The Fun Run of RLS in My Family

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) runs in my family. It’s both a pun, and it’s true.

It’s doubly true for my family because my father was also a runner. And so is my son.

For me, RLS is an irrepressible need to wriggle my legs to alleviate the distress of the intense discomfort radiating from the lower back down both of my legs. I call it the March of the Tiger Beetles. It’s so uncomfortable but the sensations are also unique to all of us who suffer.

Restless legs syndrome and my dad

I know my dad had restless legs. I sat next to him on enough aeroplane trips to know he couldn’t keep still for a single solitary second – although I never asked him how his restlessness actually felt. As he lay dying in a hospital bed, I could see his legs dancing under the sheets while he slept. But that was the big difference between him and me – he had no sleep disruption as a result of his RLS. I was jealous.

My dad was also a professional runner (and a professional musician, but that’s a whole other story). Until ill health made him hang up his running shoes in his 80s, he ran virtually every day. He was a middle to long-distance runner, so his feet pound up and down a lot of roads and deserted beaches.

He used to run from our house to the airport just for fun. That’s 16km (10 miles) each way. And I have often wondered, did all that pavement pounding create a chemical effect that countered his restlessness and allowed him to sleep? And he slept like a log at the drop of a leafy hat.

Restless legs syndrome and my sons

My eldest son also has restless legs. It was clear as day from when he was a young child. He was an easy-going, relaxed, happy kid. An absolute blessing as a first baby. But he soon grew into his jiggling legs. He would sit and behave but his legs wriggled all the time. Tap, tap, tapping on the floor.

My other 2 boys came along and they also wriggled and jiggled. Even when they were doing their best to sit still. We would sit around the family dinner table, a happy little family of 5, and there would be this little ripple around the table as 4 of us jiggled our legs constantly. My long-suffering husband completely still and merely rolling his eyes at the merry dance of the family dinner.

My eldest son has developed a love of highly physical activities – mountain biking, skiing, 10km runs. He is overly active but for the most part, he sleeps well. He kicks himself awake sometimes, but he does sleep. He is only 27 though, so who knows what the future may hold. My other 2 sons don’t seem to have a bad dose of RLS and they have no trouble sleeping.

Restless legs syndrome and other family members

My brother and sister were hyperactive, but I never heard a discussion on RLS or insomnia. I can’t confidently talk about my extended family members as I’ve never actually asked, but I believe my father’s identical twin also had RLS, and I suspect his 2 daughters do as well. We’ve inherited enough of the other family traits – I’m sure RLS is just one more!

Benefits of staying active

Now, I am not a runner. Not even a pretend one. I did decide about 5 years ago to become a runner, but in hindsight, 50 is not the greatest age to start up daily running. I pulled a hamstring on day 3 and it took me 6 months to rehabilitate it. I am, however, usually pretty active. I go to the gym regularly and walk regularly. (Well, I lie, actually. Until my mental health deteriorated, I did those things regularly).

But when I walk, I walk quickly with long strides because somehow, that helps stretch my back. I am writing this at a standing desk, pacing around my house between every paragraph. Stillness is not my thing. The RLS just wants to run. The telltale sensations already radiating from my lower back.

Exercise releases endorphins, and endorphins (a lovely happiness hormone) can benefit sleep. So I wonder if all that running in my family counteracted the insomnia so often associated with restless legs syndrome. My family members run and RLS runs in my family. Run pun most definitely intended.