Hey everyone. I just found this site during my nightly rls marathon and I'm so incredibly thankful to find a community of people that I can fight this battle with.
A bit about me. I'm 32, have 2 daughters and another girl due in May. I've suffered with RLS since before my first pregnancy off and on. Each pregnancy it flares up and sticks around every single night. First pregnancy I didnt deal with this until the middle of my 3rd trimester. Second pregnancy it started late 2nd trimester, but this time it began around 9 weeks. I'm 17 weeks along now and I'm struggling through this. I dont fall asleep until about 5 or 6 am most days and as you can imagine it's really difficult to function properly during the day with two young kids.
Nothing I've tried is helping. I've done hot baths, massage, heating pads, vibrating leg pads, some topical pain balm, walking it out, stretches, iron increase, bananas..
I cant take medicine for rls during pregnancy. I'm just at a loss and it's getting worse by the day. I see my doctor on Friday and I'm praying she will at least put me back on my anxiety medication so I can fall asleep. Any advice for me during pregnancy? Theres gotta be something I'm missing. I'm waiting on my order of magnesium oil spray to arrive. Itll be here today.
Thanks for reading.
Hi, congratulations.
I've never been pregnant, wrong gender!
However it sounds like you have an inherited predisposition aggravated by pregnancy.
Magnesium oil may help, but taking an oral supplement may be better.
It's a distinct possibility is that pregnancy has depleted your iron stores. Once depleted it's not easy to replace stored iron. Each successive pregnancy will deplete stores further.This may not result in anaemia.
The appropriate blood test is a test for ferritin. This needs to be at least 50 mcg/L and idleally over 100.
Note. "normal" ferritin level is not enough.
Thank you for replying! I'll talk to my doctor about the blood test. Its 7am and still no sleep.
Manerva is correct. I will add- it takes a while to increase your iron with tablets (3+ months) as it needs to break the brain barrier and some doctors will advise a blood transfusion to give your iron a boost quickly.
There may be a safe medication to get you through to the end of your pregnancy but I’m not sure which ones would be advised.
You may be confusing blood transfusion with iron infusion. A blood transfusion may be given in severe cases of iron deficiency anaemia, but is usually given for anaemia due to loss of red blood cells.
The advantage of an IV iron infusion isn't necessarily that it crosses the blood brain barrier any easier it's because it bypasses the system by which the absorption of iron from the gut is limited according to need.
Brain iron deficiency can exist without there being any iron deficiency anaemia, in which case iron taken orally will not be readily absorbed. That's why it takes a long time for depleted iron stores to build up.
There are some recommendations however that an IV iron infusion only be given in certain limited circumstances. Iron infusion during pregnancy wouldn't appear to be a good idea.
There doesn't appear to be any evidence that iv iron is any better than oral iron, just faster.
There are also more risks associated with infused iron, rather than oral iron, chiefly the potential for iron overload. In pregnancy this may be a problem if iron can readily cross the placental blood barrier.
The recognised way of increasing oral iron absorption is to take it every other day, NOT every day and to take a vitamin C tablet or drink a glass of orange at the same time.
Additionally "gentle" iron is less likely to cause constipation and a natural laxative (e.g. senna). or bulk forming agent can also be taken (e.g. lactulose.
Thank you for clarifying!