Restless Leg Syndrome That Unusual Feeling

What is Restless Leg Syndrome?

Restless legs syndrome, known as (RLS) is a fairly under diagnosed and in some cases misdiagnosed treatable condition. It is basically a neurological disorder that is characterized by unpleasant feelings in the legs with an uncontrollable urge to move while resting, in an effort to relieve these sensations.

Moving the legs in some way seems to eliminates the sensation, which provides a temporary relief, but the feelings and a need to move may return, either shortly after stopping the movements or at a later time. RLS can start at any age, even in early childhood and is a progressive problem for a certain percentage of sufferers, although it has been known for the symptoms to disappear completely for some people.

What makes this condition stand out or rather make it’s self different from other sleep disorders is that, when you lay down or try to relax, it actually causes the symptoms to start.

What Causes Restless Leg Syndrome?

In lots of cases, the cause of the problem is not really known and in about half of these reported cases there seems to be some sort of a family history connection. People with a family history of the condition tend to be younger when the symptoms start and have a slower build up of the condition.

In the other situations where there doesn’t seem to be a family link, RLS appears to have some sort of relation to the following factors or conditions, although researchers do not yet know if these condition really do cause RLS.

People with low levels of Iron
People with Chronic diseases such as kidney disease, diabetes or Parkinson's disease
Pregnant women
Certain medications, such as antidepressants, anti-nausea drugs and certain antihistamines.

It has also been suggested that caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco may aggravate or bring on symptoms in patients who are more prone to developing the condition.


What are the Symptoms?

Unusual feelings in the legs, sometimes described like, crawling, creeping, uncomfortable, difficult to describe, insects crawling under the skin or even tugging. These sensations seem to occur more for some reason in the late evening and at night, easing off or stopping by the early morning.

Because of this, most people with Restless Leg Syndrome have difficulty going to sleep and staying asleep. If the problem isn’t treated, the condition can cause exhaustion and daytime fatigue. This can lead to impaired memory, a lack in concentration, or even an inability to perform any normal daily tasks.


What can you do about it?

Initially movement seems to help, for example, at bedtime do a few minutes walking or light stepping exercise, maybe a short bike ride or even some stretching. You could even consider taking a nice cool bath, massaging the leg or legs, or putting on some kind of cooling pad to see if that helps.

If you do not suffer from it too badly, you should consider a lifestyle change, you could for instance cut out caffeine, smoking, and alcohol. Another way could be to find what your correct level of exercise is, so that you don’t either over do it or under exercise, whereby not doing enough starts it off. If any, find out what foods actually trigger off an episode and cut them out. This could be anything from cutting out sugar to sticking to a low fat diet.


A lot of different drugs have been tried and tested but as of yet there is not one that can put an end to the problem. The common thing they have between them is they mainly produce a relaxing effect on the patient and even stop the pain, but they also have various side effects. Between them they can cause vomiting, dizziness, nausea, even sleepiness, so although these drugs can help with the symptoms, as of yet there is no magic pill to cure restless leg syndrome.

Sleep Problems