RLS — Restless Legs Syndrome
When your legs feel like they’ve had five coffees and you’re stuck trying to sleep with them.
Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) causes uncomfortable sensations in the legs — often described as crawling, pulling, tingling, or buzzing — along with a strong urge to move them. Symptoms typically get worse in the evening and at rest, which is exactly when you’re trying to relax or fall asleep. Moving the legs briefly relieves the feeling, but it often returns when you lie still again.
RLS can be primary (with no clear cause, often running in families) or secondary to things like iron deficiency, kidney disease, pregnancy, or certain medications. It’s linked to dopamine signalling in the brain and often co‑occurs with periodic limb movements during sleep — involuntary jerks that fragment sleep.
Treatment starts with checking for and correcting contributors like low iron, reviewing medications, and supporting general sleep health. For more severe cases, specific medications that tweak dopamine or other pathways can be used. Lifestyle tweaks — regular movement, avoiding heavy evening caffeine or alcohol, stretching — may also help some people.
If your legs consistently misbehave at night, you’re not being dramatic or fidgety; RLS is a recognised neurological condition, and it’s okay to ask for proper evaluation and support.
Why It Matters
RLS can quietly erode sleep and quality of life for years; naming it is often the first step toward treatments that actually help.
Closing Line
Your legs aren’t trying to sabotage you on purpose — they just need the right chemistry and care to settle down when you do.