Third trimester and restless legs at night. Any suggestions???

[tousletop]

I'm 34 weeks, and it doesn't matter how tired I am, as soon as I get into bed I can't stop moving my legs. I'm exhausted! I don't have any caffeine, and DH has tried rubbing my legs but this didn't help at all. Any suggestions would be SO appreciated....

[geordieminx]

Tonic water before bed - its the quinine (sp) that helps

[CorrieDale]

all that helped me was givimg birth! Sorry! although a birth hypnotherapy tape did help me to drop off initially, it didn't relieve the midnight twitching

[tousletop]

Thanks geordie and corrie.
Oh, a tonic sounds nice, with ice and lemon could convince myself (maybe) there was some gin in it.....

[littleboyblue]

I found a pillow under them helped a bit

[pollyblue]

My midwife recommended a magnesium supplement (I bought Quest mag and B6) as it works as a mild muscle relaxant. Did the trick!

[CeceliaAhern]

The pillow trick, but best of all is having your dp pull them from the ankles at the bottom of the bed while you cling onto the headboard.

I also felt strongly when I was in labour that I wanted to push my feet against something. The midwife was a bit

[ranirani]

bananas help apparently . What helped me was professional massage. DH doesnt matter how hard he tried, and he is good , but there is nothing like good strong massage. I am going tomorrow for full body, can't wait!!!

[2manychips]

I went to a/n yoga classes and was taught if you point your toes away then back twds you, tense then relax your leg muscles, nd circle your ankles in both directions every night before bed it helps. I did it and never suffered!

[ranirani]

Really?? yoga never helped me . Made it worse ( I have sciatica)
but then everyone is different

[moosemama]

I've suffered really badly with restless legs through this pregnancy (41 wks today), but have developed a sure fire way of stopping them (well it works for me anyway).

I eat a banana (I usually have a kid sized one), a glass of milk and a dose of floradix an hour to and an and a half before going to bed. Apparently its the combination of the potassium in the bananas, b vitamins and iron in the floradix and tryptophan in the milk that does the trick.

[mom4]

I had terrible restless legs for the last 6 weeks of my first two pregnancies and was exhausted after the births as a result. Then when pregnant with my third baby I found out that taking a multivitamin and iron supplement specifically for pregnancy stopped it! Apparently you may be slightly deficient even if it dosen't show up on tests. Worked well enough for me to go on to have my fourth little one when number three was only five months old. I am now knackered for entirely different reasons

[Poppet45]

I'm 15 weeks and already getting it, I'm doomed, and I take a pregnancy multivitamin... wails I also get it in my arms in the evenings before I go to bed.
Think I'll try the milk and banana combo, but am loathe to add extra iron given it's already in pregnacare.

[Indiechick]

Cut down on red meat. And I found tensing my legs and just lying there with them tense mad it stop and I dropped of. Also make sure you're not too hot, I swear that makes a difference. I have it all the time, it's a nightmare.

[Comma2]

You are not supposed to have quinine when you are pregnant, unfortunately, not even in tonic.

The only thing helps me reliably is going to bed before you are really tired.
The other thing that can help is sleep alone, bc it eliminates the stress of disturbing dh....