14 Common Causes of Restless Legs

2. Diabetes

Diabetes can raise your risk of restless legs when it leads to nerve damage. High blood sugar over time can injure the small nerves in your feet and legs, and this damage is often called peripheral neuropathy. When nerves do not work well, you may feel tingling, burning, or “pins and needles” in your legs.

Some people notice sharp pain at night, while others lose feeling in their feet. These changes can feel similar to restless legs, or they can make existing symptoms worse. Nerve damage from diabetes usually starts in your feet and moves upward. Symptoms often become more noticeable when you lie down or try to sleep.

You may feel an urge to move your legs to ease the discomfort. Moving may help for a short time, but the feeling often returns. You also face a higher risk if you have had diabetes for many years, if your blood sugar stays high, or if you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol.

3. Kidney Failure

Kidney failure can lead to restless legs, especially if you have advanced kidney disease. Your kidneys clean waste and extra fluid from your blood. When they stop working well, waste builds up in your body. This buildup can affect your nerves and brain signals. As a result, you may feel tingling, crawling, or aching in your legs.

These feelings often get worse at night when you lie down. Restless legs are common in people who need dialysis. Changes in iron levels and certain body chemicals can also play a role. Low iron is common in kidney failure and can trigger symptoms.

You may notice that moving your legs gives short relief. Sitting still for long periods, such as during dialysis or in the evening, can make symptoms stronger. Poor sleep from restless legs can add to the fatigue you may already feel from kidney disease.

4. Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive movement disorder that affects your nervous system. It damages brain cells that produce dopamine, a chemical that helps control smooth and steady movement. As dopamine levels drop, you may notice changes in how your body moves. Common symptoms include tremors, muscle stiffness, and slow movement.

You may also have trouble with balance and coordination. These movement problems can affect your legs and may increase feelings of restlessness, especially during periods of inactivity. Parkinson’s disease and restless legs share a link to dopamine changes in the brain. When dopamine does not work as it should, you may feel an urge to move your legs to ease discomfort.

This urge often becomes stronger when you sit still or lie down. Some medicines used to treat Parkinson’s disease act on dopamine pathways. While these medicines can improve movement, changes in dose or timing may affect leg symptoms. You may notice that restlessness becomes more obvious in the evening or at night.

5. Pregnancy

Pregnancy can trigger restless legs, even if you have never had symptoms before. You may notice an urge to move your legs when you lie down or try to sleep. The feeling often worsens in the evening and improves when you move. Roughly 1 in 5 pregnant women report symptoms, most often in the third trimester.

Hormone changes, weight gain, and pressure on nerves can all play a role. These body changes can affect how your brain controls movement and sensation. Low iron levels are also common during pregnancy. Iron helps your brain use dopamine, a chemical that supports smooth muscle movement.

When iron drops, you may feel more leg discomfort, tingling, or crawling sensations. In most cases, symptoms improve within days or weeks of delivery. If you had restless legs during pregnancy, you may face a higher chance of having it again in a future pregnancy. Some women also develop ongoing symptoms later in life.

6. Depression and Anxiety

Depression and anxiety can affect how your brain handles movement and sleep. When you live with these conditions, you may notice a stronger urge to move your legs at night. Stress and low mood can also make body sensations feel more intense. You might find that your legs feel more restless during times of worry or sadness.

Anxiety can keep your body in a state of tension. That tension may increase the crawling, tingling, or pulling feelings linked to restless legs. Sleep problems are common in both depression and anxiety. If you struggle to fall or stay asleep, your restless legs symptoms may seem worse.

Poor sleep can then raise your stress level, which creates a cycle that is hard to break. Some people with restless legs also take antidepressants or other mental health medicines. Certain types, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and other antidepressant classes, may increase leg symptoms in some people.

7. Celiac Disease

Celiac disease is a long-term immune condition that affects your small intestine. When you eat gluten, your immune system attacks the lining of your gut. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. This damage can stop your body from absorbing key nutrients like iron, calcium, and certain vitamins.

Over time, poor absorption can lead to problems such as anemia and bone loss. These changes may play a role in restless legs symptoms, especially if your iron levels drop. You may notice digestive symptoms such as bloating, diarrhea, gas, or belly pain.

Some people lose weight or feel very tired. Others have no clear stomach problems but still develop nutrient shortages. Low iron is a known trigger for restless legs. If celiac disease lowers your iron stores, you may feel a strong urge to move your legs, especially at night. You might also notice tingling, crawling, or pulling feelings that improve when you move.

8. Fibromyalgia Syndrome

Fibromyalgia syndrome is a long-term condition that causes widespread body pain. You may feel aching, burning, or throbbing in your muscles and joints. Many people also report deep fatigue and poor sleep. This condition can link to restless legs because both involve changes in how your nervous system handles pain and movement signals.

When your brain becomes more sensitive to pain, it may also increase unusual leg sensations at night. You might notice an urge to move your legs when you lie down or try to sleep. Fibromyalgia affects more women than men, but anyone can develop it. It often begins in middle age, though younger people can have it as well.

The exact cause remains unclear. Research suggests that your brain may process pain signals differently, which can raise your sensitivity to touch and discomfort. If you live with fibromyalgia, you may also have mood changes such as anxiety or depression. These issues can further disturb your sleep and worsen restless legs symptoms.

9. Medications

Some medicines can trigger or worsen restless legs. If your symptoms started after you began a new drug, your treatment may play a role. Certain drug classes affect brain chemicals that control movement and sensation. These include some antidepressants, antipsychotics, and antihistamines, especially the older types that cause drowsiness.

When these drugs change dopamine levels in your brain, they can increase the urge to move your legs. Other medicines may also contribute, including some anti-nausea drugs, certain blood pressure medicines, and some cold or allergy products. Even over-the-counter sleep aids can make symptoms worse in some people.

If you take medicine for depression, anxiety, allergies, or stomach problems, review the timing of your symptoms. Notice if your legs feel more restless after you take a dose or at night when the drug is most active. Do not stop a prescribed medicine on your own, and a healthcare professional can decide if the drug may be linked to your symptoms.

10. Caffeine

Caffeine can trigger or worsen restless legs symptoms. You may notice more tingling, crawling, or burning feelings in your legs after you drink coffee, tea, soda, or energy drinks. Caffeine stimulates your brain and nervous system, which can support alertness but may also make muscles and nerves more active.

This extra stimulation may increase the urge to move your legs, especially when you try to relax at night. Symptoms often feel stronger in the evening, and caffeine can stay in your body for several hours if you drink it later in the day.

This may delay sleep and make leg discomfort more noticeable when you lie down. Large amounts can also raise your heart rate and make you feel restless in general. If you already struggle with sleep, caffeine can make the problem worse.

11. Alcohol

Alcohol can trigger or worsen restless legs, especially in the evening. It affects your nervous system and changes how your brain controls movement and sleep. Even a few drinks may increase leg discomfort at night. Drinking disturbs your sleep cycle. You might fall asleep faster, but your sleep becomes lighter and more broken during the night. Poor sleep can make the urge to move your legs feel worse.

Heavy or long-term alcohol use damages your nerves. This nerve damage, called alcoholic neuropathy, may cause numbness, tingling, burning, or pain in your legs. These sensations can feel similar to restless legs or intensify existing symptoms. Alcohol also lowers certain vitamins in your body, such as B vitamins. Low levels of these nutrients affect nerve health and increase unusual leg sensations.

12. Refined Sugars

Refined sugars affect how your body and brain work, especially at night. When you eat foods high in added sugar, your blood sugar rises fast and then drops, which may trigger restlessness in your legs as you try to relax or sleep.

Many sugary foods lack key nutrients. Over time, a diet high in refined sugar may lower your iron levels, especially if it replaces iron-rich foods. Low iron is linked to restless legs because iron helps control dopamine, a brain chemical that supports smooth muscle movement.

Common sources of refined sugar include candy, chocolate bars, sugary cereals, pastries and baked goods, soda, energy drinks, and sweetened coffee drinks. Eating these foods late in the day may worsen symptoms. Sugar can increase alertness and make it harder for your body to settle down.

Large amounts of sugar may make tingling, crawling, or the urge to move your legs at night more noticeable. High sugar intake also raises your risk of weight gain and type 2 diabetes. Nerve damage linked to diabetes often starts in the feet and legs and may cause tingling, burning, or numbness.

13. Temperature

Temperature changes can trigger or worsen restless legs. You may notice symptoms more at night when your body cools down, and many people report that heat makes the urge to move stronger. Hot weather, warm rooms, or heavy blankets raise your skin temperature. This can increase leg discomfort such as tingling, crawling, or burning feelings.

When you feel too warm, your legs may become more restless. Cold can also play a role, as some people feel more stiffness and discomfort in cold air, while others find that cool air or a cold floor helps calm their legs for a short time.

Your body’s temperature follows a daily rhythm and drops in the evening as you prepare for sleep, which may affect brain chemicals that help control movement. Small temperature shifts can influence how strong your symptoms feel and how often they appear.

14. Exercise

Your activity level affects how often you feel restless legs symptoms. Both too little exercise and too much intense exercise can make symptoms worse. When you sit for long periods, such as during travel or desk work, your legs may start to feel uncomfortable.

You may notice creeping, tingling, or an urge to move. Regular movement during the day may help reduce this problem, while simple actions like short walks, light stretching, or standing breaks can lower discomfort. Very hard workouts late in the evening can also trigger symptoms. Heavy training can overstimulate your muscles and nerves, making it harder for you to relax at night.

You might fall asleep more slowly or wake up because your legs feel restless, so moderate exercise works best. Activities such as walking, cycling at an easy pace, swimming, or gentle strength training support healthy blood flow and nerve function.