Insomnia Causes: Restless Legs Can Cause Severe Insomnia

Insomnia Caused by Restless Legs Syndrome: Restless Leg Syndrome is one of many causes for severe insomnia. The National Institutes of Health defines RLS as a sleep disorder characterized by an "overwhelming need" to move one’s limbs, especially the legs, during the night. This can lead to disrupted sleep or sleeplessness. People with RLS often feel as though their limbs are itching, tingling or even buzzing while they try to sleep. Over the long term, severe sleep deprivation can result from chronic insomnia caused by RLS.

Insomnia Research - Prevent Sleepless Nights Caused By RLS: Many healthcare providers will treat a person's Restless Legs Syndrome or “RLS,” before they treat insomnia. Many people with RLS are also diagnosed with “periodic limb movement disorder,” which results in uncontrollable jerking of the hands and legs. RLS is rare in younger population except in pregnancy and people with kidney failure and anemia due to iron deficiency. It is present in about 10% of older people (age >65). Diagnosis of PLMD -- periodic limb movement disorder -- is made by sleep study where limb movements are observed during non-REM sleep. Treating the underlying disorder can sometimes cure insomnia.

Insomnia Treatments - RLS Medication & Insomnia Treatment: Fortunately, RLS and even insomnia can be treated with medications, especially those that affect dopamine, a in the brain that underlies many different sleep and anxiety-related disorders. According to the CDC, insomnia resulting from RLS or any other underlying disease process can result in impaired judgment, short-term memory loss and problems staying awake while driving. For this reason, it is important that patients with insomnia rule out RLS as a cause for insomnia.

What To Do If RLS Is To Blame For Your Insomnia: If RLS is the cause of your insomnia, your doctor will first work with you to treat RLS, because treating RLS may clear your insomnia. RLS can cause severe loss of sleep when acute insomnia becomes chronic and long-term insomnia. Sometimes doctors may prescribe insomnia medications initially to help patients get a good night’s sleep. Most of the time however, a doctor will treat RLS first, especially if he suspects the RLS is responsible for your insomnia.

Many doctors recommend good “sleep hygiene” as a tool patients may find helpful for overcoming insomnia caused by certain disorders including RLS.

How Good Sleep Hygiene Can Combat Insomnia: Good sleep hygiene is a process. If you take steps to improve your odds of sleeping well, then the chances of you sleeping well are high. To promote good sleep hygiene, doctors recommend the following:

1. First, go to bed at the same time or near the same time each night. This will allow your body to get used to a nighttime schedule, so you are less likely to suffer from insomnia that prevents you from falling asleep.
2. Make sure you exercise daily, up to 30 minutes of exercise up to 5 hours or more before bed. Exercising any sooner may prevent you from falling asleep.
3. Try enjoying a relaxing warm bath before sleeping.

Even More Great Tips To Prevent Insomnia & Promote Good Sleep Hygiene: Here are some other great ways you can prevent insomnia and promote a good night of sleep.

1. Make sure to avoid drinking or eating foods that contain caffeine or alcohol for at least 4 hours before bedtime. Don’t forget that chocolate and other foods contain caffeine, not just coffee and tea.
2. Get out of bed if you can’t sleep and do something else until you feel tired and then go back to bed and see if you can fall asleep a little easier. If you stay in bed, you are likely to develop anxiety because you can’t sleep, which only worsens insomnia.
3. Make sure you set the temperature of your room just right.

What The Experts Say About Sleep Hygiene & Its Effects On Insomnia: Most researchers also recommend you avoid stimulating entertainment including television or using the computer for at least 1 to 2 hours before bed. Computers and televisions emit a certain blue light that can trick your brain into thinking it is time to get up rather than go to bed. One of the reasons so many couples have trouble falling asleep is because they watch television in bed before they go to sleep each night.

You may find that one or all of these ideas helps you sleep better at night. Once you identify the primary cause for insomnia, like RLS, and once you seek treatment, the chances are very high you will overcome the chronic insomnia you associated with your disease. Good sleep hygiene is a good idea for anyone, not just people that have insomnia or people that have trouble sleeping every now and again. Good sleep hygiene can improve the quality of your sleep, so you wake refreshed and ready to take on the day. When you spend your time enjoying your day rather than fretting about how much sleep you did or did not get the previous night, you will find you enjoy sleeping as much as you do any other activity.

_Sources:

NINDS. Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, (NINDS), (2007 May), NIH Publication No. 06-3440-c.

Phillips, B. et al., Epidemiology of restless legs symptoms in adults, Arch. Intern Med., (2000) 160:2137-41.

Winkelman, J., et al., “Anxietas Tibiarum”: Depression and anxiety disorders in patients with restless legs syndrome, Journal of Neurology, 2005: 252(1):67-70.