Restless Legs Keeping You Up at Night? We Can Help

Few things are more frustrating than falling into bed, exhausted from a long day and longing for sleep, only to be kept awake by uncomfortable sensations in your legs. 

And the only way to relieve the creeping, crawling, and itchy feelings is to move your legs, which hardly helps with your sleep goals.

It’s called restless leg syndrome (RLS), and you’re not the only person this neurological sensorimotor disorder keeps up at night. Between 7% and 10% of the population in the United States has RLS.

As our name suggests — Complete Neurological Care — we specialize in neurological conditions like RLS, which starts in the brain. Our exceptional and knowledgeable team, which includes Dr. Nina Tsakadze, understands the frustrations that can come with movement disorders like RLS, and we’re here to help.

To that end, we review a few basics about RLS and how we can get you on the road to better, and much-needed, sleep.

The hallmarks of restless leg syndrome

We’ve referred to RLS as a movement disorder, but it’s more than that. Also called Willis-Ekbom disease, RLS is a neurological condition, a movement disorder, and a sleep disorder, all rolled into one.

For example, the reason we classify RLS as a sleep disorder is because the symptoms tend to come on as you settle into bed at night, though they can start earlier in the evening. These symptoms include:

• Unpleasant or uncomfortable sensations in your legs
• Irresistible urges to move your legs
• The need to get up and stretch your legs

As you might imagine, these symptoms all prevent you from falling asleep, which means we can add daytime fatigue to the list of RLS side effects.

The complexity of restless leg syndrome 

From a neurological perspective, RLS might stem from a malfunction in your basal ganglia, an area of your brain that uses dopamine to encourage smooth muscle movements. If your dopamine levels are imbalanced, you can develop RLS.

Or low levels of iron in your brain could be associated with RLS.

Researchers believe that RLS can be genetic and inherited, too.

RLS is also associated with hormonal changes, especially during the third trimester of pregnancy.

And the potential list of causes goes on. Our point here is that researchers have connected a good many dots (and there are more), but we have yet to identify a single underlying cause for RLS. 

This means that there’s no single cure for the condition, but we assure you, we do have some great tools for managing RLS.

Solutions for your restless legs

If we confirm that you have RLS, we first run some tests to see what might be causing the problem. For example, if you have an iron deficiency, we can simply supplement this important mineral, which should relieve your condition. But we live in a Western society, and iron deficiencies aren’t all that common.

If your RLS is related to other conditions, such as diabetic neuropathy, we treat that issue first, which should relieve your RLS.

For just treating your RLS symptoms, we usually recommend one or more of the following:

• Anti-seizure medications
• Medications to increase dopamine
• Anxiety medications
• Lifestyle changes
• Trigger management (caffeine, alcohol, nicotine)
• Reducing stress

We also strongly suggest that you practice good sleep hygiene, such as taking a soothing bath before bed and going to bed at the same time each night. Avoiding screens before bedtime can also help you fall asleep more easily.

While RLS may not be cut-and-dried, we want you to know that we work tirelessly until we find a solution that will relax your legs so you can get the restorative rest you need.

If you don’t want to spend any more nights battling RLS, we urge you to schedule an appointment today at one of our convenient locations in Boynton Beach, Boca Raton, or Coral Springs, Florida.