I have Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS), which can keep me up all night at times. I even have problems with it during the day and when riding in a vehicle.
I find when riding in the car I need to remove my shoes, keeping the shoes on causes the spasms to continue. If I am driving the car, I need to pull over and get out of the car and walk around and stretch my legs. Making more stops on a long trip helps a lot.
My doctor told me when I go to bed that I should place a bar of soap between the sheets. When I did that it was the first full night of sleep I got in months. I change the bar of soap often, which I also find helps. The bar of soap I have been having the best luck with so far has been Dove, I don’t know if it is because of the moisturizer in it or not. I have used all different kinds of bars of soaps, sometimes I use a couple bars at a time. Just so you know this does work, but not all of the time. That is when I change bars of soap.
When in bed at times I make sure that the top sheet and blankets are not covering my feet and parts of my legs (this I do when my legs are feeling sensitive). I also ask my husband to stop moving as this will also trigger symptoms. I have my own blankets so there is no chance of him bumping my legs, which also can trigger symptoms. Sometimes when they are really bad, I will go sleep on the couch or in another bed, as any small movement will cause my legs to spasm.
I also find at times when my legs get really bad that I need to desensitize them. I take a hair brush that has the little balls on the ends of the bristles and more or less brush/scratch my legs all over. I do my toes, feet, ankles, legs (fronts, sides, back, behind the knee. For my feet I scratch all over the feet as well. I will go up the entire length of my leg, and also along the inside of my thighs near the crotch area. I will do this scratching until my legs no longer feel sensitive to the touch..
When sitting next to someone I make sure there is a good 6 to 12 inches between us, because if they should brush up against my leg it will trigger a spasm.
If my legs hurt I take Extra strength Ibuprofen, Motrin, etc. It helps some of the time.
Another thing I do if my legs are really acting up bad is go up on my computer and play a game or something that will keep my mind busy, so I am not thinking of my legs, this sometimes takes a good hour or more, but does help.
Taking a long bath and using a wash cloth or a back brush on my legs helps to relax my legs. Exercising my legs or taking walks also helps. Getting out of the house and maybe walking through a department store also helps me out when being stuck in the house during the winter months.
When my legs are really bad, I find that if I do not wear any slacks or anything that touches my legs helps. In winter I will even wear shorty pajamas or shorts. The fabric does not touch the legs which helps a lot.
These are the things that I find help me to alleviate my Restless Leg Syndrome. I hope they will help you as well.