What some women find helpful for their restless legs
Anyone can experience restless legs at any time of their lives. However, some women experience them for the first time during their pregnancy. It is hard to describe what 'restless legs' are but the range of feelings can include:
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A sensation that the legs have to move all the time. |
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The legs feeling 'jittery' or like having 'butterflies' in them. |
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Legs that ache with the woman feeling she has to be constantly walking. |
These sensations can make it difficult to sit for long periods (for example at the cinema or during meetings) and can stop you from sleeping well at night, especially during the later months of pregnancy. They do not necessarily have to go hand in hand with
varicose veins or
swelling of the legs (although this may be the case) and for the same woman they can occur in one pregnancy but not another.
We don't really know why restless legs occur. They could be due to a change in the amount of blood circulating to the legs, or they could be caused by being
anaemic. Some practitioners believe that an overuse of caffeine can lead to restless legs, or a low blood sugar and the latest theory is that dust mites may be involved! However, these are all educated guesses.
Restless legs are a little recognised condition, with treatments generally involving natural therapies. Many natural therapists believe they are be due to a lack of dietary minerals, especially magnesium phosphate supplementaion with this tends to help.