What is RLS?

It stands for Restless Legs Syndrome. 

Restless leg syndrome is where you have an overwhelming urge to move your legs.  You can also have strange sensations in your legs. 

I suffer with this and so does my sister. There are so many different levels and symptoms that are known and documented, yet not many people have heard about it. My sister's symptoms are worse than mine and I have also watched an informative TV programme about it whose experiences were honestly hard to watch, disrupting their daily lives. 

Some of the symptoms:

• Twitching 
• Shock sensation (causing the leg to kick out) 
• Throbbing 
• Desire to move your legs

What causes it? 

Unfortunately there are no clear known links, but here are some possibilities:

• Pregnancy 
• Too much caffeine 
• Too much alcohol 
• Lifestyle stress
• Smoking 

It can also be caused by a combination of mental and physical factors.

Will it go away? 

Obviously cutting out some of the above would be a good start to try and relieve your RLS. But it can be a lifelong syndrome gradually becoming worse. Here are some other suggestions:

• Taking warm baths 
• Massaging the legs 
• Exercising earlier in the day rather than Bedtime 

I usually have the urge to move my legs at night time, when I am starting to fall asleep. It feels like a relief when I move them around loads. But I know many others have these symptoms during the day too.

My advice 

If it is affecting your day to day activities, you will need to seek medical advice. The doctors may take some blood and eventually be able to prescribe some medication. Dopamine seems to be the main suggestion here, but of course with all medication there are side effects. 

Here is a great link to read up on more medication;

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/restless-legs-syndrome/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20377174