Why do my legs feel restless at night?
Legs that feel restless at night are most often restless legs syndrome, which is common, real and treatable. It brings an irresistible urge to move the legs, with crawling or fizzing sensations, worse at rest and at night, relieved by movement.
The most fixable cause is low iron stores; ferritin should be checked in everyone with it, and correcting low levels often calms the legs. Caffeine, alcohol, some antidepressants and antihistamines aggravate it; pregnancy invites it.
Beyond iron: evening stretching, massage, and for persistent cases effective prescription options exist. It ruins sleep quietly for years when nobody names it, so name it.
Source: NHS, restless legs syndrome
See a doctor promptly if
- Iron deficiency in any man, or in any woman past the menopause, without an obvious bleeding cause
- Black tarry stools, visible blood in stool, or vomiting blood or material like coffee grounds
- Iron deficiency with unintentional weight loss, a change in bowel habit lasting over three weeks, or a family history of bowel cancer
- Breathlessness at rest, chest pain, fainting, or a resting heart rate persistently above 100
- Periods needing hourly pad or tampon changes, passing clots larger than a coin, or flooding through clothing and bedding
- Pica. Craving and eating ice, clay, chalk or raw rice
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Answered by the AskDoc Medical Team · Medically reviewed under our Medical Director, MBBS · How we review
Only after a blood test
If a blood test shows low ferritin, iron tablets rebuild your stores over three to six months. Do not self-dose without the test: in men and women past menopause, low iron needs its cause found first, because it can signal hidden bleeding.
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