What Could be Causing Restless Legs?

What Causes Restless Legs?

To successfully treat and prevent recurrence of restless legs we need to understand and — if possible — remove the underlying causes and risk factors. We need to ask: "What else is going on inside the body that might allow restless legs to develop?"

Diagnose your symptoms now!

check your overall health status
identify any nutritional deficiencies
learn what you should be doing right now

Accurate diagnosis of the factors behind restless legs consists of three steps:

Step 1: List the Possible Causative Factors

Identify all disease conditions, lifestyle choices and environmental risk factors that can lead to restless legs. Here are eight of many possibilities (more below):

Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis
Neuritis/Neuropathy
Iron Need
Chronic Fatigue-Fibromyalgia
Iron Deficiency Anemia
Diabetes II
Vitamin E Need
Parkinson's Disease

Step 2: Build a Symptom Checklist

Identify all possible symptoms and risk factors of each possible cause, and check the ones that apply:

Latin / Hispanic ethnicity

having excess body fat

specific muscle weakness

having foamy urine

major fatigue for over 12 months

stiff neck

constant fatigue

high omega-6 oil intake

somewhat disturbed sleep

normal ANA levels

poor bodily coordination

cysts in breasts

... and more than 130 others

Step 3: Rule Out or Confirm each Possible Cause

A differential diagnosis of your symptoms and risk factors finds the likely cause of restless legs:

Cause	Probability	Status
Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis	92%	Confirm
Diabetes II	29%	Unlikely
Vitamin E Need	27%	Unlikely
Chronic Fatigue-Fibromyalgia	5%	Ruled out
Iron Deficiency Anemia	4%	Ruled out
Neuritis/Neuropathy	3%	Ruled out
Iron Need	3%	Ruled out
Parkinson's Disease	2%	Ruled out

* This is a simple example to illustrate the process

Arriving at a Correct Diagnosis

The Analyst™ is our online diagnosis tool that learns all about you through a straightforward process of multi-level questioning, providing diagnosis at the end.

In the Nervous System Symptoms section of the questionnaire, The Analyst™ will ask the following question about restless legs when resting:

When at rest, do you ever experience 'odd feelings' in your legs, and feel the need to move them in order to stop those feelings? This is known as Restless Legs Syndrome.

Possible responses:

→ Don't know
→ No
→ Yes, slightly / occasionally
→ Yes, definitely / often

Based on your response to this question, which may indicate either not having restless legs at night or restless legs at night, The Analyst™ will consider possibilities such as:

Caffeine Intoxication

Excess caffeine levels cause restlessness. Caffeine has been shown to increase subjects' proneness to develop RLS at lower levels of blood glucose. It is therefore no surprise that a xanthine-free diet (no coffee, tea, cola beverages, cocoa) has been reported to be another effective dietary measure RLS sometimes following a short period of caffeine withdrawal. [J Clin Psychiatry 39: pp.693-8, 1978; Ann Intern Med 119: pp.799-804, 1993]

Chronic Fatigue / Fibromyalgia Syndrome

Diabetes Type II

Folic Acid Deficiency

Restless Leg Syndrome may be an early neurologic manifestation of folate deficiency, the most common of all the vitamin deficiencies. Often the deficiency is not due to a poor diet, but to a genetic factor causing a folate dependency. While not all RLS patients complain of uncomfortable sensations, folate-deficient patients always suffer from them. [Folic Acid in Neurology, Psychiatry and Internal Medicine, New York, Raven Press, 1979]

Gluten Sensitivity / Celiac Disease

Hypoglycemia

Based on afternoon glucose tolerance testing, many patients with RLS – particularly if they also have spontaneous leg cramps – appear to have hyperinsulinism causing functional 'hypoglycemia' during testing. In fact, some patients may have an attack of muscle cramps at the same time as their lowest level of plasma glucose. In an open trial, a group of 350 patients with this type of glucose tolerance curve were placed on a sugar-free, high protein diet along with frequent nibbling and at least one night feeding. The vast majority experienced a prompt remission or, at least, a striking reduction in symptoms. [J Med Assoc 60(5): pp.29-31, 1973]

Iron Deficiency Anemia

Iron Requirement

Iron deficiency (specifically blood ferritin below 50 mcg/L) accounts for 20% of all cases of RLS. A 2007 study observed RLS features in 34% of patients having iron deficiency as compared to 6% of controls.

Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis

Low Serotonin Level

Tryptophan, a serotonin precursor, has been shown to help a small percentage of RLS sufferers. [Am J Psychiatry 143(4): pp.554-5, 1986]

Magnesium Requirement

Magnesium deficiency, which is known to increase neuromuscular excitability, can also cause Restless Leg Syndrome. [Rom J Neural Psychiatry 31(1): pp.55-6, 1993]

Neuritis/Neuropathy

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)

Parkinson's Disease

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Sjogren's Syndrome

Uremia

Vitamin E Requirement

Concerned or curious about your health? Try The Analyst™