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
Help! Could my young child have RLS?
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ViewsAskew
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Hi Scared Mom,
I can tell how scared you are. Just so you know, we always check the posts - you can safely post just once and we'll find it! We're good at that
. Since this is all volunteer, sometimes it may take a few hours before someone stops by, though, to see it. But there are a core of very dedicted people that visit daily and one it sure to see a post soon.
Yes, children get RLS, but it's hard to diagnose because it's hard to communicate with them. At 3 it would be hard to tell if he was moving involuntarily like myoclonus or if he'd figured out that it helped and was doing it - he might even say he wasn't doing but was on an unconcious level. Keep in mind the criteria - at night, sensations that are diminished by movement, occurs when at rest. These seem to apply.
For any problem with movement, whether or not it is RLS, a neurologist would be a good starting point. Read up on RLS before you go. A neuro may not be familiar with childhood RLS. There are some places in the Web that discuss it. Maybe someone can help you find them (I'm off to bed), but you can search and find them probably.
If you go to these posts, they will help you on your search as they contain many, many links to information:
http://www.restlesslegs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=94
http://www.restlesslegs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=549
Good luck. Let us know what happens.
Ann
I can tell how scared you are. Just so you know, we always check the posts - you can safely post just once and we'll find it! We're good at that
. Since this is all volunteer, sometimes it may take a few hours before someone stops by, though, to see it. But there are a core of very dedicted people that visit daily and one it sure to see a post soon.
Yes, children get RLS, but it's hard to diagnose because it's hard to communicate with them. At 3 it would be hard to tell if he was moving involuntarily like myoclonus or if he'd figured out that it helped and was doing it - he might even say he wasn't doing but was on an unconcious level. Keep in mind the criteria - at night, sensations that are diminished by movement, occurs when at rest. These seem to apply.
For any problem with movement, whether or not it is RLS, a neurologist would be a good starting point. Read up on RLS before you go. A neuro may not be familiar with childhood RLS. There are some places in the Web that discuss it. Maybe someone can help you find them (I'm off to bed), but you can search and find them probably.
If you go to these posts, they will help you on your search as they contain many, many links to information:
http://www.restlesslegs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=94
http://www.restlesslegs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=549
Good luck. Let us know what happens.
Ann
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Kris
- Posts: 82
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- Location: www.wiresplice.com
I know that young children can have RLS. I think my son has it but it is annoying and not really that big a problem. He's homeschooled so his schedule is pretty flexible.
We were both up late last night watching a documentary and we were both just bouncing and kicking around. It was kinda funny really.
I am certain he has it. Before I knew what RLS was, he would complain with "my legs hurt at night" and "I can't be still and go to sleep even though I want to."
We were both up late last night watching a documentary and we were both just bouncing and kicking around. It was kinda funny really.
I am certain he has it. Before I knew what RLS was, he would complain with "my legs hurt at night" and "I can't be still and go to sleep even though I want to."