Restless Legs Syndrome

What is restless legs syndrome (RLS)?

Restless legs syndrome causes uncontrollable leg movement, along with other difficult symptoms. Usually, RLS happens at night or in the late afternoon. Getting up and moving around alleviates the symptoms, but they’ll always return once you’re at rest again. Restless legs syndrome is considered both a sleep and a movement disorder.

What are the symptoms of restless legs syndrome?

The main symptom of RLS is a need to move your legs. Sometimes, the leg motion is a fairly minor twitch, while it can be major kicking in other cases.

This almost always happens at night or late in the day, while you’re trying to sleep or while you’re otherwise resting. Restless legs syndrome can happen while you’re on a long airplane flight, watching a movie, or anything else that requires sitting or lying still for a long period.

Sometimes, leg movement isn’t the only issue. You may also experience other irritating symptoms like a crawling, itching, aching, or other types of uncomfortable sensations within your legs.

Why does restless legs syndrome happen?

The exact cause of RLS isn’t certain at this time, but research is ongoing. So far, the evidence seems to indicate that restless legs syndrome frequently runs in families and that many women experience it for the first time while pregnant.

Certain risk factors may be connected to restless legs syndrome. These include:

• Peripheral neuropathy, common in diabetics
• Iron deficiency
• Kidney failure
• Spinal cord lesions

Additionally, some kinds of medications can make RLS symptoms worse. These medications include antihistamines, antidepressants, and psychiatric medications.

How is restless legs syndrome treated?

RLS treatment depends on your symptoms and your other health issues. Often, treatment starts with simple lifestyle changes and resolving underlying conditions, such as iron deficiency. If these things aren’t successful, Dr. Kalsi may prescribe medicine like muscle relaxants, calcium channel medications, dopamine-increasing medications, or sleep medications.

It may take some adjustments and changes to find the right medication and dose, but Dr. Kalsi will work closely with you to make sure that you get the symptom relief you need.

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