new baby However, if you had symptoms prior to pregnancy then it is possible that the symptoms could worsen through the duration of pregnancy.

If you are low in iron, taking an iron supplement may help to reduce the symptoms of restless legs syndrome. You are likely to be on iron for your pregnancy anyway.

Taking magnesium may help to manage restless legs syndrome, especially if it is associated with leg cramps or nighttime jerking of the muscles, though you haven't mentioned cramps in the legs. Magnesium helps all the muscles of the body to function optimally and to contract in a normal, healthy way. Taking a magnesium supplement may help prevent muscular cramps and spasms and aid in the management of and leg cramps that might occur during the night. It is also important for nervous system function.
For best results, it is recommended that magnesium be taken in an easily absorbed powdered form.

Regarding dosage, perhaps you should ask your doctor or the nurse, because of baby.

The research (and our experiences) seem to agree most times about this - magnesium helps those who didn't have enough magnesium to begin with. It doesn't help the rest of us much at all. Same with many other vitamins and minerals. The form of magnesium doesn't seem to matter. If you think you might be deficient, do try it. If you are deficient, it may help.

Iron is different. You can seem to have normal iron levels - both of serum ferritin and hemoglogin - and taking it can help a lot. It can also be constipating - not fun when pregnant! And, the form does seem to matter more. Here's a link to a WED Foundation publication about iron: http://www.rls.org/Document.Doc?id=2078 .

They also have a Pregnancy and RLS/WED publication. https://www.rls.org/document.doc?id=2206 There are many others - but many are available only to members. If you join, you can see them all.

Regular exercise may help. Not heavy, hard or lengthy. Just walking or other mildly aerobic exercise 30 minutes or so 5 days a week. Studies have shown this level to be the best.

This is such a weird disorder - sugar, artificial sweeteners, caffeine - they all can trigger some people. Stopping doesn't help everyone, but it's worth trying.

This post may be helpful to you - there are many things we can try that help some of us (pregnant or not) and it turns out they are all related to ways to naturally increase dopamine. Lack of dopamine at critical times during the day/night is related to WED. viewtopic.php?f=20&t=8906

Of course, massage often helps. But, finding someone to do it isn't always an option. Compression stockings help many, but I don't know if they are safe during pregnancy. You'd have to ask your doctor.



a few other things can impact WED during pregnancy, such as gestational diabetes. If you have any other health conditions, they can cause issues. Getting them under control often will help.