Sleeping With Restless Legs Syndrome: 3 Patients' Stories

No one knows for sure why restless legs syndrome (RLS) acts up at night (although doctors do have theories), but sufferers know that it does. For many RLS patients, the main motivation to seek treatment is their inability to sleep well. Here, three patients discuss how the condition has affected their slumber—and how well their medication therapies have worked.

"I slept in the bathtub"
Molly McGarvey, 62, has suffered from severe RLS and sleep deprivation for most of her adult life. "During my early 40s, I could not sleep through the night for about four years," says the real estate agent in Morgan Hill, Calif. "I still wonder how I managed to make it to work and function. I'd come home from work, fall asleep on the couch, get up to go to bed, and then would be up all night."

"Most nights, I slept in the bathtub: Sometimes having the whirlpool jets going the entire night helped, and it was the only way I could make it through the night without going insane. There was nights I wanted to end my life, it was that bad."

Finally, after her marriage dissolved because of her constant moodiness and irritability, McGarvey says, she went to a sleep clinic and was diagnosed with RLS. She was given Dopamine agonists medication, which began to work almost immediately. "I remember waking up in the morning, having slept an entire night and couldn't believe I actually rested."

McGarvey's medication usually helps her sleep at night, but when her RLS is at its peak, even a pill can't calm her legs. "I function, but sometimes I am very tired because my RLS acted up the night before. Once it kicks in, it's in and out of the bathtub, walking around the house, anything to relax me and get my mind off the creepy feelings in my legs."