7 Mos Pregnant and Cannot Sleep

Hi S.,

I feel your pain. I had RLS with all three of my pregnancies and it was terrible. I also used a heating pad. I would use it for about 20 minutes before I went to bed and it really helped me. The good news is that as soon as I had my babies the RLS was gone. You just have to try all the great suggestions on here and you'll get through. It will go away, just another uncomfortable symptom of pregnancy. Good Luck!

R.

1 mom found this helpful

I had a lot of problems in that department. Some suggestions that I have are to take some extra calcium with magnesium. That helped me alot. My midwife also recommended Valerian Root or Skullcap. I never went that far, but I have read that they work very well. Good luck.

1 mom found this helpful

Hey S.,

I had the same thing when I was preggo (my son is now 17wks) but the dr ok me to take tylenol pm and it worked great. I also used a heating pad on my legs at night on low while I was sleeping and this relaxed the muscles. Before you go to bed try to be in a calm state...I know its hard with 2 older boys (I Have a 3.5yr old) but try taking a warm shower or bath and destress. But if all else fails...tylenol pm is safe and effective!

I too have restless leg syndrome. I was given a prescription for it but don't like the say I feel in the morning. My podiatrist told me to drink tonic water before bed. He says it has quinine in it that a lot of his patients say seems to help. I'd check with your OB but it should be ok for you to try. I haven't tried it yet since I just was told this yesterday, but it's worth a try if it works.

I have recently dealt with sleep issues myself and the only thing that has worked for me has been to try not to think about it, and trust my body to get the sleep it needs. I found that the more I obsessed over it, the worse it got. Good luck!

Because of my problems with pregnancy, I also had that problem. Towards the end of my pregnancy I was told my potassium was low and to eat bananas. It did seem to help, Im not sure that is exactly what the problem was and why that was happening but maybe worth a try if nothing else.
Hopefully you can soon get rest!!!

I know a tight budget and how hard it is to squeeze out extra but a lot of times the restless leg syndrome is caused by the tightness of the gluteal (butt) muscles. A massage, especially a few, will help tremendously and although the results may not last indefinitely, you can be guaranteed at least one good nights sleep.

Hi Sara,

I have RLS too, but it occurs when I am not pregnant. One key factor for me is to not allow myself to become over tired. Obviously this is easier said than done when you are trying to sleep and only managing 3-4 hours. If you can, what about napping some during the day? Do you experience the sensations during day naps as well? Another thing that helps me at times is to wrap my lower legs in ace bandages starting at the ankle and working up to the knee. (only for sleeping) Something about the pressure or stimulation to my skin seems to alleviate the creepy crawly sensation. I have never taken any meds for this. Good luck, I know it is aggravating.

I have had the same thing with all four of my pregnancies. I had to up my Magnesium, Calcium and Potassium- that and take the prenantal every day. I also had to be careful with the caffeine and sugar- always noticed it got a lot worse when I would have that in a day. I have always been sensitive to caffeine and sugar anyway- the higher demand of pregnancy seemed to deplete my body of nutrients faster and aggravate the sensitivity.

Hi S.. I had this with my first pregnancy quite a bit. I usually found that it was worse when I was overtired. Can you take some naps during the day to catch up on some sleep? G.

I feel for you I too had RLS with all htree of my pregnancies, I used to put a heating pad on my legs, it worked like a charm.

My husband has RLS and ice packs or massage with mineral ice seem to help quite a bit.

Hi S.,
I'm an Rn who gravitates toward alternative or intergrative medicine.
Something that might help your restlessness in general is Magnesium. It relaxes smooth muscles. (It is used IV as Magneium Sulfate to control premature labor contractions.) My daughter finds it makes her sleepy. It is usually taken with Calcium as both work together in the body in a 2:1 ratio (Calcium/Magnesium) although some practicioners say it should be 1:1. If you take too much it will give you diarrhea (like MOM-Milk of Magnesia). Since you are probably already taking a pre-natal vitamin you can just add a Magneium suppliment from a health food store like New Frontires. Magnesiun Citrate is one form that is easy for your body to absorb.
You might also check with Shea, the owner of 'Light Garden Herbs & Gifts' here in Flag. She is an herbalist and might be able to suggest something to help. Her shop is now in the shopping plaza off Milton (1800) near Busters. ###-###-####
Hope this helps. You need your sleep with "two little boys" and one almost here!! S. A.

This is a neurological disorder caused by food allergies. I know that sounds weird, but if you can eliminate wheat from your diet for a week you might find some good results. One of the other culprits for food allergies is dairy.

I have cured myself of several neurological disorders by eliminating wheat and dairy from my diet. If those things don't work, then it could be citrus, which is also high on the list.
Good Luck!

My husband has RLS, the Dr. advised him to take a bar of soap (like Ivory) and stick it under the sheet near the bottom of the bed by his feet. It worked like a charm, not sure why but made the RLS stop.

My husband has this condition (though it isn't officially diagnosed) and it really seems to help him if he stretches his legs before bed.

One easy stretch is to stand facing a wall. Brace yourself with your hands against the wall and pull one leg back keeping your toes on the floor (like you're in a runner's starting position) until you feel the strain along your calf muscles. Hold the position and repeat on the other leg.

There are plenty of other stretches you can try as well. You can probably find some tips on Google.

Good luck!

Hello,
Milk products and caffeine cause restless leg syndrome. Also, the sleeping pill ambien is safe to take during pregnancy.

Hi S.,
My mom suffers from what her dr. believes is restless leg syndrome as well. Sometimes she'll just eat a banana and that helps a lot, something having to do with the potassium. Good luck, hope this helps!

Hi S.,
I am also pregnant with 6 wks to go and I have problems with RLS too. I have read that one of the reasons can be low iron and I am anemic (which is common in pregnancy) so that may be the cause of yours as well. I hope this helps because I know how frustrating it is.
Good luck.

Hi S.,

You could possibly be low in magnesium. RLS is a very common symptom of people (men & women) who are lacking in magnesium. There is an great product out there that is safe during pregnancy called MamaCalm. It also has some other minerals like zinc, folic acid and calcium. It can also help with an inability to sleep, stress, fatigue, or headaches.

You can take a variety of herbs to help with the sleep issues that are not related to the possible low magnesium. I carry this product, along with the herbs in my herbal retail store, Desert Sage Herbs in Chandler. www.desertsageherbs.com

Best to you. V.

I had the same exact thing start when I was about 6 months pregnant. It was horrible I totally know what you are going through. The only thing that helped me was waiting until I was really tired and could fall asleep at any moment then I would go turn the shower on as hot as I could stand it and let the water run on just my legs. Then I would hurry and dry off and get in bed... If I could fall asleep within about 15 minutes then my legs wouldn't bother me(hence the waiting till I was really tired, because if I didn't fall asleep within the fifteen minutes or so my legs would start back up again and I would get no sleep.. though I must admit the only upside to the restless legs was that after I had my baby it stopped and even though my baby was up alot at night I was still getting more sleep than I had been when I was pregnant so I felt great....(Not much of an upside I know..)

Has your Dr. done your glucose test yet? If your sugar is out of balance it may be causing you are experience Restless Leg Syndrome. Just a suggestion. I forget what stage of your pregnancy they do the glucose tolerance test. I suffer from that so I can relate what you are going through. Good luck.

Hi S.!

I have restless leg syndrome and have had it for years. A few things that worked for me are to take a really warm bath and just read a book. Try to stay in it for at least 15-20 minutes. At night use a heating pad to relax the muscles. During the day stop every so often and just sit with your legs up. Hopefully these things will help. Good Luck! Hopefully it will go away after the baby is born.

M.

I had that when I was pregnant, i found that during the day if I ate a banana or two I wouldn't have that problem. I guess the potassium....also, be sure you are getting enough water to drink. If you get dehydrated your muscles can cramp up and it can be so painful!

Good luck!
A.

Hi S. - oh i had this same thing during pregnancy and still get it every once in a while. I read that it can be due to low Iron, so I would take an iron supplement every day - that helped some but didn't take care of the whole problem. The other thing I did that really seemed to help, was just before bed, I would do as many lunges and leg crunches as I could. It seemed that working out my thigh muscles (mine was mostly in my thighs and not my calves) would tire them out - especially with all that extra pregnancy weight on top of them! Between the iron and the lunges, I was able to get to sleep all night with no difficulties. Hope that helps and I"m sure one of these many ideas you've gotten will be the perfect trick for you and your legs! Take care!

Hi S.,

I had this too! I was miserable. My doctor told me I could take Tylenol PM. It doesn't harm the baby. If you can't take any meds at all, try to relax in a warm bath or have your husband massage your legs. I definitely feel for you!

I have fibro myelgea and have suffered from restless leg for decades. I would definitely check with your doctor, but what works best for me is Rodney Yee's Yoga for relaxation dvd. I do it right before bed and then I take a warm (not hot) bath with relaxation aroma therapy. I did this when I was pregnant as well and it worked like a charm.

I know you are looking for natural remedies but I had the same problem during my pregnancy and my Dr. gave me a prescription to Ambien. I tried everything else before using it, but Ambien was the only thing that helped me sleep. Ambien is safe to use during pregnancy so if nothing else helps you might want to keep this in mind.

I am fairly certain you can take Benedryl which should help you sleep. Good luck!

I have been going to acupuncture since I found out I was pregnant, it has really helped with all the little ailments that go along with pregnancy, including my restless leg. For me, it goes away when I go to bed, but when I am up sitting around is when it bothers me...but it has helped to illiminate it. I go to someone that practices Japanese acupuncture, the needles are small and it is painless!

I started suffering from restless leg syndrome when I was pregnant with my son. I found that wrapping my legs around a body pillow really helped. There are drugs but they are not safe while pregnant so wait til after you finish breastfeeding if you do so. But the body pillow did help.

Bless your heart, sleep deprivation is awful.

Go to www.emofree.com/a/?2908/1 and download the free EFT manual. EFT is a non-drug healing aid that works fast...its easy to learn and very effective.

Contact me if you'd like some help applying this.

Hello!
I have no experience with this, but I was wondering if you could you try Yoga (prenatal) to help your body calm down or just talk a 20 min walk to relax in the evening?

D.