I didn't know what Restless Legs were when I was a child, but I sure did suffer from it plenty. I called it "jumpy legs" when it happened, because the sensation in my legs would drive me nuts until I couldn't stand it anymore and jerked them to a new position in a vain hopeful attempt to relieve the feeling. I would get some relief by tensing my legs up as much as possible, but the "jumpy" feeling would return worse when I relaxed again. I still get restless legs now that I am older. Sometimes I won't have them for ages, and then suddenly I'll have them for a week. Sometimes I have no idea why I have them, but other times I can trace it to a cause
Here is a list of triggers that sometimes cause me to have restless legs, in the hopes that it may help others identify their own triggers:
- Dehydration
- Indigestion/reflux, especially from greasy food or excessive amounts of meat (this will 100% of the time cause restless legs for me, but I do it anyway often)
- Alcohol
- Sugar overload in a short time period, or high amounts of sugar over a longer period
- A high amount of exercise after being sedentary for a week or two
- Stress for several days or more in a row
- Not enough sleep for several days in a row
- Holding on and not relieving a full bladder for a while (computer games & internet are distracting)
- Sitting still on the computer for ages
- *Caffeine has been noted by others, but I don't remember with regards to my own legs because I haven't had caffeine for over a decade now for other unrelated reasons.
Sometimes my restless legs are so irritating that I don't even try to attempt sleeping until I just can't keep my eyes open anymore. Sometimes my restless legs will be so mild that I don't even notice them when going to bed, but I will wake up in the morning after a decent amount of sleep feeling like I've barely slept at all, usually with my head still full of dreams. This is because my restless legs send nerve signals to my brain which keeps it more active and prevents it transitioning from the REM stage of sleep into the necessary restorative deep sleep stage. Without the deep sleep, I don't feel rested when I wake up, plus having a higher percentage of the REM stage gives me the head full of dreams.
I don't believe the common assertation that restless legs get worse when one tries to sleep or relax. I believe that what happens is the foreground mind noise goes away and stops distracting you from the sensation that's been there all along. This is similar to when you have a mild headache that can be ignored if you are busy at work or absorbed in a movie, and you almost forget about it until you stop doing the something else and notice that you still have the headache. Or like the ticking of a clock that you don't hear until you turn the TV off and everything else is quiet. The headache/ticking/legs were there the whole time and didn't go away, you just had your attention successfully distracted elsewhere for a while. This is why restless legs can be such a problem when trying to go to sleep; the more your mind relaxes and clears of distractions, the more difficult it is to ignore the more obvious leg sensations. I'll often be right on the point of sleep and suddenly need to jerk my legs because the leg sensations spreads over my otherwise blank mind and wakes me up from the half-doze.
Things that will sometimes (not always) fix my legs enough for me to get to sleep, in the hopes it may help others find something that works for them:
- Cautious rehydration - too much water at once when dehydrated will make my stomach complain and then indigestion causes the legs instead.
- Working on my calf muscles. Massage, calf stretches, heel drops with my toes on a step.
- Doing quad stretches for my thighs, which affects the sensations in my calves.
- Stretching or cracking my hip joints, which affects the sensations in my calves.
- A short walk. Too long and my muscles will get too excited and will cause the legs instead.
- A small amount of apple cider vinegar sometimes relieves my indigestion enough, but sometimes just adds to my indigestion instead with an acidic feeling.
- An apple can help my indigestion occasionally, but sometimes will make me overfull instead without helping.
- Dozing on the couch. Giving myself permission to not sleep properly means that I can catch just enough rest to help out.
- Very soft baroque music. Loud enough to hear, not loud enough that I start listening to it. It gives my brain another background focal point to help offset the demanding legs, while being a slower beat that encourages sleep.
- Ibuprofen. In years past I just about lived on this type of painkiller at times. They are not good for your internal organs though, so I cut back and now only use them when my legs are extra bad.
- Eating a banana can work in minutes. (suggested by moeyz)
- Stand & roll your bare feet (one at a time) on a tennis ball, which releases some lymphatic juices. (suggested by moeyz)
- Take magnesium (with your doctor's knowledge) about 2 hrs before sleep. (suggested by moeyz)
- Tonic water, because of the quinine in it. Using tonic water too often can cause a prolonged high sugar trigger though.
If you have further triggers or fixes that sometimes work for you, let me know and I'll add it/quote you. I will also add more of my own if I think of more.