RLS, Growing Pains, and Sleep issues.

[whywontyougoaway]

Hi,

I am 22, and since as long as I can remember I have gotten horrible, horrible leg aches. When I was young my mom would just chalk them up to being "growing pains" which made complete sense. However, I am now an adult and still get horrible leg aches. I decided to research this online and came across Restless Leg syndrome. As a symptom of RLS it listed aching legs, which by itself would not have been very convincing, but then I noticed other symptoms that I have too. One was the need to constantly move the legs. Both my mother, sister and I all bounce or move our legs constantly, and I, cannot stand to have my legs dangle over chairs, I always, always sit with my legs crossed under me, as this is the only comfortable position for them. Another symptom I have is sleep issues.

I have horrible issues with trying to sleep at night [I am writing this at 4:02am, haha]. After reading about restless leg syndrome, one night trying my hardest to sleep, I noticed that I was jiggling my legs constantly, not even noticing. The thing is, I have absolutely no issues sleeping during the day. I read that RLS can be worse during the night, so I automatically thought, wow that must be why I can't sleep at night but can during the day...

However, I am not sure I have RLS because my legs never feel like tingly, or like something is crawling on them or anything, I just feel the need to move them. If someone points out to me that i am, I am able to stop for a moment but then feel the urge to start moving them again. It's not that they tingle, but just that it is irresistible to move them.

So I guess my question is, do my symptoms seem to be consistent with RLS? And could my sleeping issues also be due to them? If so, what are some of the treatments for RLS? I am in a foreign country at the moment and do not have access to health cover, so at the moment cannot afford to go on medication or anything, however, is their medication out there available? If I do go to the doctor, how will they test for RLS? Is it just a symptomatic evaluation?

Thanks a bunch!

[whywontyougoaway]

Hey,

I did some research on PLMB. I'm not so sure if I have that because I move my legs a LOT during the day and it says you only do it at night if you have that. Though, maybe I have both and just don't know it. The only reason I ever get sleepy during the day is because I don't get to sleep until the early hours of the morning because I keep myself awake, generally juggling my legs around.

Thanks for the heads up on PLMB though, I shall ask my boyfriend to pay attention next time I'm sleeping to see if I am having problems when I'm actually asleep.

Thanks :)

[Sue357]

Hi.  I recently had a sleep study due to daytime fatigue.  I snore but that wasn't the problem.  I did not meet the criteria ( 15 episodes in an hour) for a cpap mask.  However, they diagonosed me with Periodic limb Movement Disorder, which  is related to RLS.  I am on Mirapex, which is a med for rls, which I take at night.  Research PLMB.  Most people with rls have PLMB but not all people with plmb have rls.  I don't have the problem during the day.  Are you sleepy during the day?  I was almost falling asleep at times.  It interrupts your sleep cycle and you may not even be aware that you are doing it.  I wasn';t.  Hope this helps.