Restless Leg

[HappyMummy82]

Hi can anyone give me any advice? I am slowly reaching the end of my tether with this restless leg I have at night or when I'm resting. I feel like I have tried everything and nothing is working. I have tried stretching the leg several times with different stretches, reducing fizzy drinks as advised by doc, magnesium oil spray as advised by midwife, a warm bath but nothing is working. I am so fed up as I am struggling to get to sleep. Has anyone got anything apart from what I have tried that worked that I can try? Just need something to help me sleep. Thanks in advance for any advice. It will be much appreciated.

Oh dear I feel your pain. I had this when pregnant and it was maddening. I heard it could be due to vitamin B2 (ithink) deficiency, but I took multivitamins and still had it. Anyways the only thing that worked for me is the ice gel pads on my knees where the restlessness was most intense. You can buy boxes of heat or ice ones, ice worked for me but I assume it's a preference and heat might work for others. I tried cold flannels but they warmed up too quickly and ice packs melted and made a mess. Good luck with it, it should pass once the baby is here!

@Tryingtobehelpfulmama

Oh dear I feel your pain. I had this when pregnant and it was maddening. I heard it could be due to vitamin B2 (ithink) deficiency, but I took multivitamins and still had it. Anyways the only thing that worked for me is the ice gel pads on my knees where the restlessness was most intense. You can buy boxes of heat or ice ones, ice worked for me but I assume it's a preference and heat might work for others. I tried cold flannels but they warmed up too quickly and ice packs melted and made a mess. Good luck with it, it should pass once the baby is here!

Thank you. Currently in tears on the sofa while hubby and son are asleep because my bloomin leg will not let up. I have tried stretching the leg loads, walking around etc but nothing is working.

Try sleeping with your legs raised above your heart, a recliner has worked wonders for me. Even cushions, a folded coat, towels or dressing gown under your legs should help. I know this is a distressing condition, keep trying different things.

A glass of tonic water before bed and a paracetamol helped me. And I also had a cooling spray to spray over my legs if they were bad. I found it much worse when my legs got too hot. Hope you get some relief - restless legs is crap!

@Phoenixrising2020

Try sleeping with your legs raised above your heart, a recliner has worked wonders for me. Even cushions, a folded coat, towels or dressing gown under your legs should help. I know this is a distressing condition, keep trying different things.

Thank you. I'll try anything. One very tired mumma-to-be this morning.

@whoami24601

A glass of tonic water before bed and a paracetamol helped me. And I also had a cooling spray to spray over my legs if they were bad. I found it much worse when my legs got too hot. Hope you get some relief - restless legs is crap!

Thank you. I really appreciate the advice.

Are there any foods that trigger restless legs? I was told to keep a food diary but not sure what foods to look out for.

I had this horribly with my pregnancies and it’s still a problem today although less bad. Triggers I found were dairy. Wam bath with salts helped. Massage helped and trying to elevate my leg. Also doing some gentle stretches during the day. Pregnancy yoga really helped.

Try iron supplements? This worked an absolute dream for me. I understand that RLS is not always caused by iron deficiency but often when it's worse in pregnancy that can be a contributor. It's to do with the way dopamine works and lack of sufficient dopamine gives you the RLS.
I had awful RLS in my first preg, and started supplementing with iron every day. Within a week it was totally gone. My iron levels were officially never anaemic, but they were only just into the acceptable zone. The NHS didn't want to top it up. But the levels weren't optimal, so I bought iron bisglycinate.
There are lots of forms of iron and some of them give you constipation! The iron bisglycinate is the best in pill form, and cheap. It doesn't give ME constipation, but if you decide to try it and you find it does (but it also fixes the legs) you could get Spatone, which is natural iron-y water which you mix in orange juice. It costs a lot more though.
Hope it helps. I really really recommend trying it, unless there's any medical reason why you shouldn't supplement iron.

I had awful restless leg during pregnancy too - it used to drive me insane!! What I found that really helped me were magnesium tablets - my partner researched and bought them from Holland and Barrett. They were quite expensive I think but you do get a lot of them in the pot and they really did help me. I hope this helps OP x

Just to add - the pot says you can take 3 a day normally but I checked how many I could take while pregnant and I took one a day

@GinUnicorn

I had this horribly with my pregnancies and it’s still a problem today although less bad. Triggers I found were dairy. Wam bath with salts helped. Massage helped and trying to elevate my leg. Also doing some gentle stretches during the day. Pregnancy yoga really helped.

Thank you. Your help is much appreciated.

@MoawMoaw

Try iron supplements? This worked an absolute dream for me. I understand that RLS is not always caused by iron deficiency but often when it's worse in pregnancy that can be a contributor. It's to do with the way dopamine works and lack of sufficient dopamine gives you the RLS. I had awful RLS in my first preg, and started supplementing with iron every day. Within a week it was totally gone. My iron levels were officially never anaemic, but they were only just into the acceptable zone. The NHS didn't want to top it up. But the levels weren't optimal, so I bought iron bisglycinate. There are lots of forms of iron and some of them give you constipation! The iron bisglycinate is the best in pill form, and cheap. It doesn't give ME constipation, but if you decide to try it and you find it does (but it also fixes the legs) you could get Spatone, which is natural iron-y water which you mix in orange juice. It costs a lot more though. Hope it helps. I really really recommend trying it, unless there's any medical reason why you shouldn't supplement iron.

Thank you. When I was pg with my son I had to have iron tablets so have called to GP to see if I can get a blood test to check my iron levels as I read that can cause issues. If they are OK I will look into the iron supplement you have suggested. Thank you for your help.

@ttigerlilly

I had awful restless leg during pregnancy too - it used to drive me insane!! What I found that really helped me were magnesium tablets - my partner researched and bought them from Holland and Barrett. They were quite expensive I think but you do get a lot of them in the pot and they really did help me. I hope this helps OP x

Thank you so much. I will look into these.

@MoawMoaw

Try iron supplements? This worked an absolute dream for me. I understand that RLS is not always caused by iron deficiency but often when it's worse in pregnancy that can be a contributor. It's to do with the way dopamine works and lack of sufficient dopamine gives you the RLS. I had awful RLS in my first preg, and started supplementing with iron every day. Within a week it was totally gone. My iron levels were officially never anaemic, but they were only just into the acceptable zone. The NHS didn't want to top it up. But the levels weren't optimal, so I bought iron bisglycinate. There are lots of forms of iron and some of them give you constipation! The iron bisglycinate is the best in pill form, and cheap. It doesn't give ME constipation, but if you decide to try it and you find it does (but it also fixes the legs) you could get Spatone, which is natural iron-y water which you mix in orange juice. It costs a lot more though. Hope it helps. I really really recommend trying it, unless there's any medical reason why you shouldn't supplement iron.

Also interesting to know why you get restless leg. Thank you again for that.