Restless leg syndrome

[Cassis]

anyone got this? - its driving me nuts! apparently a pregnancy thing but i cant find any information about how to help/cure it.. mainly happens in the evening and prevents a proper nights sleep.

Oh god it is so irritating. There isn't unfortunately anything that you can do about it. If it happens when you're not pregnant then IIRC there are drugs that can alleviate it a bit, but you can't take them while pg.

I found that getting up and walking about (even just to the loo and back) helped a lot. Also sleeping on my side with a cushion between my knees (alternatively on my back with the cushion under my lower thighs/knees) seemed to either lead to less spasming or else the spasming didn't disturb me as much in that position. I have a suspicion that drinking enough may be connected - ie if you don't drink enough water you twitch more.

Putting my legs on dh's lap and having him just randomly stroke and hold my feet up to the knees (or even masssage them if he was in the mood ) sometimes seemed to keep the spasms at bay, but on a bad evening even that didn't help much and I would just have to get up and walk around a bit.

Sorry, not cushion - pillow.

thanks - will try pillow and more fluids - you talk in the past tense, if you had it has it now gone away? Recently had pedicure so maybe dh will be more inclined to massage feet..!! Do you think that it might be diet related at all? i havent spoken to Dr/MW about it yet as i thought it was just me till i did some research -will mention on next visit.

Like many things - indigestion, cramps, cravings, etc - it goes away after you give birth .

phew - not long to bear with it then (oct)- thanks

If it can make you feel better I've got it.
On my first pregnancy it started when I was about 6 months pregnant, and now I'm only 8 weeks pg and it's already started, although not everynight yet.
Tonic water is supposed to help, and I think it does as it helped me.
I had to go through a ritual towards the end as it got so bad.
Just before going to bed I used to exfoliate my legs with cold water, shower gel and an exfoliating glove.
Then spray my legs with cold water (as cold as possible) for about 1 minute on each leg.
Basically concentrate on getting the blood circulating as much as possible.
Then put some cooling leg gel (from The Body Shop) on them.
Then drink my cool glass of tonic water..........
And I was sorted for the night! Brilliant!
I'll definately start that again if it gets bad enough. At the moment it's not too bad but as I said, I do have a glass of tonic water by my bed just in case.
I hope that helped.

I get it too, though not all the time and not really badly - its so unpleasant. Started earlier this time around as well - will try the tonic water cure!

I'm 33 weeks pregnant and suffering horribly from this so have decided to write a feature on it for Prima Baby - TidyJane's tip worked me last night. If anyone has any tips on this or other sleep things like cramps, needing the loo constantly and wouldn't mind being quoted in the magazine please contact me

Tip for cramps - keep a tin tray (or other metal surface) under the bed, and stand on it immediately if you get cramps during the night. Apparently, standing on a cold surface is the fastest relief!
Only just started getting cramps myself, so not tried it yet, but friends swear by it....

Hi there! I suffer from this in my last pregnancy and am now all better!

DO a search on MN, I remember something to do with diet was really helpful... but can t remember what!

I think it was more milk - to incraese calcium.

oh, and not to worry you, but I did have Gestational diabetes....
restless leg is common among people with GD, but lots of people that do not have GD also have it.

Just mentioning in case you were not tested....

I have it too. Try putting a heating pad at the small of your back for a little while. I don't know why it works, but it seems to calm things down for me.

I get restless leg anyway, but since I've been pregnant, right from the start, it has got increasingly worse. I now get my leg jumping pretty much every night, sometimes for hours. To make matters worse I've also developed pelvic pain which makes it painful to stand or walk by the evening, just about the same time as my restless leg means I need to stand and walk about.

I have tried the tonic water and milk things before for it, but I am now having acupuncture which seems to be helping. It's not gone away, but it is less severe than it was. And I'll definately give the cool shower and leg gel a go.

Does anyone else get restless arms? Had it in my legs in last 2 pg but this time it's my arms and mostly the left one! It's unbearable some nights, I have to keep swinging it around, try to press on it as hard as I can, lie on it, put it under three pillows etc... I have heard that it can be to do with magnesium deficiency, and iron, don't know if that's true but I'm craving milk which I can't normally stand or I suppose that could just be the calcium. Is there magnesium in milk?

There´s another thread on this somewhere - I started one!!! Had it all my life, worse in pg, worse still in 2nd pg. Massage is a good one, also one tip was to be on all fours on the floor and drop your shoulders so they are touching the floor, leaving your arse waving about in the air iyswim..... perhaps better to do when home alone.....

I found that massaging the bony part at the top of the thigh on the outside of your leg, sort of under where the side seam is on a pair of trousers is (cue mumsnetters all trying to find it.....!) wass the most help. Sort of pushing quite hard. Lots of sympathy though - bloody annoying.

I seem to remember the calcium thing too. Also found that walking a lot during the day made it much better, the closer to bed time the better. Nocturnal ramblings all round then....

hth