Restless legs

[gingermumi]

Have terrible restless legs at night, drives me mad! Any suggestions for easing this?

Thanks

[derah]

I get this in the evenings, while trying to relax and watch TV. Very annoying!! I find bouncing on my gym ball works, but that's not entirely practical if yours happens in bed. Maybe some kind of light exercise involving your legs before bed?

[Dalrymps]

Hey there, yeah I get that, some days more than others, a lot of the time I find it only goes when i've gone to sleep, once I can get to sleep that is! I think some gentle excercise is a good idea, if i'm on dog walking duty then i don't tend to get it as much, my dh works 3 on 3 off so I walk the dog on his 3 in and noticed it helps a bit, doesn't have to be a long walk, just 5-10 mins round the block. I've also read various theories that it means your lacking in either calcium or iron, things like that, so I try to make sure i get cheese/youghurt/milk every day and some iron rich food like wholemeal bread/dried apricots/beef/rocket/jacket potato then to make sure I absorb the iron well i've cut out caffine and try and drink orange juice when I eat something with iron in as this is supposed to help absorb it. Anyway hope that helps

[Jojay]

I remember having this when I was pregnant, and a gentle walk or something was the only thing that eased it for me.

I remember several late night treks around the block, but it seemed to help!

[gingermumi]

Thanks, diet-wise I thinkk i'm probably ok but will try the exerciseidea. Thanks ladies.

[Niecie]

I used to get this when I was pregnant. I read it helps if you lie back on some pillows until you are fairly flat and raise your leg in the air for 2 minutes, rotating your foot at the ankle. Obviously you can't lie as flat as you would if you weren't pregnant. It is hard work, especially when your stomach muscles are being stretched anyway so I used to hold my leg up behind my knee and do one leg at a time. It has to be done for at least 2 minutes though but I found that if I could manage that it really helped. Saved getting up to go for a walk too. It definitely used to be worse when I was tired and even now, if I am very tired, I still get it a little bit.

Mind you I think DH used to wonder what was going on when he woke up to find my legs in the air.

[miniandme]

I suffered this from the moment i weed on the stick with dd and again this time with the twins,hence my hunch there was at least anothe rone little girl in there!!
Raising the feet only works in the later stages when the jumpiness is caused by excess fluid and swelling of the legs,compressing the blood flow. I tried EVERYTHING often ending up walking round the garden in my bare feet to cool them and stop the restlessness.The things i found helped were to keep my feet cool,i have a small fan at the foot of my bed directed onto my legs and feet.A trick i learned from the mw when i was in labour with dd,also have been taking the homeopathic remedy mag phos 8 which has been amazing and has eventually stopped the restlessness

[Niecie]

miniandme - I have to say that I have never had any swelling when I was pregnant (except the night before I went into to labour with DS1) so in my case that is not why having my feet in the air worked and also I had it all the way through too.

By the way, I don't mean just raised either, I mean as close to 45 degrees to my body as possible when you are pregnant. this was actually a technique I read about for anybody with RLS not just pregnant women.

[gingermumi]

Thanks mini (and hello!) and niecie. Cooling does help - have cool-pack from when dh first had hip op and I chill that every night, will try fan too and the exercises. Can you get Mag Phos from health food shop or do you need to see homeopath?

Thanks again

[miniandme]

gingermumi you can get mag phos 8 from a health food shop,i have just finished my first bottle hubby is out to buy more today ,i think its about £5 for a bottle but theres hundreds in and last weeks .

[DCsnatchsunhill]

The quinine in tonic water is also meant to help. I found drinking a glass just before going to bed did work sometimes, although perhaps it was more psychosematic IFYSWIM

I always remember an interview that Penny Philips did about restless legs on GMTV and she was LAUGHING about it, saying it sounds such a funny condition. Instead of interviewing the person sensibly she just cracked jokes about your legs running away. I was furious about this, as I've had restless leg syndrome for years and it drives me up the wall.
also, try doing lunges and long stretches just before going to bed. HTH.

[gingermumi]

Thanks, will try anything!

[miniandme]

Quinine is useful for leg cramps which are slightly different form restless legs but worth a try ,i tried it,one mouthful and almost threw up ,it tastes absolutely hideous

[kittykoo]

my mum used to use "Gehwol leg vitality" cream on my mnan when she was in hospital for a long time. When I was getting big and fat later on in pregancy she massaged my legs with it aws I couldn't settle thanks to mad jumpy leg feeling and it worked in minutes... amazing... and to think I had turned her down a few times as was feeling stubborn like noone could help poor old me!

[gingermumi]

Couldn't find cream but have bought some mag phos today and am going to give it a go.

Thanks again