Pregnancy RLS

[meganf12]

Hi, I’m all new to this and first started developing symptoms 3 weeks ago. I’m now 26 weeks pregnancy and my symptoms have been getting more severe.

The only way I can describe the feeling is extremely achy and heavy all through my legs and ankles (I’ve noticed that is it worse in my calves and ankles though).

It’s so much worse when I’m resting and it’s interrupting my sleep as I feel like I need to stretch them all the time.

I’ve been taking extra iron tablets, magnesium oil, lots of water, baths, walking, massaging, stretching and nothing is helping.

It’s making me really depressed and I don’t look forward to day to day life. I feel guilty for feeling like this as I’m lucky to be pregnant but I can’t help how I feel unfortunately.

[Hidden]

I'm sad to hear of your suffering. RLS is quite a severe confition which can have quite a negative impact on your life.

It is often triggered by pregnancy and this partky due to hormone changes.and partly due to iron meyabolism.

You are right to be taking an iron supplement whether you're anaemic or not.

Blood tests for serum iron, transferrin, ferritin, vitamin B12 and folate would be appropriate.

If your serum iron.or transferrin are low then you may have iron deficiency anaemia, which in itself can trigger RLS. However even if you have no anaemia, you can still have iron deficiency making your RLS worse. This is associated with a ferritin level less than 75.

Low B12/folate can also make RLS worse. Vitamin D deficiency can do too.

If you get really desparate with the RLS, there are medications you can take.

Obviously, this is not all desirable, not only because.of your baby but for other reasons too. The meds are potent drugs and can have side effects and complications.

However, it may be, at some point that it would be better to take medication than not.

In which case, I have to warn you that many doctors still prescribe one of a class of drugs known.as dopamine agonists. (Pramipexole, ropinirole or rotigotine). These actually are no longer recommended internationally for the first treatment of RLS.

They commonly cause some major complications and in addition can inhibit lactation.

The preferred drugs are the gabapentinoids, pregabalin or gabapentin.

These also can have some nasty side effects, but are less likely to cause complications. There is no evidence that they inhibit lactation or cause baby any problems.

I'm so sorry I can't give you advice about other non-pharmacological remedies. Your RLS sounds quite severe and other remedies may take time to have any effect or only work temporarily.

I think.others will.tell you.of their experiences of RLS and pregnancy.

[meganf12 in reply to Hidden]

I’m hoping it goes after pregnancy as I have never experienced it before and a lot of websites do say it will subside once the baby is born. I am terrified though in case it doesn’t.

I think I will ask my doctor to check iron/magnesium levels etc as I may need to be on an even higher dose.

I have been researching the different drugs in case it doesn’t go after pregnancy but the side effects don’t sound good and I have read about augmentation.

Thank you for taking your time to reply to me. I understand that there probably isn’t many pregnant people on this forum so I probably won’t be able to hear their thoughts.

[Eryl]

I suspect that your diet has changed with the pregnancy. This could be the cause of the RLS. An increase in sugary or starchy food could be raising your blood sugar and chronic inflammation. chronic inflammation can lso be affected by refined grain oils.

[meganf12 in reply to Eryl]

Oh really, I didn’t know that cause cause restless legs. Thank you

[notnowdad]

Megan, I recommend a low oxalate diet. Most people who do it conscientiously achieve about 90% improvement. I have gotten to 100% relief. There are lots of websites which give guidance on eating low oxalate. However, most of them say that meats are always safe because they are oxalate free and this is unfortunately not good advice. It took me years to realize that gelatinous meat based soups and stews cause me to have RLS. The glycine in the gelatin can cause our bodies to produce oxalic acid endogenously. Other lessons I have learned the hard way: If you eat asparagus make sure it is organic. Virtually all of the asparagus in the grocery stores has been sprayed with a solution of oxalic acid post harvest. Some sources say that fresh artichokes are low in oxalate, but I have found I need to avoid them. Standard advice is to avoid potatoes, but I do OK with red, white and gold ones (no russets) if I peel and boil them (never roasted or fried). BTW, I completely concur with the suggestion to avoid refined seed oils. When I got off them completely my very severe allergies all vanished. I eat lots of refined starches with no problems. However, my starches are only from unbromated, unenriched grains. I think our chemical “doctoring” of grains is what has given gluten a bad rap . . . . Best of luck to you and the baby!

[meganf12 in reply to notnowdad]

Thank you for your reply. I’ve never heard of that diet before, I will look into it. I’m new to all this as I only experienced the symptoms 3 weeks ago which I assume is pregnancy induced restless legs. I am hoping it goes when the baby is born. Thank you for your advice and I will do some research.