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Key Points
- Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a disorder that
causes a strong urge to move your legs. This urge often occurs with strange and
unpleasant feelings in your legs. Moving your legs relieves the urge and the
unpleasant feelings.
- People who have RLS describe the unpleasant
feelings as creeping, crawling, pulling, itching, tingling, burning, aching, or
electric shocks.
- The urge to move and unpleasant feelings occur
when you’re resting and inactive. They tend to be worse in the evening
and at night and are temporarily relieved in the morning.
- RLS can make it hard to fall asleep and stay
asleep. It may make you feel tired and sleepy during the day. This can make it
hard to learn, work, and do your normal routine. Not getting enough sleep also
can cause depression, mood swings, and other health problems.
- One type of RLS usually starts early in life
(before age 45) and tends to run in families. Once this type of RLS starts, it
usually lasts for the rest of your life. Over time, symptoms slowly get worse
and occur more often.
- Another type of RLS usually starts later in life
(after age 45). It generally doesn’t run in families. This type tends to
have a more abrupt onset. The symptoms usually don’t get worse with age.
- Some diseases, conditions, and medicines also
may trigger RLS. For example, it has been associated with kidney failure,
Parkinson disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, pregnancy, and iron
deficiency. When a disease, condition, or medicine triggers RLS, symptoms
usually start suddenly. The disorder may go away if the trigger is relieved or
stopped.
- Research suggests that RLS is mainly due to the
faulty use or lack of iron in the brain. Nerve damage in the limbs and some
medicines and substances also may cause RLS.
- The number of cases of RLS rises with age. Many
people who have RLS are diagnosed in middle age. However, in about 40 percent
of RLS cases, symptoms start before age 20. People who develop RLS early
in life usually have a family history of it.
- The four key signs of RLS are an urge to move
your legs (unpleasant feelings in the legs often occur with this urge),
symptoms that start or get worse when you’re inactive, relief from
moving, and symptoms that get worse in the evening or at night.
- Your doctor will diagnose RLS based on your
symptoms, your medical and family histories, and the results from a physical
exam and tests. Your primary care doctor usually can diagnose and treat RLS.
However, he or she also may suggest that you see a sleep specialist or
neurologist.
- Treatments for RLS include lifestyle changes and
medicines. Mild cases of RLS often are treated with lifestyle changes and
sometimes with periodic use of medicines. More severe RLS usually is treated
with daily medicines. Lifestyle changes include avoiding certain substances and
adopting good sleep habits.
- If you have RLS, see your doctor regularly so he
or she can watch for changes in your symptoms. Call you doctor if you notice
your treatment is no longer working or if you have new symptoms.
- Try to plan long car trips and other long periods
of inactivity at the times of day when your symptoms are least severe. Give
yourself time to stretch or take walking breaks. Choose an aisle seat at the
movies or on airplanes and trains so you can move around if needed. You might
want to consider finding a work setting where you can stand or walk around.
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Living With Links
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