What Is Restless Leg Syndrome?
Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) is effectively a sleep disorder but is more directly considered a neurological disorder where nerve endings in the legs signal pain, throbbing, tingling, or other sensations without external stimulation. Those nerve signals trigger an uncontrollable urge for movement in the legs. RLS symptoms occur principally upon laying down for sleep or when you are at rest, though the condition is likely to keep you from easily falling asleep or relaxing entirely. In fact, the only thing that sometimes relieves restless leg symptoms is to get up and walk around.
RLS typically can affect the feet as well as the upper and lower legs with a variety of sensations, all pushing the sufferer into moving their legs. Your legs may twitch spontaneously as well (something called periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD)). Unfortunately, the cause of RLS is not well understood, though it can occur alongside pregnancy, and risk of enduring the condition rises with age. Furthermore, iron deficiency may at least worsen restless leg syndrome.
Find a Natural Treatment for Restless Leg Syndrome!
Where modern medicine fails, a number of home remedies for restless leg syndrome may help you relieve your RLS symptoms, get some sleep, and get back to your normal life. However, the most popular (very popular!) is to place a bar of soap between or near your legs as you sleep. You have to read about it to understand! Baking soda and a few other home cures have helped others relieve restless leg syndrome as well, and you can find all the details below.
SOAP – I had an incident last night ..my legs just wouldn’t stop moving. I’ve had RLS in the past. So, last night while in bed trying to sleep I just could not get to sleep because of my legs … how horrible this thing is. Well around 4:15 a.m. I got up and came to my computer,,,opened Earth Clinic, looked up RLS and saw how so many people were getting unbelievable results with SOAP ??? So, I opened a new bar of Dove,, put it under the sheets by my feet,,,and…..dozed off in no time. Just cannot believe what a miracle with such a simple, clean, solution – oh dear Mother Nature how we love you. Everyone has cancer in this country (including me) because they have destroyed and contaminated You all for money!!! God bless you all and sleep well.
I had been suffering from restless leg syndrome for several years; only in my right leg. The problem would hit me in the evening, and would keep me from being able to sleep at night. I found a product which is a combo of homeopathic preps and herbs, and this works, but only for a few hours, and I think it was giving me nosebleeds too. So I spent time online looking to discover another approach to the problem.
What I came up with is three B vitamins: Vitamin B12, folic acid, and niacin, all in megadoses. Within a matter of a few days on this protocol, my restless leg problem rapidly diminished down to nothing.
I now take 300mcg of B12, 800mcg of folic acid, 1000mg of niacin. I take these amounts with each meal, so that is a total of three times those dosages each day. Niacin (with flush) (nicotinic acid) is apparently more effective for restless leg than no-flush niacin. I discovered my body quickly adapted to the flush, and barely registers it any more. But I started at a much lower dose so my body could have time to adjust to the niacin.
I've gotten great relief from RLS by taking a multiple vitamin and mineral supplement just before climbing into bed at night (or if the RLS bothers me earlier in the evening, I'll take the supplement then). Within 15 minutes of taking the supplement, my RLS symptoms go away. This has been working consistently for several years and I'm posting this in hopes that it may help others. When I first tackled the RLS problem, I tried just taking individual supplements since I had read that a potassium, magnesium or iron deficiency could be causing the RLS, but the individual supplement method didn't help my problem. Apparently, in my case there must be a deficiency of several minerals. As long as I take the multiple vitamin and mineral supplement, I don't suffer from RLS. That's why I think that RLS sufferers get relief by taking black strap molasses since it contains many minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium, etc.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! A small piece of soap in each sock ended the restless leg almost immediately. Did not help me get back to sleep, but what a wonderful cure for the restless legs!
I'm a very active person and would get restless legs regularly or, when doing yoga intensely, restless arms. Rubbing apple cider vinegar worked like magic for me, so I would keep it by the bed. It would immediately stop the restlessness. After changing jobs and being on my feet all day I started getting the restless legs coming down from my lower back. This time a hot water bottle on my lower back did the trick for a while, also rubbing Amol (a rubbing solution made in Poland), but I had days when these remedies didn't work.
So I desperately searched Earth Clinic (which I always do when in need for remedies) and found baking soda. AND THAT DID THE TRICK THIS TIME!
Thank you guys and thank you so much Earth Clinic for bringing so much relief, clarity, and sanity into our stressful and demanding lives.
I am a neuroscientist and I suffer from Restless Leg Syndrome. I've racked my brain trying to figure out why it works, but it does. About 6 months ago my wife started putting 3 bars of Irish Spring soap under the sheets next to my legs and my RLS has subsided about 90% (Ivory sop didn't work). I think the effect may be olfactory – the soap has to be strong smelling), but I haven't tested it (putting the soap next to my head instead of my legs). I am the world's biggest skeptic and I'm flabbergasted, but really, it works.
Restless leg syndrome was the bane of my existence until one day I was talking to a friend who is a PhD in pharmacy and she offhandedly said, "Restless legs? Take fish oil." Just like that my problem was solved. I take 2400 mg. of fish oil before bed and haven't had a problem in months. Truly a miracle as I had tried literally everything else I heard of to solve this problem. I hope this helps others have a good night's sleep.
I've had restless legs for years and I've tried all the remedies mentioned here in EC. Many of them worked for a while and then stopped so I'd switch to another only to experience the same disappointment. Quite by accident I learned that eliminating sugar from my diet completely eliminated those darned restless legs. And by sugar I mean “blatant” sugar! I'm talking about stuff like cake, pie, cookies, syrups, candy, and anything that is loaded with it. I don't obsess over it or scrutinize every label, but so far this approach is working like magic. I hope this helps someone.
Restless leg sufferer for 35 years. For the past five years I have had complete and total success with one or more of the following:
1. Bar of soap under the sheets in bed.
2. Rub the bar of soap on your legs, just gently stroke the bar on the legs a couple of times.
3. Aloe Vera on the legs. Sometimes this might take up to 3 applications.
Mustard for Restless Legs
Eat a spoonful of mustard before bed! It's working for me so far! It's like a miracle cure!
What kind of mustard? I have suffered restless feet and legs for years.
RLS – I tried the baking soda and water remedy about ten minutes ago boy my leg feels great also a bar of dial soap in a sock oh feels better. Thanks for the remedy.
Betty where exactly do you put the bar of soap? Near the feet,,, or does it have to be wearing the sock with the soap in it?? Don’t think I will do that. Thanks for the info.
I can't believe that this works, but it does. My husband often gets restless legs at night and after checking this site and seeing the soap suggestion, I figured "why not, " especially because we had two fresh unwrapped bars of Dove soap (it happens to be shea butter scented but I don't think it matters). My husband put one bar each in a pair of ski socks (ha, lots of room for a bar of soap) and put the socks on while he reclined on the couch. He said it worked within a couple of minutes. He's now used this remedy about 5 times since then and it works every time. He leaves the socks on for about 15 minutes and even after removing them, he has no problems for the rest of the night. Bizarre.
OMG thank you! I seriously never thought to put it in my sock while I'm relaxing. It worked in seconds!
Apple Cider Vinegar for Restless Legs…
If I can feel the restlessness creeping into my legs as the evening moves on, I'll take a spoonful of ACV in water. (Of course then I have to rinse my teeth off… too much acid.) But another thing that is helpful is HEAT, in the form of a hot water bottle between my legs. This is usually enough to keep me comfortable so that I can sleep without having to get out of bed and go get the vinegar. It must be because it relaxes my muscles. I've heard other people have success with sea salt, but I haven't found it makes a difference for me, and I already get plenty of sea salt/ Himalayan salt in my diet…
Hi, what's working for my RLS is a cold room. I've had RLS since I was a kid till now, 50+ years.
Found a/c need to cool room 20 deg and take two potassium pills. This is it. all the best.
I have had RLS for 30+ years. The following have worked for me, and my RLS will recur without one of these very convenient and inexpensive "cures":
1. Bar of soap in the bed by my legs…sometimes 2 bars. Brand doesn't seem to matter.
2. Massage calves with aloe vera or any type of body lotion(I prefer coconut oil). For some reason, icy hot doesn't work. Also massage small amount of lotion into lower back.
3. Carbonyl iron.
So true about blackstrap molasses and RLS.
Posted by Jennifer (Greenfield, WI) on 02/28/2007
I went to the health food store to ask about what I could give my 15 month-old son for constipation. They suggested 1-2 tsp. of blackstrap molasses in his bottle. I bought the bottle, came home, came to this website and discovered all different things this stuff is good for. I am 8 months pregnant. I was having a lot of trouble sleeping and developing symptoms of restless leg syndrome (common in pregnancy). I decided to give it a shot. Long story short, my son is pooping like a champ and I started sleeping through the night without any jerking limbs ON THE FIRST DAY! I ran out for one day, and I had a horrible night sleep. I am amazed and delighted.
I don't remember where I found the remedy but as long as I have a tbls a day my legs don't twitch at night. People roll their eyes when I tell them. I put 1 tbls of BSM in a cup of hot water with 1 tbls of dry milk. It tastes good that way so I don't mind drinking it.
Can I use this as I am a diabetic?
Julie,
Some with diabetes can use Blackstrap, others cannot. Perhaps you could try a small amount (1/2 teaspoon) and see how it affects your sugar.
You might be better off using a magnesium supplement and increase your foods containing potassium (like spinach.)
Magnesium oil can be sprayed onto the legs at bedtime. It absorbs right into the muscles.
~Mama to Many~
I have had chronic RLS for 5 years. 5 years without sleep! I have tried everything, I thought, without success. Then, 3 weeks ago, I read a posting on a ME site, (I have ME as well) by someone that had been on a low oxalate diet for a year. He had not had RLS since starting the diet. I had just finished a whole 30 diet which made me feel terrible. I couldn't understand this as I was eating lots of spinach, carrots, nuts and beetroot.
I read the post about the Low oxalate diet, and he had listed the food that I had been eating, and ate a lot of before the diet. I straight away went to the low oxalate info page and read everything. Straight away stopped eating high oxalate food, but so not to start my body 'dumping', ate medium to low oxalate food. I have experienced only slight twitching, more annoying than anything, with three nights of just an awareness feeling in my legs. With pretty much three full nights of sleep. For me this is miraculous! I have by the side of my bed oils, magnesium, homeopathic remedies and creams. The only thing I have used since starting the diet is an essential oil for nerves, and I have only used it a few times.
I highly recommend this diet. Read all that you can, start slowly and persevere! There are many conditions that a low oxalate diet helps.
Just wanted to comment on the stiffness someone mentioned in an RLS post. I read recently about a remedy that has really worked well for me. I was experiencing stiffness upon waking so much so that I was hobbling around in the mornings. It also effected me when I would get up from sitting down. My fingers would swell an be stiff as well. I read about boron deficiency and how stiffness was one side effect of it. The remedy: Borax. Seems borax is a mineral that was marketed for its cleaning properties. I did as directed and added a heaping tsp of borax to a quart of water. I then took 4 tablespoons of this mixture and added it to my iced tea, although any beverage would work. After a couple of days I noticed an huge difference. I have been taking it for about 3 weeks now and feel SO much better. The stiffness in my fingers is all but gone and I am not in pain upon waking or getting up from a sitting position.
Soap absolutely works, my husband has suffered with RLS for years, I read about soap and thought I'd give it a try without his knowledge to avoid the placebo effect. That was almost four weeks ago and he has not had an episode since. He filled his prescription for Requip on 7/8/16 and hasn't taken the first pill. He's NEVER gone this long, in fact he was taking a pill EVERY night. First I placed one bar of dial under the fitted sheet at the foot of the bed, the soap was YEARS old so after two days I added a fresh bar of Dove with it…they're both still there and working like magic. I was very skeptical and assumed it would NOT work but to my surprise it work even better than the Requip!!! So don't count this one out….it truly works and believe me I'm just as surprised as you are!!! I finally told him about it and he too was skeptical but it's still working so we're going with it!!!! There's a lot more to these old wives tales than we know or understand!!
I tried Dove and it didn't work as it is a cream. So I tried something else and yes, it works. I too have suffered for many years and actually had a lie in this morning. Try it.
I just read your message about the soap n saw how it bothers him & me massaging n cooling his feet. So I put a new bar of Irish spring n now it's been about 10 mins he is not moving anymore! Thank you on soap idea
Butcher's Broom helps with restless leg syndrome. Used to work in a vitamin store and customers loved it.
Can you give more details? How much and in what form did you take it?
Thank you for this website. It has proven to be very helpful.
My particular situation concerning Restless Leg Syndrome has been getting steadily worse as I have aged. (I am a 65 year old male in relatively good health)
My Dr. checked my magnesium and that was at the upper end, but still in the acceptable parameters. He suggested Benadryl and/or melatonin to help me get to sleep. These both made me sleepy, but with the RLS raging, I could never relax enough to fall off to sleep.
I tried cutting out all sugar after a certain time of day but that didn't help either. I also put a bar of Ivory soap between the sheets, to no avail.
One night recently, as I lay on top of the covers listening to music and playing games on my tablet, waiting to get sleepy, it occurred to me that my legs had not yet started to spasm. This was curious, so I made a point to stay out from underneath the covers and wait for them to start. They never did!
What I deduced was that when under the covers, (which for me included an electric blanket because I don't like getting into a cold bed! ) my legs would heat up and the spasms would start. As long as I was on top of the covers wearing a pair of sweats, if need be, they stayed cool enough and spasm-free.
Later on, after I get up to use the bathroom and return to bed, I get under the covers to finish out the night, with no spasms. I also have stopped using the electric blanket.
I don't understand it, nor can I explain it, but I can tell you honestly I have not had a case of RLS while getting to sleep ever since I have being doing this, and it is going on a month now!
I hope that this in not something that is restricted to my situation, and that other people can find relief, as I have.
Please treat RLS as a serious warning sign. People should know that it leads to earlier death.
There is a website called http://www.rlcure.com which lays out the larger picture for RLS. Everyone with RLS should read it.
I have for many years used magnesium glycinate but as I was getting older, it was getting worse and worse and I was feeling it as a more deathly omen.
For many people with RLS, curing the problem involves multiple areas
Controlling Inflammation. You use supplements like Curcumin BCM-95, Grapeseed extract, Astaxanthin, Pterostilbene.
Controlling Excitotoxicity. You use NMDA antagonists Taurine, Magtein. I stopped using PharmaGABA and L-Theanine since it may negate the protective effects of taurine. I take the (1500mg) taurine on empty stomach upon rising and going to bed. I take one capsule Magtein 20 minutes after the taurine to minimize any possible interaction with taurine. Not everyone with RLS has this problem but it is a relatively common problem among RLS sufferers.
Diet: I eat glutamate foods in moderation or smaller servings and a relatively healthy diet.
This was also an underlying problem for my occipital neuralgia and Atypical trigeminal (facial) pain.
I have suffered from RLS since I was a child. At 64 I have found a cure for me. I take 2 magnesium capsules 400 mg about 8 pm. It allows me a restful sleep. ALSO avoid sugar. Especially after noon.
I have suffered from RLS for about 15 years.Nearly every day whether trying to sleep, reading, watching tv, whatever.In all this time I have hardly had ONE decent nights sleep.
I tried the soap remedy and it worked for only a short while, so I needed something else.
I wondered why the soap worked at all.Was it because it's alkaline? If so then wouldn't baking soda also work?
I wrapped some baking soda in a tea towel and set it by my legs and immediately felt a surge in circulation.About two weeks and it's still working.
I would be interested to know if this works for anyone else.
I have suffered from rls off and on and it seems to me it can have more than one cause. A bar of soap was zero help for me. You must be sure your iron is at good levels, not just low average, but at optimal levels. It seems that having fruit juice or anything sugary after about noon, but especially if close to bed time, can aggravate the problem. Your calcium, magnesium and potassium need to be adequate and balanced. I have found daily smoothies with plenty of spinach and yams to be very, very helpful in that regard. If you are having a bad night then soaking your feet in a generous amount of Epsom salt in warm water will relax your muscles and help you sleep. Epsom salt seems also to be a good way to get magnesium.
Hi all, I too have suffered from restless legs and sometimes arms. Two things have worked for me. One, apply pressure to legs to still the nerves. I sit with the restless leg underneath me. It will go away in about 20 minutes.
The other thing is dietary changes, eliminating sugar, grains, alcohol, legumes, dairy. I am on day 6 of a 30 day elimination diet. Try it!
What really works for me is also compression on my legs. You must try compression stockings. They are primarily for circulation however the pressure does definitely ease the restless legs. I'm not saying it will take it completely away but help drastically. You can look them up online and try at least 30 to 40 mm of pressure. I use 40 to 50 and they work really well. They're a little difficult to get on but definitely worth it.
RLS: I drink tonic water with quinine. I have never found it without quinine. I like it so I sip on it all day and into the evening. If I'm not home all day, I sip on it all evening. My doctor suggested 12 oz. in the evening. That amount worked initially but sipping on it all evening is a must now. Every once in a while it will act up despite the tonic water. I don't just have the creepy crawlies that make me need to stretch my legs with no relief. I also have uncontrollable movement of one or both of my legs. I used to have it in my arms also. They would flail on their own during the night. Jerking up. Typically the left arm. When it acts up I chug the tonic water. Glass after glass. On the rare occasion it takes longer to take effect.
Epsom salt has been very effective at relieving RLS!!! WOW so happy!
I have a warm epsom salt bath using 2 cups of epsom salt in the bath, every night before bed.
I also take 800mg of Magnesium Glycinate daily (400mg am, and 400mg pm).
RLS can be very painful, excruciating, and I am so happy to have found relief finally.
Thank you for this cure
The screaming crying agony I was in last night had no words. I rubbed, moved, twitched but my legs still hurt and my feet hurt. I didn't have bar soap but I tried the deodorant and it worked!!! Within seconds the agony stopped. I could sleep. I forgot to do my feet, woke up to hours later in more pain. put more on my feet and beautiful relief!!!! Thank you!!!
Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) is often thought of as an inexplicable movement of the legs at night. In fact, it is a neurological disorder characterized primarily by unpleasant sensations, particularly below the knees, that result in the movements. There are many different descriptions of the sensations, among them are: a crawling feeling; a creeping inside the calves; aches and pains in the legs; or pins and needles, a prickly feeling. These sensations are accompanied by an urge, often irresistible, to move the legs in order to provide relief from the discomfort. In other words, the distressing feelings include within them a sense that movement will alleviate them; movement usually does help. Since the restless legs condition occurs most often during inactivity, particularly at night, the best relief-getting up and walking around-disrupts sleep. But, so does the movement of the legs while in bed, which prevents easily falling asleep (or falling back to sleep after wakening). Restless legs syndrome is commonly discussed in the field of sleep disorders (1,2).
The syndrome was first mentioned by an English doctor, Thomas Willis, in 1672. In 1861, a German doctor, Theodor Wittmaack, described it as Anxietas tibiarum (literally anxiety of the lower leg muscles: the tibialis). The Swedish doctor Karl Ekbom in 1945 reported his observations in 34 persons with the condition and used the term “restless legs;” later, he observed 70 additional typical cases. Ekborn founded the department of clinical neurology of Uppsala University in 1956, continuing his studies of restless legs, which was known for some time as Ekbom's Syndrome or Wittmaack-Ekbom Syndrome. Much progress in understanding the disorder has been made recently as new study techniques have been developed.
Restless Legs Syndrome may have a genetic component (especially when onset is before age 50), and it is partly related to dopamine activity in the brain affecting function of the cerebral cortex; this is the same neurotransmitter involved in Parkinson's disease. Dopamine agonists (drugs that stimulate the dopamine receptors in the same way dopamine does) and dopamine itself (e.g., l-dopa) are often effective in treating the condition. However, studies suggest that the specific dopamine systems in the brain differ in Restless Legs Syndrome versus Parkinson's disease; the two disorders can coexist when dopamine levels are quite low.
Restless Legs Syndrome mainly occurs past age 50, and affects about 10% of those in that age group; it is particularly common in women. Poor circulation in the legs-which may result from history of smoking, diabetes, lack of exercise, and other factors-contributes to the development of the condition. Nutritional deficiency, particularly lack of bound iron, is known to exacerbate the disorder. The syndrome may also occur temporarily during late pregnancy, possibly as the result of reduced circulation in the legs and lower levels of folate (a B vitamin, B9).
Tests have suggested that serum levels of both ferretin and folate are involved in nutritional aspects of Restless Legs Syndrome (3-5). The levels of these nutrients within cells may not be relevant, nor, apparently, are levels of hemoglobin or free iron. Administration of iron and folate in deficiency cases can provide some relief and sometimes resolve the problem entirely. Folate deficiencies can result from genetic defects, low absorption, or dietary insufficiency (recommended intake for adults is 400 ?g/day). The following table displays good sources of folate (see the article Iron Deficiency Anemia for good dietary sources of iron; suggested daily iron intake is 7 mg for men; 12-16 mg for women). Some foods are rich sources of both folate and iron, especially liver (and, to a lesser extent, other meats), spinach (and, to a lesser extent, most green leafy vegetables), and several legumes (beans and peas). Fortified foods, such as breads and cereals, are also good sources of these nutrients. Folate was named for leaves (foliage) that were noted to be a significant source; the supplement form is called folic acid. Current recommendations suggest limiting intake of supplements with folic acid to 1,000 ?g (= 1 mg) per day, but the concern for high doses is eliminated when vitamin B12 is also administered.
http://www.itmonline.org/arts/restlessleg.htm
I had RLS, only it was all over my body, it started mainly in my legs and then eventually got really bad everywhere. I had never heard of the soap trick until now. However, I went on a no carb diet for a few weeks to lose a few pounds and the Body RLS completely stopped. I tested it further by introducing wheat back into my diet, it came back. Now, I eat a totally wheat free diet as much as possible, sometimes when I'm out with friends I can't follow it well, but I mostly eat at home. Within about 3 hours of me consuming bread, pasta or crackers, or pizza, cake etc…anything with wheat, it starts up again. I don't have celiac, and no one else in my family has any history of wheat sensitivity. My joints also swell up, I feel very arthritic and my energy level goes way down, that's just after ONE serving! So, just wanted to let you all know that there may be a root cause that you don't know about. It might be the modern wheat, it might be the roundup they use to dry today's wheat crops to get them to market faster, I don't know. I just know. I don't use wheat anymore and don't have the problems.
This is an autoimmune condition. Try to find some answers here, you need to learn about SHEN.
http://www.itmonline.org/shen/
and here:RESTLESS LEGS SYNDROME AND CHINESE MEDICINE
http://www.itmonline.org/arts/restlessleg.htm
I have suffered from restless legs for the past two years and it had gotten steadily worse. I tried everything I read about on this site and nothing worked for me. Then, I saw a posting on People's Pharmacy about Folic Acid, so I went to the supplement store to get some. The lady there suggested Methyl Folate, which she said is a more absorbable form of Folic Acid. I took one 400 mcg at dinner, and another 400 mcg at bedtime. It has done wonders for my restless legs. I still get them, but much less often and much less severely. I wanted to share this so that others can benefit from it. I love this site.
Interesting site. Ran across it because someone had inquired at a UK site about using molasses to relieve RLS, so I did a search and this forum came up in the results. Because this is a site centered on finding natural relief, I am assuming most people here probably don't use much in the way of prescription meds, but I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents' worth – cholesterol lowering meds are so widely prescribed now, people need to know that they trigger RLS as do a lot of other meds.
Now for what has helped me immeasurably – when I realized that lower back trouble triggers RLS in me, I invested in an inversion table that I try to use every night. It has done wonders for me. As my back goes, so goes RLS. And I have found that lower back exercises also will calm it down, specifically the "bridge", and the "bird dog". You can do an internet search for those with the word "exercise" and find them pretty easily if you want to give them a try.
There's a few people who seem to think others aren't taking RLS seriously all because others are on this site sharing their positive results from what they've tried. Well for those of you who haven't noticed, most of us who are suffering with some ailment or another are pretty fed up with not being helped by the doctors they see or even medication that's more lethal than the ailment itself. We have chosen to become active in helping to heal our own bodies by making decisions based on what WE feel is right for OUR bodies and everyone has that same choice rather they use it or not.
When people who have had success with a certain protocol share their knowledge, that's such a wonderful blessing to others who have RLS or any other ailment and who DO have the hope of receiving help. Even if it only helps 10% of the majority, it worked for someone, they are thankful! 🙂 How selfish & heartless it is when people are criticized for sharing knowledge for relief with others, regardless of how ridiculous the method may sound to those criticizing all because the method didn't work for them. So that leaves me wondering why are they even here on this website? Earth clinic is a place where people come and share their knowledge based on what they've tried and what did and didn't help them. Most of the remedies listed on this site may seem strange, weird or unexplanatory as to how they scientifically work so that just makes me more curious as to why people who criticize would even bother reading on this website. If all these wonderful testimonies weren't to my liking, I would be reading elsewhere instead of trying to discourage people who are looking and hoping for some form of relief from their ailment.
As for my own personal experience with RLS, I have symptoms off and on and like a majority of others have stated symptoms are more aggressive when low magnesium and sugar are in the picture. These 2 are the prime triggers for MY symptoms. Once I raise my magnesium levels and cut out the sugar the symptoms usually resolve rather quickly. At times I can eat sugar and a few hours later I will have full blown symptoms mostly in my legs after I fall asleep. It would also be good for others to make sure they aren't dealing with some type of anxiety disorder as well because foods do cause certain chemical reactions within the body and these chemicals sometime cause anxiety to buildup in the muscles and a person can show signs resemble RLS especially if they aren't an active person, based on MY own experience. In my case, I've been diagnosed with both disorders.
I have also gotten relief a few times from doing exercises in which I tighten all my body muscles at once and hold them for about 15 seconds, then I release them. After doing these exercises for about 10 or 15 minutes I can usually fall back to sleep most nights. This may not work for everyone but it's a lot better than not trying anything. Be your OWN critic, try anything that's safe of course or don't! Just remember, you still have nothing to lose except the faith to believe your circumstances could change from YOU not trying.
What type of magnesium works best for RLS? I take Glycinate however some people say that may not be the best. Thank you
Well Kim, I have consistently recommended Magnesium Chloride LIQUID for leg muscle issues on this Site and I hope this will help you. Follow the maker's directions. If it does indeed prove beneficial for you, it ought to show results VERY quickly indeed! That is the good news. Please let us know if it does help you.
Cheers, Michael
Not sure if this passes for a "natural" remedy, but it's the first thing that I've known to help my particular RLS, so passing it on. Potassium Gluconate. It's sold in the vitamin/mineral section of the department or drug store, usually in 595 mg doses. I take one capsule before bed and it improves my condition. This would suggest that in my case a potassium deficiency might pertain to the RLS. Natural foods high in potassium include sweet potatoes and bananas. I also make certain not to go to bed cold (I find it advisable to keep warm, at least to start the night).
Grass-fed Liver for Restless Leg Syndrome.
I was pregnant with my now almost one year old and developed RLS in the fifth or sixth month of gestation. It was HORRIFIC. I went about three weeks without sleep, exhausted beyond words. My mood was foul, I was a mental case. I knew I'd find a cure, so spent night after night searching. Eventually I found a great site, and realised I was lacking folate. Not folic acid which is some budget man-made chemical, but genuine bio-available pure folate from clean animal sources. Being paleo helps too.
I bought some grass-fed calves liver the following morning, ate up about half a cup and slept more deeply and with the greatest relief, you will only know the bliss that accompanied that sleep if you've suffered from this evil modern curse yourself.
Grass-fed liver- beef, ox, lamb, even chicken liver in pate. Get some folate in you.
I currently take magnesium for restless leg syndrome. It resolves the situation.
I take an activated form B complex containing
Folate (as Quatrefolic [6S]-5-Methyltetrahydrofolic acid equivalent to 800 mcg of [6S]-5-Methyltetrahydrofolic acid, glucosamine salt) 400 mcg
This is suppose to be bio available.
Did you try this before trying liver. Also how much Folate would you estimate you are consuming.
Liver is very high in IRON.
The high iron content is probably why eating liver gave relief.
There is 23mg of Iron in just 100g of liver!
Liver (Pork, Chicken, Turkey, Lamb, Beef)
My favourite source of iron is Black-strap Molasses. It contains bio-available iron.
Suffered with Restless Leg Syndrome from the age of 25-35. Then tried Nature's Way- Silent Night. Worked for a few years. Then onto IRON CARBONITE. Once that stopped working, I was really stuck.
Then I heard of the soap on this site. Soap worked for me, for several years. It was amazing. But then, little by little the restlessness came back.
Recently, just out of the blue, I decided to rub ALOA VERA from the bottle on my calves just before I go to sleep. I would say a teaspoon and a half covers both calves.
I do feel the sensation initially, but the RLS is much duller than is typical. Then, the sensation just fades completely away.
I am hoping between the Aloe and the soap I will have beaten this thing.
The earliest I can remember having Restless Leg Syndrome is at 20. I didn't know it than. I now 36 and have found that diet has helped control the RLS. For me, egg yolk and various dairy products spark my RLS symptoms. I also discovered that taking baths or showers with lots of soap prior to retiring to my bed helped reduce my RLS. I use my husbands soap Dove for men or Zest or Irish Spring. All work. When I place a bar in my bath water and let it dissolve and stay there for 20 minutes I get better results. I also found that deodorant Secret clinical strength works when I rub it on my leg. I am sharing this because I have researched many ways to overcome this excruciating discomfort. It is not a joke to me and I can only hope that my sharing can provide someone else with some relief. I too believe that no one persons body chemistry is the same but we have to stick together to find ways to live the best quality of life that we deserve.
I have had Restless Leg Syndrome for about 50 years and went to hosp for surg just lately. Guess what I needed IV Magnesium.
I have had rls since my first pregnancy a lot of years ago. It is definitely not funny and has kept me awake and miserable for over 50 years. I am trying the baking soda now and will try other non drugs also. Say a prayer!
Jean, why baking soda if you need magnesium?
Hello From Lenexa Kansas!! I have been having a terrible time with this restless leg thing. I was so uncomfortable and it was already 2:30 am and so tired from not sleeping the night before for this same reason. I was beside myself and then I remembered this web site. I got out of bed and turned on the PC to look for it. I was relieved just knowing I found the site! LOL
I had read somewhere that it was a magnesium deficiency that caused this problem and even though the magnesium tabs would stop it the other side effect of the magnesium is profuse diarrhea. It (diarrhea) stops in about 24 hours when you realize that it's you who is causing the dilemma.
Anyway….I drank that baking soda and water thing and added apple cider vinegar and that didn't seem to work for very long. So here it is 4:30 am and I am frustrated beyond words. I go back to the PC….and thought about the soap testimonies for a moment. I had read the wonderful "yea's" for the soap. I thought it sounded to good to be true….but what the heck….I had nothing to lose but sleep….right?
I got up laughingly from my chair. Grabbed a fragment of a gold colored bar of Dial soap. I broke off a couple small pieces. (I didn't like the idea of soap lying in my bed with me) I put those pieces under my toes and put a light weight sock on. Did this to both feet.
I was soooo shocked that with in minutes it was as if nothing had ever happened and that whole thing was just an absurd nightmare! Boy O Boy!
I was a happy happy girl (age 58 – tee hee hee) because I could relax and just fall right off to sleep. I woke later in the morning and had to look to make sure I actually did this. LOL What a silly but powerful remedy!
Thank you Thank you Thank you for all of the wonderful testimonies!
I suffered with RLS for 12 years, for many of them I googled remedies and found that soap did work – well recently I googled and I found that not enough magnesium was the culprit! Well I have been eating foods and making shakes with all fresh veggies and fruit, nuts, seeds with high magnesium levels and this has CURED the problem. Good luck
I have used magnets to help me, they do work, I have also had my pharmacist make me up a cream, consisting of sorbelene and menthol (stops it drying out your skin.)
I have recently used Acupuncture, and a course of 7 weeks was advised then a maintanace of 1 month . This has given me a great relief, I do take 1/2 of 0.125 every night, but haven't had to increase, but have been told I have to stop taaking sifrol as my sodium level is too low.
Did the acupuncture help with the RLS?
Would it help with restless arms. I have rls but at times the arms are 10x worse.
Dear Ella,
Have you tried magnesium for your rls and restless arms?
Another great remedy for it is blackstrap molasses – 1 Tablespoon in the evening. I think it has the potential to help both of your issues.
~Mama to Many~
Restless Arms. I have that also and I haven't heard it mentioned before. Must be rare or less common that the legs. I'm going to try the soap.
It seems restless leg syndrome may have more than one cause. For ex. the first time I got it, it was due to low iron. I almost never eat red meat but take iron supplements. When I ran out I forgot about it until I got the rls and saw on the net that it could be caused by low iron.
Let me say this about iron & all supplements. A doctor I used to have, now retired, said that what they call "normal" in blood testing just means average. He said that after decade of practice he saw "average", therefore "normal", go down quite a bit. So he said go by symptoms and not just blood tests.
The 2nd time I got rls, many months later, I knew it was not iron. The stinging and itchy feelings reminded me of when I had done a parasite cleanse and checking on the net sure enough I saw someone saying that after getting rid of the bugs the rls went away. (Maybe they operate best in low iron conditions??)
I began to take a heaping tsp of diatomaceous earth in water every morning on a mostly empty stomach. In one day the rls was down to very mild in in a week it was gone.
Hulda Clark, famous for her cleansing regimes, said every person she ever tested for parastes had them, and everyone had tapeworms. One way to see this for yourself: Take 2 cayenne capsules in water 3 X a day with 2 glasses of water to keep from a burning sensation in your stomach.
Don't eat any rice or things like seseme seeds or nuts. In a very few days you should see "white rice" or seseme seed looking things, or things that look like cut nuts. These are parts of tapeworms. The cayenne pepper does not kill the head, though, which is what reproduces.
Anyway, food grade diatomaceous earth is cheap and very safe and will make all those symptoms go away, rls and tapeworm parts.
New to Restless Leg Syndrome, but this morning I was so in need of relief. I came across this site. Grabbed a bar of ivory soap still in wrapper, placed between knees and on seconds the pain, tingling went from my thighs to my knees. It stayed there but it wasn’t as bad as my full leg pain. I was asleep in minutes of doing this. I’m amazed! A bar of soap stood between me and some sleep, usually my husband needs the soap. lol, blessed it be.
Plagued with severe Restless Leg Syndrome. Tried many things. Bar Irish spring soap. One between knees and some pieces in socks under toes. Haha was shocked and so excited when I got sleep and at how fast it went away! Thank you all for your input and sorry to all of those who haven't yet found something that works for you. Good luck to those of you. Everyone should at least try soap. Doesn't hurt and so glad now that I was desperate enough to try it. Had to be, when nothing else worked ya know. Who woulda thought Irish spring soap. I was happier than I had been in a long time. And so excited. Sleep deprivation from rls is no joke. And helps also knowing that people out there understand exactly what it feels like. Support leads to coping mechanisms, often sometimes solutions and often sometimes good friends who actually get it. Thanks guys! 🙂
An alkaline diet for RLS works like magic. I have it for more than 29 years. Every day. Legs and arms sometimes. After several years of Ropinirole I am now on Pramipexol. I already gave up chocolat, cafe, tea, sugar, industrial food, alcool, etc. This avoids very big crisis but does not more.
A week ago I tried the alkaline diet (allowing fish or chicken or eggs at lunch but mixed with lots of alkaline ingredients and 90% alkaline for diner). The first day I tried, I coudn't believe myself. No more pain, no more syndrome. I encourage anyone to try!
Restless Leg Syndrome:
Something that has helped my patients/students is to understand that all grains have a calcium-magnesium ratio that throws the natural balance totally out of whack when they eat processed grains. The ratio should be 2-1, but when grains are thrown in (which we do not need to eat, but which are addictive; read "Grain Damage" by Dr. Doug Graham), there is a backwards ratio of 1-9, way too much magnesium, and then leg cramps, restless leg syndrome, foot cramps, etc. begin. Once a person leaves out grains, even whole, organic, wonderful things start happening! Brain fog disappears, for one. Mental ups and downs stabilize. And especially, the leg cramps disappear! Try it! If I eat even one slice, I'm in trouble. It may have something to do with the gluten, because when I sprout the grain and make Essene bread out of it, this doesn't happen. Not the store-bought bread by that name: they actually ADD gluten, which defeats the purpose of spouting it.
The only thing that I have found will stop my rls at night is if I pull oil. Each morning, I pull oil with coconut oil and at night, my legs are calm or relaxed. It is amazing! I don't dare miss a day!
Hi, what does PULL oil mean please?
I've had restless legs off and on since I was a child. I would get up and run around the block a few times when I was a child to relieve it. Later on I discover a remedy called Q-Rev for restless legs. They discontinued it unfortunately. But I remembered the ingredients, Vit. E & Magnesium and quinine. I take Vit. E & Magnesium as needed so the missing ingredient was quinine. You can drink a glass of Tonic Water before bedtime and it relieves the symptoms since Tonic Water has a tiny bit of quinine in it. Hope this helps.
I saw an old timer naturopath (he was at least in his 80's) & asked about my RLS, & he said just to take a little mustard to stop it. I told a friend who has the same problem & she swears by it also! I now sleep with a mustard squeeze bottle by my bedside! I take about 1/2 – 1 teaspoon & it works within a few minutes! I hope this will help others as well!
Tried mustard seed -took tablespoon of mustard – no luck.
Yea, the bar of soap works for me. I used to apply some moisturizing lotion to my feets before sleeping and it also works.
I used to take prescription meds for my RLS but too many bad side effects. I found out that many supplements available online such as Kratom quiet RLS 100%. It took me years of trial and error but I was curious why during a prescription I had for Tylenol 3 that had codeine, why did this quiet my RLS? It turns out that the alkaloids in Kratom mimic the alkaloids found in opiates without the drug effects. While kratom will quiet your RLS, it also gives a nice feeling of relaxation. Do your own research but I can tell you, Kratom is safe, been used by humans for hundreds of years and impossible to overdose. As you progress in learning about kratom, you'll find the same information. I usually take 8-10 capsules 1 hour before bed, works great, no after effects and flushes out of the body within 7-8 house. Only side effects I have after using kratom for RLS for years is constipation and drowsy before bed. Kratom extracts beyond 15% are a waste, stick to the powder, capsules are my favorite, plenty of legal U.S. online suppliers.
Re your restless leg syndrome:
RLS is caused by sugar. Well how about 97 percent of RLS is sugar related. Three things helped me.
1. Use of Calcium AEP…. it's the AEP part, not the Calcium that does the trick.
2. Use of baking soda; dissolve a teaspoon of BS into a cup of water and dab onto knees and legs; do this eight or ten times. The alkaline will help neutralize the acid coming from the sugar.
3. The best solution is to get off the poison sugar. Addicted? The hypothalamas must be re directed to cease using sugar by instead using good oils… Olive oil (ev). When you've gotten off the poison you'll find all kinds of metabolic issues cease.
I know this is two years old, but it's very broad sweeping to say that RLS is caused by sugar. I have been on a ketogenic diet the majority of the past ten years, which means I eat no sugar or refined carbohydrates, and I can assure you that my RLS is always significantly worse when I'm “on plan” than when I eat carbs – including sugar. I stick with the ketogenic diet because of the other amazing health benefits it helps me achieve, but it gets tough sometimes when I can't even work at my desk because of “the wiggles”. I have RLS 24/7 in both legs, both arms, and often in my back. There are many, many causes of (and treatments for) RLS.
I'm only 18 and I've recently been experiencing RLS, I'm a student in high school trying to get into college and get some scholarships, so you can see why I need every minute of sleep I can get. One Saturday night I couldn't get to sleep till 1am and I had to work the next day. I tried everything, but nothing worked until I put a bar of Irish Spring soap under my leg. It beats me how it works but it's amazing! Plus I enjoy the minty smell 🙂
I have tried the bar of soap and got some relief. After reading several of these posts, I am going to use the sock idea. I used to take Klonopin for years and it completely took care of the RLS. Then it went generic and the generic did not work. However, I would like to report that I tried aspercreme pain reducing Creme. I rubbed it on my calves and got total relief. You can get this at any drug store. I am puzzled that it does work. It suggests that there is some inflammation. I have always read it was a nerve problem. Unless the nerves that are involved with the muscles are so irritable that they cause the muscles in the leg to be inflamed. However, the aspercream should not work on nerves.
I guess it is just treating a symptom of RLS and not the underlying cause. I have had RLS for 30 years so hopeful that some of these new tricks will manage the problem.
I've just been experimenting with the Alkaline Diet and I was surprised to see many alkaline substances on your home remedies list for restless leg. I do believe topical applications can affect the body, but was surprised to see the alkaline soap and baking soda paste. Can you add an alkaline diet option? It's made a huge difference in my rls and I'm really looking forward to getting off ropinerole for good 🙂
HI, I’ve suffered with the same restless leg syndrome (rls) for ages, and the pain was unbearable and took co codamol just to sleep for years…. doc said pain in body could be lack of vit d….
So one night last week I took 10 x 400 IU of vit d3, and 2 x 500mg tabs of magnesium and calcium… Then soaked my feet in a hot bowl of water with a cup of Epsom salts… did this every night.
I haven’t taken my painkillers in over a week! … The throbbing is still there and the joint pain and swelling… But seems to be responding to the daily vit d3 and magnesium… Although my joint pain and swelling is most definitely brought on by eating wheat! … the rls may be a severe deficiency in calcium, magnesium and d3….
D3 ive read can be taken in therapeutic doses of 50,000 IU daily for 6 weeks then 1000 IU daily thereafter.
Sorry have to correct my last post… It’s 50,000 iu a week not daily for therapeutic dose of d3… So I just split it up as daily doses… Have to admit that already there is a huge difference, hardly any throbbing at night and can fall asleep without any painkillers… And I soak my feet in Epsom water every other day… I have also started the half lemon juice with 1/2 tsp baking soda last thing at night, sometimes with a pinch of cream of tartar powder for the potassium…. So that along with the calcium and mag tabs… I think is doing the trick…. Now just have to fit in the Apple Cider Vinegar in the mornings!! …. Whatever it takes…!!!
The best thing I have found for my RLS (have had it for over 30 years) is a glass of water with baking soda at night. Works 9/10 times and has saved my sanity. I also find that any kind of antihistamine or nyquil or tylenolPM type meds make my legs crazy.
Antihistamines are known to exacerbate rls.
A few nights ago I discovered I couldn’t sleep due to restless leg syndrome. Looked it up on the net. Some said take iron. I realized I had not been taking the iron I use to supplement since I eat very little meat. It had gotten lost in the shuffle with my other supplements – didn’t replace it when it ran out. Well, I kinda megadosed on the iron. The next night, no more problems. Once before I had problems with low iron, dizziness, and supplementing made the dizziness go away, though my blood tests said I was fine. I prefer to be my own diagnostician when possible and go by symptoms. You can’t always count on those blood tests when they say you are fine. I’ve discovered that in several ways. Plus a doctor I used to have, decades in practice, told me that today’s blood tests call “average” normal. But he said 30 years ago people were healthier and “average” really was normal. So, be sure you are at optimal, not just normal/average levels in iron and other things.
Yes, I agree with what you have said here.
Low iron is a common cause of restless leg(RLS), dizziness, headaches and even anxiety.
It's important to test that iron isn't too high (because that can cause issues too) but I agree that for iron levels test – even when in the low range of normal – it can still cause these symptoms. I have read that Ferritin levels under 40 can cause low iron symptoms.
There is a differnce between bio-available iron and bio-UNavailable iron (RUST! ) , Bio-unavailable iron (oxidised iron/rust) can get stored in the liver and organs and cause issues.
Bio-UNavailable iron may also block avialable Iron from being absorbed.
So it may be beneficial to excrete any bio-Unavailable iron from your body. IP6 (extract from brown rice) is the best supplement to detox oxidised harmful iron.
Organic Unsulfered Molasses is the best iron supplement. 1 Tb morning and night.
This is my opinion
I have been using a bar of soap successfully for RLS for some time now but recently, it seems to have lost its efficacy. At first, I thought it was because I was using a handmade bar of natural soap in place of the packaged soap from the market. But even going back to the Ivory didn’t help. I will try the niacin and vitamin C.
Hello Pam, Try a half teaspoon of baking soda in a quarter glass of water… Dissolved of course. Now put a teaspoon in your hand and rub on knees and legs. Apply twice.
If restlessness still persists, get all sugar out of your system. Especially no sugar after five pm. Sugar in anything if you are borderline could present as restless leg or other extremities pain.
Hi TrudyG and all others suffering from insomnia,
I also have opposite reactions to pharmacy drugs, OTC & Rx. Three things have helped me ENORMOUSLY, and all of them don't seem to be mentioned in this thread: http://www.earthclinic.com/cures/insomnia6.html#MR_100360
First, taking a nightly capsule of organic borage oil, regular dose, an hour before bed got me deeply asleep, deeply dreaming, and very calm/confident-feeling the next day. It does take about 3 weeks for most people to have results, although I seem to recall it was more like 10 days for me. After a while I ran out and forgot to take it, only remembered while reading here.
Next, I got an inversion table. You can set it so that you start with a relatively low angle of inversion, by tying the strap underneath–say, 20-30 degrees for at least 10 minutes. That feels like plenty to me. If your heart is lower than your feet by 17 degrees, apparently the lymph glands release and clear. Other benefits I've noticed: practically no asthma, NO INSOMNIA, back pain decreased and overall well-being increased. Not to mention, better circulation.
However I am forgetful so the latest thing I take is borax. This is actually covered in depth at http://educate-yourself.org/cn/boraxconspiracy03jul12.shtml.
In my case, I was looking for help with my out-of-control restless legs syndrome, which, on the first day, diminished almost to nothing (now my Requip prescription of. 25 mg is more than sufficient, where before even 1mg spaced throughout the day barely controlled it. ).
Now I take the borax right before sleep, and I sleep deeply and w/o interruption for 8plus hrs. And I wake up feeling crisp! Also my asthma, which had me audibly wheezing prior to the borax, is slowly disappearing. It's also a fabulous detoxer, and is anti-microbial and perhaps also alkalining too.
At first I took the Borax in the morning, but after 3 weeks, it started to make me very sleepy so I switched to bedtime. It's very fast-acting–one minute I'm lying in bed wide awake, wondering when it's going to start knocking me out, and the next minute, I'm so deeply asleep I haven't even noticed I was getting sleepy, it's so immediate a response.
My friends who are also taking borax find that they have more energy. I MAY be feeling more energetic, but the stuff still knocks me out, so experiment on a laid-back, no-driving-etc-day to see how it affects you.
The other reason I was taking borax is that it balances the whole body's hormone, endocrine, and glandular system over time. I've been taking it now for at least 3 months. I've increased my dose to a tablespoon (from a teaspoon). Just last week it seemed to me that my post-menopausal dryness was no longer an issue. I intend to continue taking this forever.
Oh yes, another borax good result: my neighbor, 70 yrs old, fell off a horse and broke 2 ribs. Since he won't go to doctors, I gave him some borax. He says his ribs healed fast, and with much less pain than the other times they have broken.
Dosing excerpts from midway through the link at beginning of this post:
Firstly, dissolve a lightly rounded teaspoonful (5-6 grams) of borax in 1 litre of good quality water* free of chlorine and fluoride. This is your concentrated solution. Keep the bottle out of reach of small children. (* I''m using distilled water)
Standard dose = 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of concentrate. This has 25 to 30 mg of borax and provides about 3 mg of boron. Take 1 dose per day mixed with drink or food. If that feels right then take a second dose with another meal. If there is no specific health problem or as a maintenance dose you may continue indefinitely with 1 or 2 doses daily. "
(elsewhere in my reading people taking the borax-in-water cure seem to take it for 5 days, stop for 2, then start again for 5 days, off for 2 days, and so on. )
"If you do have a problem, such as arthritis, osteoporosis and related conditions, menopause, stiffness due to advancing years, and also to improve low sex hormone production, increase intake to 3 or more spaced-out standard doses for several months or longer until you feel that your problem has sufficiently improved. Then drop back to 1 or 2 doses per day."
http://g2cforum.org/index.php/list/other-alternatives/20552-the-borax-conspiracy-how-a-mineral-vital-to-health-was-suppressed
http://g2cforum.org/index.php/list/other-alternatives/2910-big-island-dairy-farmers-fight-radiation-with-boron
BTW… Trazodone HCL does work for my insomnia. At first I had to double-dose but now I can take 1/4 pill and that will also knock me out…. But why bother when borax is much safer and helps with so many cures.
……………
Last I would like to thank Joy and Everyone about mentioning the water cure. I think adding the right salt will help w my frequent urination, thirst, and allergies. Had forgotten that histamine is a dehydration response. Beginning to wonder if I was developing diabetes. Would diabetes show up in a hair sample?
Many Blessings!
Precisely, What kind of Borax dosage did you take before bed time ? I am afraid drinking too much water before bed time. What brand borax did you use?
Thank you so much for submitting your borax remedy! I have tried borax, but don't like drinking a liter a day so your method of just 1 teaspoon at night sounds fantastic! I immediately went and prepared a bottle last night after reading your post and took my first teaspoon before bed. It relaxed me, but didn't zonk me out. I am looking forward to providing more feedback as time goes by. Thank you again!
Hi Susan from Chicago, I started with a teaspoon from the litre bottle of water and borax. I'm up to 1 tablespoon at bedtime now. To me, it tastes like very dilute apple juice, but most folks seem to think it tastes "soapy".
After the first 10 days, my response switched from bright and wide-awake to extremely sleepy. My guess is that I was having a healing crisis response, but one afternoon, I literally fell asleep standing up. Had a split-second to grab the armchair and fall down into it, instead of somewhere else. Scared the heck out of my cats, who were in the chair until I fell there, and also scared me, too. Fainting is different — used to faint as a teen into my 20s. This was definitely falling asleep. Over the next week I asked a friend to be my 'contact buddy' and we spoke 2-3x daily, to make sure no other sudden surprises went unnoticed.
At some point we figured out that I should only take the borax at bedtime. Maybe it would be different if I sipped a pint or so that had a teaspoon in it… But for now, all's good. I do feel more energized during the daytime, as well. Interesting nutrient.
Debating whether to boost my intake, and not sure if I feel like experimenting with another daytime dose. My body feels like it wants more.
To Carmela from Cambridge, happy my idea helped!
To Leelannee from Sussex, NJ… I love your town! Those stone sidewalks, and all the old colonial buildings, plus so close to great parks and forests. I've had the same experience as you have if I miss even one dose (= bad night).
Where do you get your Borax? Is it 20 Mule?
To Susan from Chicago: Yes, 20-Mule Team Borax.
Are you referring to Borax the soap? Or is there another form you are referring to. I have had RLS for many years with minimal relief from prescription medications and would love to find something effective that is not pharmaceutical. Thanks.
I have tried endless things to find a solution to my RLS that I’ve had for over 20 years…. I came across some information on Wikipedia that poppy seeds are an effective treatment due to their codeine, morphine and paperverine (a smooth muscle relaxant) conent. I tried it and couldn’t beleive how effective poppy seed tea is! I use about 60 ml of seeds (4 tablespoons) and add 200 ml of hot water and juice of a lemon and shake it then leave it for about 20 minutes.. Then I strain it and drink the liquid. I sleep right through the night for the first time in years and years. It’s truly amazing.. although I am a little worried about the long term effects of the small amounts of opiods.
Cold water extraction actually works better to extract from the seeds. My doc said that that's why I used to like it so much, because it helped my rls so well. That is at such a low dose, you have nothing to worry about!
I drink half a cup of poppyseed tea early in the evening. Have done for years. Health benefits for me to numerous to mention here. Staying on the subject, restless legs is a distant memory, and I have peaceful childlike sleep every night. I am in my late fifties and would like to suggest anyone over 50 try it. Quality of life improved immensely. I shall be having my evening tipple till the day I take my last breath.
Donna, how do you make your poppyseed tea? Thank you.
I was looking at the comments under Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) and using a bar of soap for a treatment. There is no cure for RLS, so I refuse to use that word. I manage many support groups for RLS and other neurological sleep disorders, and have done so for the last 15 years. The only way soap can "fix" a neurolgical condition would be the placebo effect. While there is nothing wrong with a placebo effect, I hate to see desperate people hanging their hopes on a bar of soap. The first kind back in the 90's was use Dial, then Irish Spring, then Caress, and now Ivory. As a chemist friend told me, who also has severe RLS, "there is no way the molecules from the soap is going to jump onto your legs and quiet down those restless limbs". We say "limbs" because it is not only legs, it can be your arms, hips, back, in between your shoulders, etc. Whatever kind of soap it is, it will make your sheets smell better, and it is cheap, so not much money lost on a bad idea. What works for one person does not work for the next one. That is the only rule of RLS. IT is all trial and error, and I see most of the comments are "anti" soap, or some people tried it, and it did nothing for them. Yes, I was desperate enough years ago to try it. 65% of all RLS is Primary or genetic, so it is a genetic neurolgical disease with no cure, and it needs to be taken much more seriously than a bar of soap. Sleep deprivation is an epidemic in this country, and the world, and a bar of soap is not going to "save us". Never mind all the ridiculous "cures" being sold on the internet. Keep your hands on your wallets.
RLS is from a magnesium deficiency. Maintaining adequate magnesium levels either through food, supplementing, both, or other methods (such as magnesium oil or epsom salts, etc), will prevent it from coming back, until your levels drop too low again. I had it for years before it ever had a name. It improved with upping my magnesium, and with eliminating MSG.
To Night dancer and Citygirl,
First, Night dancer says there is no “cure” for RLS.
Well, there has been one for me. I had RLS for seven years; every night crawling irritation around knees especially. Just about drove me crazy and kept me from much sleep.
My short term cure… Take a third to a half teaspoon of baking soda mixed in purified water. Disolve and then apply a teaspoon topically to most affected area. With me it is right on my knee caps. Apply twice to three times within ten minutes. The irritation leaves almost immediately.
The long term problem for me and others I’ve discussed this with is harder… NO SUGAR. Sugar is the key to triggering RLS. I note Citygirl uses magnesium and there might be a relationship between magnesium neutralizing the effect of sugar.
But I have seen a DIRECT relationship between sugar consumption, especially after 3 pm, and RLS. I would guess it is a insulin issue that RLS suffers are seeing… perhaps a bit borline diabetic.
So the cure is: long term, eliminate sugar and if you can’t do that then try the baking soda applied topically to get rid of the symptom of excess sugar.
Oh, and here’s an interesting aside. Sometimes I will “feel” the RLS when I’ve had no sugar and will go back to what I ate for supper only to discover that… Sure enough… Sugar (like in pasta sauce) was a big part of the ingredients. So the RLS can actually inform me of hidden sugar intake.
Just remember: Sugar is the enemy.
I have been a sufferer of severe RLS for almost 10 years and have tried almost everything that is homiopathic and nothing has EVER worked. I also find it frustrationg when people say, try this, this worked for me… I HAVE tried. If you think about it, how is a bar of soap supposed to help nerves?? And magnesium isn't the solution either… Been taking it for a long time and nothing. Only thing that has worked is medication from my Dr.
It's important to realize that 1. the body does know how to heal itself, it's been doing it for millions of years as we allow it to do so. 2. Nutrients/vitamins play a huge role in nervous system health. 3. It's crucial to try natural and non-harmful remedies whenever possible.
Iron, Folic acid, Vitamin B, Magnesium…exercise daily; no smoking or caffeine; apple cidar vinegar and molasses mixed into a glass of water all have provided relief for people suffering from RLS.
And, of course the soap in the sheets, baking soda/water rubbed on the affected area and no sugar.
And, before we judge something as "placebo effect, " we should actually realize that the most powerful healing tool each of us has is our MIND…Our mind tells our bodies how to heal, what to let go of, etc.
That's not to say we don't need a bit of help from the body and a few outside sources here and there, but when we harness the mind, we harness the power of nature to heal ourselves!
Again, I think it is crucial to determine the underlying issue – is it a nutrient deficiency? A hormonal issue (some research says it is – for both men and women…men have hormones, too), stress? A combination?
Good luck – I've had success with vitamins and exercise and placing my legs against the wall/feet up at night for about 5-15 minutes while lying in bed. My mom has had success with Calm (a magnesium drink).
i researched restless leg syndrome the causes vary It can be from an allergic reaction to supplement, refined sugar, or wheat. My ND suggested that going on a elimination diet is the best way to figure out if you're intolerant/allergic. Apparently statisically allergy tests scratch test /blood tests are not as accurate as we have been taught to believe .
Ntritional deficiencies such as Iron deficiency Deficiencies in other minerals, such as magnesium, potassium and calcium, may cause RLS Some people have been helped by adding Vitamin E ,
Sugar seems to be my number one enemy also. I always have restless legs but if I eat sugar or starch mirapex doesn't stand a chance. Here's something weird… If mirpex doesn't work well enough I get up and drink a cup of espresso. In fact I have started to drink espresso every night before bed. For some reason the initial effect of espresso is always sedating for me but after 30 minutes it tends to wake me up. My sleep is kind of off and on but way better than it was. I wake up frequently but always go back to sleep quickly. I told my doctor about the espresso but he looked at me like, you are nuts! All I know is that is works for me and it might work for others.
Mark Ky.
Espresso = coffee, which = (beans) legumes. Guess what you get with a concentrated serving of legumes? Magnesium. Looks like you just might need magnesium supplementation in your diet, but preferably without the caffeine of espresso, so you don't keep waking up.
I have been reading all the comments above and believe me RLS is very debilitating, I have had this problem since 1963, I have tried everything and I can tell you magnesium is not the problem or the cure, neither is sugar.
I have been placed on a medication called Sifrol and this really does help( it is used for Parkinson disease ) and it works but it must be taken every day at the same time other wise my legs start up again.
If you want to try, you will need to speak with your medical practitioner.
Good Luck
Hello Johanna,
I've suffered with RLS for over 10 years. And in my type of RLS, I found a direct relationship with consumption of sugar with leg irritation especially at night. Your RLS and mine may differ as to cause or trigger. You state categorically that sugar is unrelated to RLS but in my case and many more that I've heard of … sugar is very much related.
Just because you can not see a cause and effect relationship is not justification for saying the same is true with everyone suffering from the condition.
By the way, I found that topical application of baking soda…one half teaspoon dissolved in a half glass of water and then the liquid applied to knees….twice or more applied in four or five minutes gives me a lot of relief.
I'm happy for you that you have found relief with the medication you mention. RLS is a frustrating and a nearly debilitating condition so any suggestion is appreciated.
I too believe we can overcome with the mind. It is important to line the mind up to receive the healings.
It's possible that there is some type of energy in the soap that transfers to the legs. Radiation was always present but it took Marie Curie to discover it. Bacteria were there before we had microscopes to see them. Just because we can't explain something, doesn't mean its effect isn't real.
I think you must be right about the sugar being a huge part of triggering RLS, and along with trying the soap bar (I think just because we see no scientific explanation that we understand, is not reason to throw out something that has helped so many) and bicarb treatments. Sugary food seems very bad for health, and is never really required although it is craved. I have been to EarthClinic and am fascinated. I was looking for peptic ulcer relief, and that too involves expunging refined sugar. You may not be diabetic, or have insulin pathology as one poster announces you must, (and, of course, you might! ) A lot of people, as they grow older retain more glucose in their blood as the renal threshold rises. That is a normal phenomenon.
You might preach to your victims that there is no cure, to keep up business at your "support" groups, but you are simply wrong. As mentioned above, magnesium deficiency is often the culprit, along with B12 and selenium. Anyone with an ounce of nutritional and/or physiology knowledge would know this. If you possess neither of those, you shouldn't be managing 'support' groups.
Yes, I'm wondering if it has something to do with static electricity. Perhaps the soap neutralises the static in the sheets.
In my personal opinion, I think if people are desperate for a solution and they finally have one that works it should be left alone. If you are supposedly part of one of these "support groups" then, to me, you should be more attentive to the support mission of the website than the undermining of people who want to get back to nature and organics to help with their remedies. If you do not agree with what people are actually saying works for them, and yes, outside influences do play a part in RLS whether you know it or not, then the old saying should be applied "if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all." Especially if you feel you need to log into an ORGANIC supported site to preach about the overall effect of "modern medicine." What do we see nowadays? Every RX you take has added side effects, allergic reactions, etc. For millions upon thousands upon hundreds of years the human body has sustained itself through natural means. It is what our white blood cells and lymph nodes are hard at work doing. Natural remedies are easily absorbed by the body, compared to new medications that your body has to learn to adapt to, which does not always work. Each person is different as is their "genetic make-up." So, take the prescribed medication, then what? End up with a new side-effect if your body cannot process it correctly.Also, what is the long term medical evidence that attest to prolonged periods of these medications? I have had lymph node cancer in the past and I have found that switching to natural products, choosing a plant-based diet and taking care of myself have helped in the long run, compared to "quick fixes" have worked for me. I'm not saying that it will work for everyone but why not, at least, try it? Sugar and a lot of these "ingredients-in-food-that-we-can't-even-pronounce" have been a huge problem for all of the US. You see illnesses popping up everyday that we have not even heard of before. Think about this for a second. You're eating things that are not naturally broken down by the body, and you are surprised when you start contracting illnesses, diseases and ailments. I went to Texas A&M (Go Islanders!) to study anatomy, forensic science, entomology and microbiology and I am still surprised every day from my findings on how resilient the human body is. I know, as a person with some medical background (my mother also has a masters in Nursing and specializes in Oncology and works for Hospice), that I am the LAST person to give medical advice but what I just read in your comments warranted a rebuttal. You are getting second-hand information and, as you stated, your friend is a chemist, then he/she should have SOME idea that some of these Vitamins/Minerals (or lack thereof) do cause a problem and can actually make the illness worse. 'Iron, folate, and magnesium are thought to have the most direct impact on RLS symptoms. (Source: HealthLine, Can certain foods ease my RLS symptoms)'
I apologize for my abruptness in advance but I can't help but be a little unnerved by someone claiming to help people and they decide to take their frustration out on a community trying to work together for a common solution. No, it might not work for everyone but it's worth a shot. And I agree with Rick, maybe managing a support group(s) might not be for you.
ps. Sleep deprivation is an epidemic, but its what we put in our bodies for nourishment, hydration and ailments that cause the bigger problem. You'll find that research in those categories explain a lot. These are sources that are trusted and written by MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS that combat these problems on a day-to-day basis. Notice that SUGAR is listed in every one of these articles.
Which foods should I avoid if I have RLS?
You should also limit or avoid fattening items, such as:
A 2009 study showed people who are obese have an increased risk of RLS. This may be because obesity is linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and lower dopamine receptors. All of these conditions have the potential to cause RLS.
Iron Supplementation
The significance of low iron in causing RLS is outlined in the segment on Causes of Restless Legs Syndrome.
Since the 1950s, it has been known that iron therapy, even without the presence of anemia has benefits for RLS symptoms. Studies have shown a strong relation between body iron stores as determined by serum ferritin and the severity of the RLS symptoms. A study has shown that in patients whose serum ferritin was < 75 µg/l, oral iron therapy (325 mg ferrous sulfate twice a day on an empty stomach) on average improved RLS symptom after 3 months.
A recent study has shown that giving oral iron more than once a day or at a dose greater than 85 mg per day does not necessary lead to a greater increase in absorbable iron. Oral iron equivalent to 65-85 mg of elemental iron will be best absorbed if given once a day. It should NOT be given with solid or liquid food/dietary supplements or with milk. It should be given on an empty stomach an hour before eating or two hours after eating along with 100-200 mg of vitamin C. An iron panel (early morning fasting blood to check iron, ferritin, TIBC, and percent iron saturation) should be done after three months to check on progress of the treatment. Oral iron should be stopped 2 days before the iron studies are done. The goal is to get the serum ferritin above 100 µg/l.
If the patient cannot tolerate the iron, or, if after three months there has been very little change in the iron stores, an iron infusion may be appropriate. Delivering iron directly into the blood by vein allows the iron to bypass the gastrointestinal tract, which can limit absorption of iron when iron is given orally. Several different formulations of iron are designed for intravenous treatment and are used for the treatment of anemia. Two formulations of iron dextran exist (Dexferrum and INFeD), with the low molecular weight (LMW) iron dextran (INFeD) demonstrating better safety profile than the older version of iron dextran, Dexferrum (Chertow et al. Nephrol Dial Transplant 2004:19, 1571). Other iron formulations currently available for intravenous use include: iron sucrose (Venofer®), iron gluconate (Ferrlicit®), ferumoxytol (Feraheme®) and ferric carboxymaltose (Ferinject®).
Two, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical studies using 1000 mg of ferric carboxymaltose versus placebo (subjects just received the solution with no iron in it), have shown that RLS patients who received the iron had significantly greater improvement in RLS symptoms (Allen et al. Sleep Medicine 2011: 12, 906; Cho et al. Sleep Medicine 2016:25,16). None of these patients had an anemia and some of the subjects has serum ferritin values of greater than 100 ug/l before the iron infusion. Approximately 35 percent of subjects who had received the iron treatment still remained off of all RLS medications even 6 months after the treatment. (Site Source: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org)
Sources:
http://www.healthline.com/health/restless-leg-syndrome-diet#foods-to-add2
http://www.healthline.com/health/restless-leg-syndrome-diet#overview1
https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/education/health-science/common-health-problems/allergic-reactions-to-food/
https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2016/07/5-questions-randall-stafford-advocates-a-plant-based-diet.html
https://nutritionfacts.org
aicr.org/about/advocacy/the-china-study.html
http://nutritionstudies.org/author/tcampbell/
http://www.plantbasedpharmacist.com/medical-conditions/neurological-conditions
https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/education/health-science/common-health-problems/
One other thing some people may want to avoid is milk, not sure if all dairy. I remember when I was 12 (I'm 51 now, have had restless legs since I was little) I was having headaches, and the doctor thought it may be an allergy and I remember he told my mom to take milk out of my diet for a month to see what happened. It didn't help my headaches but I remember clearly to this day that my restless legs went away. Came back of course when I started back on milk. The only thing that helps me now, food related, is to AVOID REFINED SUGAR completely. It takes a few weeks to kick in (no pun intended).
@Dave from Fountain Inn: I'm relieved to read about the impact of sugar. My restless legs and arms drive me insane during full moon (and the lead up to it)…. I tried magnesium and soap but both made this worse. I try to keep sugar intake down, but have recently been a bit lax. So am now going to be very strict about this, and see what happens. Thanks for the reminder!
Two years ago I had quadruple bypass heart surgery and a defibrillator implant. Well recovered but in last six months my body, especially left side, throbs as soon as I get into bed. Became sleep deprived and would fall asleep during day. Went to Earth Clinic and saw that possibly what I was feeling was a form of RLS although I had been blaming my defibrillator. This is crazy but a week ago I put six leftover pieces of soap in a sock and placed it between the sheets. For a week now I no longer dread going to bed. The throbbibg has stopped. Thank you Earth Clinic and all the wonderful people who contribute. I am a health nut, take no meds and am 92 years old.
I realize these are old posts, but I want to respond. I've had restless legs on and off for years. Lately I've discovered what's causing my current severe RLS: venous insufficiency. A couple of years ago I had some deep leg veins cauterized through a procedure that was once called "vein stripping" that was done during surgery. Today it's outpatient. The dr told me I would be back, as there were other veins that needed attention. It has been excruciating yet it doesn't strike every night. Last nite I finally got to sleep at 4 am. I tried everything. One thing that helps that I read about here, I believe, years ago, is quinine. We used to be able to buy quinine pills over the counter years ago but no longer. Thus I drink tonic water, at least a half cup. This helps me. I also discovered that my new magnesium pills were 1/3 the strength of the former pills, so I have upped that. Magnesium is important for muscle/nerve transmission. In any case, I can't wait until the summer is over so that I can get the vein procedure taken care of. I'd do it earlier but you have to wear thick black, tight support stockings 24/7. In the summer it's torture: no going to the beach in those! Good luck, everyone. Please report if you have any success with treatments.
Venous Insufficiency is indeed connected to RLS in studies. But surgery won't fix the underlying cause of venous insufficiency, which is typically from a high carbohydrate diet, and a lack of bioflavonoids.
Several nutritional compounds help with venous insufficiency and thus RLS:
Pycnogenol, Rutin and Diosmin, although Pycnogenol was found to be more effective than Diosmin.
Will try the ACV and honey for RLS. On Horizant and clonazapam for some time now. RLS creepy, tingling uncomfortable feelings start up like clock work every afternoon (after work) between 4:30 – 6. I’ve been fighting for 8 years now. Been on Carbidopa/Levadopa, Clonazapam, Neurtontin, and now Horizant and Clonazapam. Tried massage and accupuncture. Only accupuncture did was allow me to dial off carbidoba/levadope for 2 months but still on Horizant and now 1/2 lowest dose of clonazapam but augmentation starting back up again. Take daily multi-vitamin, calcium, D, C and magnesium. Haven’t tried soap yet but why not. Wear socks a lot until I have a hot flash… Never had this problem until my early 40’s and don’t understand what triggered it, but I do struggle with anxiety and wonder if the anti-depressant/anxiety lowest dose available as on for a year didn’t trigger it. Which comes first, RLS, anxiety causing RLS or anxiety/dep meds? Yes, I’m sick of western medicine or pharmaceuticals.
Yes, you sound a lot like me. It's a cycle. Restless legs definitely causes anxiety because you can't sleep. Know for sure the antidepressant medications can definitely cause restless legs to be much worse. Do some research on the one that you're taking.
I found Apple Cider Vinegar for Restless Legs does work really well for me. The pain is minimal. However I have inherited a weak bladder from my father so when I have the ACV before bed, I spend the next 3 hours going to the toilet at least 5-6 times before I got to sleep and 3 times during night. ACV gets rid of toxins and my urine is now clear. So I am still having trouble sleeping, and my sleep patterns are totally messed up. I tried the soap on its own – pain all night. If I rub ACV on my legs, I am concerned about absorbtion into the body and it may still make me got to the toilet endlessly. Can I have ACV in the middle of the day and have the same effect of constant urination at night? Will it stop the pain at night if I have ACV during the day? I am wondering if Baking Soda will make me urinate alot as well.
I writing to you about the apple cider vinegar. I read on a web site about a women who was doing the Apple Cider Vinegar thing and it messed her up. Her kidneys failed and other problems. So if I was you I would check into it more before continuing, but thats my opinion. I thought I would pass it on to you.
Apple cider vinegar is working for me as I type this. The pain/throbbing sensation (I get it mostly in my left arm, feet and ankles, and lower legs) has gone away immediately where I applied it topically. I applied it on my whole left arm, and I mean really got it nice and saturated, and it helped immediately and is still working as I typed this. I believe it is really working and not just a placebo effect because the throbbing, tingling pain sensation went to a part of my left hand where I didn't apply any.
Also, I did take an aleve, but I noticed the effect from the apple cider vinegar more, after giving the aleve plenty of time to kick in. I also just made a magnesium drink with about 200% of the RDA, and I will drink it just in case, but still, so far, no need after the apple cider vinegar. I would just as well like to “over-cure” rather leave it all up to the ACV. I will also apply the magnesium drink topically, at least a little, to get it absorbed straight to the problem area through the skin. Hope this helps. And if it doesn't, don't be a sociopath and write outrageous comments about how we are all evil for attempting to help ourselves and others. Thanks!
That is interesting how you noted that your pain travelled to an area that had not been tingling prior to adding the treatment to the affected tingling area that was helped. I am reading a book that describes how the subconscious mind creates symptoms to distract us from emotions it deems we cannot cope with and as we get one pain under control it creates another.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsR4wydiIBI 20/20 segment of a success
Arthur Janov discusses all this in his many books and online at his blog. Yes, for ALL these chronic conditions the cause is unresolved feelings. People end up treating a never ending string of symptoms.
Janov does offer a true cure. He calls it: PRIMAL THERAPY. Check out Janov`s website if interested….Oscar
Thanks for the tip Oscar, and it is good to hear from you again as I have been wondering how you'r doing lately.
I'll second the observations and studies proving the psychological element of many diseases. From old school, classical thinking, or particularly eastern religions, detachment is regarded as essential in a healthy mind. Without the power of detachment many people internalize pain or painful events which get tucked away in the unconscious and manifest as unresolved issues, hang-ups, phobias, etc.
When I was a child, my family was on vacation at Pine Mnt in eastern Ky. One afternoon a was tailing a group of other kids hiking down the mnt, when suddenly I was swarmed by yellowjacket bees. I totally “freaked out” and ran back up the mnt with my (fortunately long sleeve sweater) covered in bees and sustaining several stings but fortunately not too many to make it an emergency situation. I even had a minor out-of-body experience (OBE) as I forwarded or leaped up the mnt in time or “out-of-time” in non-linear event. I didn't understand what happened exactly and looking back on it months or yrs latter seemed like a surreal event.
Anyway, someone helped me out of the infested shirt and I returned to my family and got stable in an hr or so. But that event stayed with me for several yrs and resurfaced (flashback) every time I heard & saw a “buzzing bee” (panic attack). Given enough positive or virtuous elements in my upbringing, and with a little personal effort, I overcame that traumatic event in my early teens.
There is the d-limonene supplement. d–Limonene is the major component of the oil extracted from citrus rind. It supposedly removes toxins from the body.
Last Night was HORRIBLE!! I read your post and applied unfiltered apple cider vinegar to my legs and in about 5 minutes, I went to sleep. Thank you so much for having the love to shareâ¤ï¸â¤ï¸
RLS is because of a deficiency of magnesium… Start drinking [an ionic magnesium powder]… You can find it in Whole Foods and other natural remedy stores… Drink it everyday… Especially before bedtime… It’s bitter so cut it with some sweet tea…
For me, magnesium gives only some temporary relief and doesn't address the cause of RLS.
I get long lasting relief with iron.
Low iron can result in low oxygen carried by the blood and nerve damage.
Magnesium and iron both effect/benefit the blood.
The reason magnesium can give some temporary relief is that when magnesium is taken, the blood vessels dilate. This results in a very relaxing effect in people who have enough blood to fill the now larger blood vessels (for people with adrenal fatigue magnesium can often make them dizzy or faint, due to low blood levels.)
This dilating of the blood vessels allow for more blood flow with increasing oxygen delivery – this is how magnesium can give temporary benefit to people who actually need more iron.
Iron and B12 are very important for blood and nerves health, they have really helped my family's health.
Jon: I think it was Robert Von Sarbacher that recommends eating much salads from Iceberg Lettuce, which we traditionally view as a low nutrient food. His research finds that this lettuce is rich in "Iron Water" & "Magnesium Water", a distinction he says is very different than natural chelated Iron or Magnesium in edible plant material.
Hi, I have a question related to chronic pain – facial neuralgia – that I’d like to ask on here. I was on antiseizure medication (first Neurontin, then switched to Lyrica) for about 7 months, during that time I was also taking antidepressants. I weaned off all my medication around Christmas time, because: i) I had been feeling better for a few months, ii) the Lyrica stopped working for my pain and was only giving me bad side effects. Since discontinuing both drugs my pain level has even improved and I’ve been feeling better psychically as well. I must say I do take very little marihuana occassionally when my face is tense from the pain as it helps me to calm down the affected nerve. Since stopping my drugs, I’ve been experiencing rather unpleasant symptoms of, what I believe is, the restless leg syndrome… Do you think this could be due to my detoxing from the meds or could it be related to something else? I’m really puzzled. I started a healthy diet about a week ago (although I do have an odd glass of red wine in the evening or the already mentioned marihuana, but I use both very moderately), but I only started to notice the RLS more since then. Do you think I should mention this to my neurologist as it could be somehow related to my facial neuralgia? Is there anything I can do for myself in the meantime? Also, can RLS be caused by lack of physical activity (I’ve been inactive for more than a year due to pain, my body fat and water retention is normal, but I have less muscle mass than I should have). Many thanks to you all. Oldriska
Hi! I am guessing that when you weaned off of meds, your body got depleted in minerals. Take a good vitamin and mineral supplement and see if your symptoms disappear.
Here I am at 2 weeks now_? 8 oz. of doing the apple cider drink twice a day, Tonic water twice a day, then 2 regular water any other time. Bar of soap in the bed, 1 magnesium tablet per doc’s recommendation, along with 1 calcium and Vit. E.
Hubby rubs my legs down with muscle ointment, Vicks or Castor Oil on the soles of the feet, and a couple times a day Hylands Homepathic tabs under the tongue. 1 banana a day. I drink my last liquid one hr before bed. Soak my feet or take a bath in Epsom salts when I remember to. The RLS is almost non-existent, just a few small twitching daily now-and upon waking not noticing any twitching. I have a prescription for sleeping but absolutely refuse to use it unless all else fails. I do believe most people can get this under control if they are diligent, consistent and mean business. I am now sleeping 7-8 hrs a night now. Haven’t done that for 3 yrs. For the people that nothing has worked to alleviate this, its time for a “Ferritin” test to rule that out if you haven’t had one.
Restless legs syndrome… put legs up on a wall for 10 to 20 minutes a day or more. You will find this will alleviate the symptoms if you can try this.
I have been taking magnesium supplements both in am and pm and do not have them anymore; it’s been just over 2 years now.
Yes, PLEASE, PLEASE have your Ferritin tested. You would be surprised at how people and doctors are uneducated as to the effects of iron overload. It is a hereditary disorder with simple treatment! Restless legs syndrome is a warning…be diligent in finding solution.
If you suffer with RLS [restless leg syndrome] don’t drink any kind of liquid at least 4 hours before bed nor eat any food with sodium.
I use to put frozen pulp fruits and honey in a blender and eat or drink 5 hours before bed. It works for me.
Liquid reflux and sodium are like poison for RLS suffers.
RLS – I find I get this awful sensation in my legs within 1 hour of consuming anything with sugar if I'm not active. Usually it hits in the evening while I'm sitting around and then in the night.
Even one candy is enough to trigger it so try to find something else to snack on in the evening and see if it helps.
Bach’s Rescue Remedy works like a charm. Two sprays in the mouth at night and I’m asleep before my horrible restless legs start up. Five nights in a row so far and no RLS.
When I was pregnant with my first son I was still exercising like a maniac in the pool. My legs were so restless I was up 3/4 of the night stretching them out beside the bed. My husband couldn’t stand the interruptions and even slept next door. At the time I took a synthetic supplement of magnesium, postassium, sodium and one other, forgotten which. It had heaps of sweetness so was of negligible use.
Three or four years later I’m on a ‘primal’ (aka paleo/ancestral/caveman) diet which has been a MASSIVE boon to my whole body and mind, the legs are fine, no problem there at all now.
I do also have a pretty serious magnesium (and vitamin C) bath every week. I look forward to it after a full-on week because I sleep like a baby, my body is so thoroughly relaxed.
I use organic vege, meats, fruit and coconut oil/good fats. I soak my nuts and seeds in brine till they start to ferment, and the magnesium is mag. Chloride, 450grams, and very pure. I’ve also used cheaper epsom salts which are fine too.
Power to ya. : )
I’m a 31 year old female, and have been suffering from restless legs since I was about 14 or so. I finally think I’ve figured out what’s been causing it, though I’m not entirely sure why – polyester bedding.
I’ve tried just about everything, including magnesium, potassium, massage and the good old bar of soap trick, but nothing worked. I always though it had been something that I was, or wasn’t, eating.
After buying a new bedspread, I noticed that it had been a few days since I’d had my jumpy legs. Took a little while to figure it out, but for the first time in probably my life, I was sleeping with 100% cotton sheets and a 100% cotton woven bedspread. And my restless legs were GONE.
I don’t know why this is… Maybe the polyester I usually use doesn’t let my legs breathe, or maybe there’s even something going on with static electricity. I’ve tested this a few times since I’ve noticed, and my old comforter gives me restless legs every time.
This may not work for everybody, but if it maybe helps one person, I’ll be happy! I know how frustrating this condition can be.
This is a very interesting post about cotton sheets for restless legs. I don’t have restless legs, but I do have trouble sleeping. Although my quilt is made of a combination of cotton and linen, my sheets have polyester in them and so does my mattress cover. I’m going to start shopping for cotton sheets and a cotton mattress cover. Sleep is so important for our happiness and well-being. I believe we should make sleep our number one priority (well, actually, in addition to nutrition). Thank you, Makayla, for sharing your experience with us!
Polyester clothes, creates a very strong electrostatic field which affects the body which makes the body react. Polyester is the worst fabric you can wear. We purchase all organic 100% cotton sheets, blankets. We began to replace all of our clothes to cotton, wearing cotton sock is very important I can tell big difference in how I feel if I wear a cotton clothing I feel clear, light, calm I feel so much better and healthy if I wear polyester or any synthetic I feel really off and my skin body feel uneasy, uncomfortable and my legs jumpy.
Polyester is made from synthetic polymers that are made from esters of dihydric alcohol and terpthalic acid. 2. Acrylic fabrics are polycrylonitriles and may cause cancer, according to the EPA.
Could someone pls tell me what type of chair they find the best to prevent RLS, I have no problem at work but of an evening the minute I sit down on a chair or couch I feel RLS coming on. I find sitting on the floor does help, also putting my feet up and my back on the floor helps as well. Last night I took both Tonic Water and the mixture with BI-Carbsoda and thanks to all you great people I didnt get RLS, thanks heaps. I am an active person walking before work, I am 60 and enjoy my work as an Engineer, we eat a balanced diet and I drink 1 lite beer/night 4-5 times a week, a few more an weekends. So I agree with you all, that it is messages coming from the brain to the legs. It would be interesting to know if there is any tie up with MND (Motor Neuron Disease) I find if my legs are hot in bed this brings on RLS also if the weight of the Blankets doesnt help.
I am 41 years old and took abilify for over a year and found thats it gives you the hateful side effect of rls. I have it so bad that my arms twitch as well and I get no sleep at all. I will try this black strap molasses and see if it will help.
Hi Jay, I had really bad RLS for a few years. Eventually, the pain that would surge through my legs during the night would not go away and I dealt with continual pain that would radiate down my legs constantly.
I know this sounds drastic, and it is, but I went raw and did green juicing everyday. Hoping to detox and find my body’s health again. It only took about a week for the pain to completely disappear after changing my diet this way! After I began to slowly add in soups, then meat again. That Christmas holiday a family member made her spinach cheese pie and I couldn’t resist though I’d completely eliminated dairy when I went raw. Within about 30 minutes the excruciating pain was back! Of course, I saw the correlation immediately.
Well, I stayed off dairy for about a year and then began making kefir from raw milk since I’d read that could help with people who reacted to dairy. It is now about 2 years later and I can eat dairy again without my body reacting. Anyway, I tell you all this because I think it has to do with toxicity in our body. I believe if you clean up your diet and detox it will disappear. I know how awful it is to live with this so, it may be something to consider. The BSM may not be enough. Wishing you the best, Lisa
Yes, I have found that Molasses does remedy restless leg symdrome, numbness/tingling etc because molasses is a very good source of IRON.
Low iron seems to be a common cause of nerve issues, RLS, numbness/tingling in hands, arms or legs, etc.
Note: Abilify medication has iron deficiency on it's list of possible side effects – which is why it can cause RLS (restless leg syndedrome.
Yes, I also agree that it's a good idea to Stop eating DAIRY.
Many people get relief from restless leg syndrome by stopping dairy. This is because dairy products and eggs decrease iron absorption. Caseins from milk and certain forms of calcium inhibit iron absorption.
This remedy was given to me by a friend and my husband has used it with highly successful results. It’s quinine. He takes it by drinking a well-known brand of Tonic Water (not all tonic waters containe quinine) – but I know you can’t advertise. I understand you can buy quinine so could be worth a go. (Hmm think it is a natural substance??).
To Dolly from Brighton. Wonder if you could advise about the quinine in the tonic water. When you refer to the well-known brand are you referring to the one that starts with the letter S and ends with the letter s? Also, can you please advise how often your husband drinks this for his restless leg syndrome and in what quantity? Many thanks.
Hi Jo from Surrey – I’m not Dolly, but my Dad uses tonic water for restless leg syndrome. He uses either Schweppes or Canada Dry tonic water – 4 ounces at noon and 4 ounces about one hour before bed. You may not need as much (his is quite severe). You also may want to check out magnesium (most people are deficient in magnesium). I have RLS to a lesser extent (not as severe as Dad’s) and I find that taking magnesium citrate (about 1 teaspoon in 2 or 3 ounces of water) nightly helps. I use a magnesium citrate powder called “Calm” but there are other good products available in health food stores. I find powder or liquid is better than a tablet because it gets into the bloodstream faster. Transdermal magnesium also helps (60% magnesium chloride to 40% water) rubbed into the legs before bed. It does tend to leave an oily film on the sheets though if you don’t rub it in thoroughly. Good luck! Bess
Hi Jo, I bought the Schweppes brand a couple of years ago on recommendation from my chiropractor to take tonic water. My neck and trapezius area had completely seized up so badly, I couldn’t move. I bought the well- known brand and promptly drank it. I began to then have my negative reactions that I get instantly from sugar. I avoid sugar because I am sensitive to it. I looked at the ingredients and was upset that the second ingredient was corn syrup high fructose and the second sugar. I didn’t take any more after that in spite of the fact that the quinine was supposed to help the muscle spasm. I have since learned there is very little quinine in this company’s tonic water.
Then, about a year later, I noticed that one of my favorite health food stores here in LA was now carrying a few brands of quinine and of very high quality. The one I chose had purified water, natural bitters, handpicked quinine, lemon juice extract and organic agave as the sweetener.
I just wanted to pass this info on to others that might have issues regarding ingredients. Hope it helps, Lisa
Hi I have had Restless Leg for at least 20 years. I have tried several types of over the years and I found Quinine worked for a short period of time. I even had a prescription for quinine capsules however as anyone who has had this illness long enough understands that something that is associated with it is called the phenomenon meaning at anytime the symptoms may reappear. These are the things I have tried and that have been prescribed
Neurontin, 1-2mg of anti psychotics, these minuscule doses worked for years so well that several doctors couldn't reason why! Mirapex, Chamomile, Valerian capsules, Passion flower, Teas, kava Kava, Melatonin Alcohol removed wines, Borion under the tongue pellets, Total blood cleanser, water, exercising, Hylands restless leg product, peppermint, cold applications soap vinegar etc….
As you might can see my restless leg symptoms are quite severe early on when I started suffering with the illness I also went to Mayo clinic after being told I might be a little batty however Mayo stated contrary to others belief it was not a fact however they could actually see the physical manifestation of the illness but however they couldn't come up with a illness they could recognize. However they did find a somewhat of a solution after a week of testing me. That was years ago and I no longer use that method because I became a herbalist .
So these are the ones I found to be helpful to a small degree Borion allergy salts pellets at one time worked like a charm. As well as another one that begins with a M however I have not seen it in a while. The teas still work however since my symptoms are flare up during the day, and the teas cause sleepiness as well as the Melatonin I choose to be without them at certain times because otherwise I couldn't function . Alcohol removed wines actually helped moved my gut around, and afterwards I would get a little relief. Ivory soap, helps a lot, but it worked better when I smoked cigarettes!! Herbal cleansers aggravated my condition severely. Mirapex worked for 10 minutes, water aggravates my symptoms, so does wheat, grape juice, chocolate, peach, and green tea. peppermint gum helps as well as keeping the sheets off my legs my legs, as well as my arms need to be cool. Riding the train causes my symptoms to flare up severely. Lastly vinegar does not work for me. Neurontin does work, however its effectiveness wears down after time.
Which brings me to the conclusion that its seems like its the brain however I believe its the heart due to the pulsating and rapid beats twitching itching and crawling sensation surrounding the rapid beats. thus I apply pressure and sure enough given the right amount of pressure and wait time that place of sensation and others are relieved; however other areas are not relieved. But if I put pressure near the third toe on the top part of the foot from the little toe all symptoms end as well sometimes if I place pressure on the skull in certain areas Folks I have Restless Leg in majority of my body, I a mostly attacked in the inner part of my legs top part where the toes end, hands, fingers, inner arms, shoulders and back. currently I am trying magnesium and God willing a withdrawal of milk products. By way the iron use to work now its doesn't . Yes, they saw my ferritin was very low.
Share, I was wondering when magnesium would come up in your post, and it did towards the end. Try Epsom Salts baths, soaking for 20 minutes at a time.
For iron, the only thing that helped get my ferritin level up to normal was Blackstrap Molasses, about a tablespoon a day.
I use magnesium to keep my restless leg under control. Works well. I use a cal-mag-D3 supplement with food and add a magnesium glycinate if I feel I need it before bed since it can be taken on empty stomach and not cause diarrhea. You may want to also look into getting something called Calm and testing that out also. I take a potassium tablet every 4 to 7 days.
Amazing! I have been soaking my feet in a 50/50 magnesium flake to water ratio for seven days. On the second night my legs got restless during the middle of the night, though not in the evening as they always had as well. I have had this for YEARS!! I can’t believe that all I had to do was soak the bottoms of my feet for half an hour. (Magnesium supplements did not have this effect.)
I’ve been using light therapy to treat my RLS for 18 months now and it’s been working great. I use it for 30 minutes a night every night and if I use it faithfully I never have a problem. There’s been a few times I’ve gone on a trip for over a week and forgot to bring my device and my RLS came back but after I get back on it it works! I bought it from this company here in Canada called Tranquilmed. Has anybody else found success with using light to treat RLS?
I’ve had RLS for quite awhile and have started using Trigger Point Therapy for the last couple of years. I sometimes have to work at it a little while, but I eventually find the trigger Point that is causing the symptoms in that particular leg. After I have massaged it the RLS symptoms slowly go away and my leg quits twitching. I know I have found the right spot because it will trigger the twitch in my leg untill it is massaged. I seem to mostly find the trigger points are in my hips and/or lower back. You can find the books and videos online that can show you how. Hope this helps it sure has me.
I have never tried Ivory soap, but have found that Dial (gold) or Leaver Brothers 2000 (green) works really well. They were the ones recommended by my vascular physician. I unwrap the soap and place it in a clean, somewhat thin cotton sock. It is easy to smell the soap and know when it is time to change bars. Be very careful taking additional magnesium without also taking calcium. If the magnesium/calcium ratio becomes out of balance, the result may be jerking muscles in the shoulders, etc. which can make sleep difficult.
Hi I also have had some improvement with soap relating to my RLS I also was wondering did my RLS symptoms slowed down from the smell of the soap? Therefore every night when I use it I made a point of smelling as well.
In the last few weeks I have been seeing a different doctor this doctor believes their could be something from the nose that triggers RLS, in me the doctor injected a substance in my nose just to see the effect. However, I really couldn't say if I had a improvement from my symptom or not, because I have had the RLS, for 20 years, and in the last ten of those years it has been disabling. Nonetheless, after I leaving the doctors office from being injected in the nose, I wasn't sure if it was true or not I began to feel cool inside which is one of the symptoms of the RLS becoming dormant in me. Mine would stop for months at a time, and return with a vengeance like it had never left. However, as time past after being injected maybe a half hour or more, I notice the RLS started re-blooming full force again.
PS; in my last post I meant to mention over the years I have tried acupuncture it has helped with the right technician. I went to a acupuncture school so technicians change from time to time, however they normally have a history of all sessions given; anyway the Dr. at the clinic stated RLS, comes from stuck blood that's why the throbbing occurs, which mainly is a liver problem in Eastern, medication, however the same diagnosis is not equivalent from a Western stand point.
Hi all, firstly… Terrific site! …. I have been suffering from painful feet for over 6 years, also from painful legs, especially painful after about 15 mins after getting into bed.. I originally thought that this was all the same ailment…. I must say that when I go on my low carb protein diet, the pains seem to subside within a few days… After many years, I have deducted that the joint pains in my feet, hands and knees are arthritic and are brought on by wheat.. I have yo-yo'd and proved this to myself… Within hours or days of eating wheat, my ankles and wrists swell with water retention and then my feet /joints start to ache… Negative for coeliac! … The pain in my legs is quite separate I think and fits RLS exactly… I am glad I have found the cause… I thought I was going mad as it's very hard to describe to anyone… I have to take a co-codamol every night just to be able to sleep.
Anyway, I have read all the threads on this and as I cant get hold of the ivory soap in uk, I read the ingredients and the thread above and wondered if it was the magnesium…. And whether it had anything to do with the power being emitted or being absorbed by the body… Tonight I had a very bad case of rls and was generally tired…. I dreaded the night ahead…. I took a hot bath with epsom salts and went to bed with work to do on laptop…. My legs started to tingle after awhile but only mildly… I then put some epsom salts in a little mesh bag I had and put it under my feet and my co codamols at the ready….. That was over 2 hours ago… haven't had any pain, my legs haven't had to be moved, and I am surprised I haven't had to take my meds!!! …
I will continue every night to see what worked… The hot bath or epsom salt bag… But definitely seems to be the magnesium… The rls seems to have eased and the throbbing pain is gone.. But joints are still a bit stiff in the hands but that's the wheat and grains at work!!
I have food allergies and have Restless Leg Syndrome in the evening as well as at night in bed. I also have insomnia. What works for both my insomnia (even when the legs aren’t restless) and for the RLS is zinc supplement before bed. Sometimes I wake in the middle of the night and need to take it again. Since I take it almost everyday, I only take as much as I need and try not to take more than that.
The different kinds that work for me, are zinc chelate, monomethionine zinc, zinc gluconate, combination of zinc arginate and zinc glycinate. But two zincs that work quickest for me are in liquid form: Monoatomic zinc liquid and zinc sulphate liquid. Supposedly one has to take some copper to balance the zinc or you could get a copper deficiency. I take the other minerals and all the trace minerals as well for the same reason.
Dear D, I used to have RLS as well and it was caused by my severe anemia. Once I was no longer anemic, there was never an issue with RLS again! I used wheat grass powder daily to build up my blood again. Give it a try.
Going to try the zinc, niacin, magnesium (100% multi-vitamin in short)… Not sure I could choke down 1-3 Tbsp of coconut oil, but I WILL try massaging it on my legs after I shave them with just a cheap battery operated shaver that I have used for awhile now whenever my legs begin to bother me. I don’t know if it is the vibration of the shaver, the rubbing of the shaver over my legs or what, but it has worked pretty well for me. The onset of my WORST RLS episodes, I have noticed, is ANYTHING with aspartame sweetner. Natural low or no calorie sweetners don’t both me. As far as the shaver goes, it could be just the slightest stubble on my legs that will aggrivate my RLS. Not sure, but I do know the shaver WORKS for me. I am on a very low dose (0. 25mg) of Mirapex (a medication used for people with Parkinson’s disease) at bed time for my RLS now. Most days I don’t have to take it during the day… My shaver usually can put a stop to it. Between 5-7pm I can feel it coming on and will take a half tablet if the shaver doesn’t get rid of it. I am hoping that by adding a good multi-vitamin, putting coconut oil on after shaving and adding the extra niacin my vitamin doesn’t cover, I can get off of the Mirapex. I have been on it for several years and it has been a life saver, but it’s time to try to say goodbye to 1 more drug if at all possible!
Magnesium Oil is even better than Coconut Oil for restless legs. Apply the magnesium oil to your legs before bed. Magnesium oil is available at most healthfood stores.
I want to share a remedy I have found for Restless Legs Syndrome. ‘Restless Legs Relief’ is a homeopathic remedy found in Health food stores. I spray 4 squirts under my tongue and no restless legs anymore. What a relief, as continually having to move my legs around was stopping me sleeping. I had tried the bar of soap remedy to no avail. Hope this helps!!
I suffered from sleep disorder (jumping up from sleep) for quite a while until recently. Two years ago I saw on TV a story about how Iron supplement has been shown to relieve 'restless leg syndrome'. From my little bit of scientific knowledge, I put two and two together; my symptoms were neurological and so is restless leg syndrome. So, I decided to try Iron supplements. It worked instantly. I started sleeping like a baby each night I take Iron.
I had also made the connection earlier to vitamin C and alcohol. Every time I drink alcohol, I get severe episodes. When I take vitamin C immediately afterwards it alleviated the symptoms. So I figured out that alcohol must be washing away vital nutrients such as vitamins from the body, which makes sense, because alcohol is a natural solvent. Now I take both vitamin C and Iron supplement before bedtime, and I sleep very well with no episodes.
I have no doubt that these nutrients support the electrical/neurological functions of the brain, diaphragm, throat muscles, as well as sensitivity to chemicals which cause mucous oversecretion. Apple cidar vinegar, which another contributor mentioned works because it is loaded with vitamin C.
Remember, for this to work well you have to play with or adjust the dosage to find the right one for you. Vitamin C can be tolerated in high doses by most people but watch your Iron intake very carefully.
By the way, it was very helpful to read all the previous contributions. Now I can join the dots.
God bless you all.
I’ve been struggling with RLS for the last 4 years and have found various things that have helped. At this point, after trying various things and reading a lot about it, I’ve concluded that RLS has to do with minerals/vitamins deficiency and mainly lack of iron, magnesium, potassium and calcium combination. I would recommend a healthy diet with the following additions that has really helped me:
1) Cream of wheat: eat this cereal, this is high in iron and calcium
2) Munch on pumpkin seeds: high in magnesium and other minerals
3) Drink mineral water for a few days
These will stop RLS. This is what I’m focusing right now and has stopped my RLS.
Other things that have helped me in the past:
1) warm water with 2 spoons of apple cider vinegar and honey before sleep
2) ivory soap has helped too
3) Cutting down on sodium if the intake is high
4) Eating banana (high in potassium)
Don’t feel defeated with RLS, you can cure it over time. My RLS comes irregularly, so the body must be ok for a while and then all of a sudden, the minerals get depleted and then you need to boost the levels of these essential minerals and vitamins.
Hope this helps. Take care.
Coconut oil for my RLS [restless leg syndrome]
For 25 years I have had RLS, I used drugs for it every night. When I started using coconut oil the RLS stoped, I haven’t taken the drugs in a month now, and am so glad to rid of them. I can still feel them coming on of the RLS if I don’t take enough coconut oil so I just take some more and I’m good.
What do you mean you started using coconut oil? Rubbing it on the legs or taking it orally?
Sorry I mean I take coconut oil, drink it, eat it, on food any way, it stops my restless legs and has been for a few months now.
Just to ad an update. I also found that using Kombucha tea helps a lot with my RLS. I us both the coconut oil and kombucha and very seldom have any RLS problems. As for the disclaimer that you should get medical advice from a Doctor first, every time I have been to see a Doctor they try and give me a prescription. I rarelly ever waste my time with doctors any more since all they know is drugs, they have lost contact with real cures. I am far more healthy for it, and I fell 20-30 years younger. I have been curing all my health problems without the side effects of prescribed drugs. Thank you Earth clinic.
It’s been a while now and was wondering if you are still using the coconut oil for restless legs and/or how long it worked. My mom is 87 and would like to give her some hope for these final years.
Use the following for restless leg syndrome:
1. Apply on her knees solution of half teaspoon of baking soda in half glass of water…”dab”on her knees and legs on surface of the skin, two applications in three minutes of each other – to both legs. I have found that little trick when my legs (mainly my legs around my knees) begin to be irritated at night works wonders to calm the irritation.
2. Also Calcium AEP (MUST be AEP)…two tablets to counter irritable legs, especially helpful if patient is prone to insulin resistance and finally…
3. No sugar or foods with sugar like fruit juices, cereals with sugar etc. after 3:00 pm. Again, restless leg is often associated with folks who are insulin resistant or borderline.
I have had restless leg syndrome for most of my adult life. I’d get it for a couple of nights every now and then, but now I’ve had it every night for over a month, it’s very distruptive to sleep. I have tried many of the remedies on this site, only to get about 1 1/2 hours of relief before I’m up again. I went to the Dr. for a blood test to see if I was deficient in anything, but I’m not.
I came across a homeopathic remedy called Restful Legs by Hyland. OH, BLESSED RELIEF! I realize that different things work for different people, especially for this condition, but you might want to give it a try. They have a website you can google. I purchased it in a health food store, but it is available in chain drug stores as well according to their website. It’s relatively inexpensive…. about $8.00.
Have you tried quinine for restless legs available much cheaper in tonic water a lot of other benefits too.
Thank you Janet from Kendal, UK for your imput. I have tried tonic water and as with all the other remedies I’ve tried, acv, baking soda etc, I only get about 1 1/2 – 2 hours of some relief and then I’m up again. As an update on the Restful Legs remedy… It works sometimes and not as well at other times. I’m now trying it with the other remedies, tonic water, acv, baking soda, etc. I had blood test to see if I’m deficient in anything but I’m not. Many thanks to all who contribute to this site!
Hi,
I just wanted to share that since giving up coffee, I don’t have Restless Legs syndrome anymore. Simple.
Thanks
Also if you drink a glass of tonic water that, s good for restless legs too, but it, s the quinine in the tonic that does the trick.
Try this; worked for me. My leg agitation would drive me crazy at night and I realized that there was a corrolation between intake of sugar after six oclock or so, and the irritable leg issue.
Two solutions: First I cut way back on night time consumption of sugar products. Especially damaging is sugar late at night. That almost always caused RLS.
But, if I break down and do have the ice cream etc. And know that the irritation is likely, in fact, I usually can feel it coming on even before I am ready to sleep, I use a solution of baking soda in water; a half teaspoon in a half cup of water and apply on my knee caps… Which is where the irritation centers in on me. Then I drink the remainder of the soda/water. That combo alkalizes the body. The sugar is a terrible cause of acidic body condition, probably produced over a lifetime of too much sugar consumption and the inability to metabolize it efficently gives a side effect of acidic condition which perhaps along with insulin issues causes the RLS.
This formula really works. No sugar at night but if you do and the RLS starts take the baking soda in water topically and drink the rest to create an alkaline condition.
I've heard from many people that giving up the coffee will help cure a lot of RLS!!!
I have suffered with RLS for about 20 years now and have been taking prescription medications to help for the last 10 or so. Since I HATE the idea of having to take a pill for the rest of my life, I tried searching natural remedies for RLS, and here I am. My RLS starts in my left leg, then, if I don’t start moving or medicate, it will “attack” my left forearm, them my other leg, then the other arm (I usually take something before it gets to my right leg). I also have issues when just sitting at rest. I work two jobs, and my part-time gig requires a LOT of sitting (it’s at a mental hospital). It will also start in on me while trying to watch TV in the evenings.
In reading the comments on the website, I decided to try the bar of soap remedy last night. NO HELP. I used a bar of Ivory soap, still wrapped, in the sheets. First below my feet, then between my knees and feet, then unwrapped the bar, shoved it in a sock and kept it between the sheets, then held it in my hand. After an hour and a half, I broke down, took my pill, and went outside to walk it off for about 30 minutes. Finally fell asleep about 2:45 AM!! UGGGGGHHHHH!!!
Thoughts, suggestions, snide remarks?
I read somewhere that restless legs sometimes occur if you are anemic. Just a thought.
Surveyor65, From the Doctoryourself.com website:
Just thought I’d let you know another great use for Niacin — restless leg syndrome. My husband has never been officially diagnosed, but has a lot of trouble sleeping. This year when the work season started again, he began kicking me all night. It got so bad that I wasn’t going to be able to sleep in the same room. Every few seconds, his legs would move and it was driving me up the wall. I persuaded my husband to try Niacin with Vitamin C right before bedtime. Works like a charm, in fact when he missed his vitamins the other night, I could tell within minutes. What a great solution to a problem that so many suffer with! “
“Doses vary from person to person, ranging anywhere from a low 50-100 mg to a high 500 mg”.
Source: http://www.doctoryourself.com/leg.htm
The bar of soap didn’t work for me either. I try not to drink caffeine in the afternoon, and get plenty of water intake. I’ll try the niacin. The best thing I’ve found, is “Restful Legs” a homeopathic remedy that you put under your tongue. It lets me get back to sleep in 10 minutes. If I run out, I drink a large glass of water, and that will help. But then you might wake up to go to the bathroom. It’s very frustrating!
Niacin (use the non-flushing kind) may work for some people. I read where you can take 50mg to 500mg an hour and 1/2 before bed with food can help. I had a bad couple of nights with relatively little sleep due to my legs and tried all of my usual tricks that didn’t work. I bought a 250mg of niacin, opened it and sprinkled about 1/3 into a glass of water and drank it. Last night I slept like a baby.
Niacin is known to give the skin a flush for awhile. I would start off slow to see if you react to even the non-flushing kind.
I have used 500mg of Niacin twice a day for years to fight insomnia and RLS. When I ran out of Niacin for a week my insomnia and RLS returned with a vengence. I dug through my cupboards, found some and was asleep 30 minutes later.
Niacin deficiency is pinpointed as the culprit in many neurological issues by Dr Hoffer including ADHD There is rumors of a toxicity issue with long term high doses but many people have taken up to 3000mg daily long term.
I just recently found this site and have read everything here about Restless Legs Syndrome.
Everyone in my family has this problem and I have had it since I was a small child. In my family, the “cure” for an episode of RLS is aspirin. Two 325 mg tablets stops all the twitching and crawling sensations in 12-15 minutes and keeps working for at least 3 hours. I go from total twitching overload to sound asleep in moments.
I have been to several specialists about my restless legs because it has become much worse as I get older (I am now over 60). And I develop a temporary tolerance to the aspirin if used day after day, so that I need 3 tablets or 4 to stop the symptoms if I have taken aspirin every night for a week or two. Aspirin has its own serious side effects, especially in these quantities. But, after a couple weeks of no aspirin, 2 tablets will stop the symptoms again.
The neurology specialists I have seen are surprised that common aspirin completely relieves my symptoms. They tell me they have never heard of this or read about it. Their answer is various prescription drugs that have serious side effects for me. I am very interested in several of the remedies described here, but wanted to share my family’s experience as well. Has anyone else tried aspirin? It is obviously not a cure, but it stops the symptoms so I can sleep. That’s BIG help when you have serious RLS.
I have also found that aspirin cures RLS. My dad is a doctor and he said this really works. Obviously some doctors know what is going on! I also get used to the aspirin and have to take as little as possible for it to work all the time. Try it, it works! Ibprofen does not work as well for me.
Yup, aspirin works for me. I read somewhere that RLS is basically the brain mis-firing low-level pain signals. Aspirin works to block just enough of those signals that RLS goes away – other painkillers work, Tylenol is the safest to take long-term (some studies show elevated liver enzymes after a few weeks, but nothing to be alarmed about and no liver damage occurs). Aspirin has side-effects like blood-thinning if taken over the long-term. I just switch ’em off, but do talk to your doctor.
The reason aspirin is helping may be because it thins the blood, thus helping one's circulation. I've found RLS to be directly related to circulation issues…
I take 2 low dose aspirin every night for my RLS, and that usually does the trick. There are some nights -when symptoms are really bad – that I have to get back up and take 2 to 4 more, but not very often. Soap did help some. Hot, hot baths at 3 in the morning sometimes worked, too. Aspirin has been the most reliable source of help for me. BTW – I have also found that sleeping in lightweight pajama pants, year round, helps.
I have found that if I drink 2 – 3 glasses of water befor going to bed it stops the RLS. Also foods that start up my RLS like chocolat, junk food, and more, the 2 to 3 glasses of water stops it. At first I thought I would be up all night peeing it out but usually only about once, must have something to do with laying down. Try it if you get desperate like I did.
Since I told you about water for RLS I have found that coconut oil stops the RLS. I take 2 tablespoons a day and it stops the RLS.
For RLS: 3 oz. Pineapple Juice, 3 oz. Tonic Water, and a couple of shakes of Nutmeg. Mix these 3 ingredients together and drink nightly about 30 minutes before your RLS usually kicks in. I was given this recipe by a holistic doctor and it works every night.
I am 62 and have had RLS all my life but have never used prescription meds for this. Last nite I couldn’t get to sleep because of the RLS and turned on my computer and went to this website. I read about the soap and decided, why not. When I got to bed, I held the bar of soap (which I had put into a sock) and NO RLS. When I woke up this morning, the soap was no longer in my hand but it didn’t matter. I never have a problem with RLS once I am asleep; it’s just that period before I fall asleep. If I don’t lie perfectly still during that period before sleep, I will always get RLS. So, after I was holding the soap, I moved my legs around and around and around, to see if RLS would appear and it never did. Thank you so much for this website…amazing information.
Tried the bar of soap under the sheet two years ago and it’s been like a miracle. I change it for a new one every few months and it always works for me. M. H.
I have had RLS for about 5 years, so bad that the prescription medicine doesn’t even work well. There are different levels of RLS, with mine being really bad, I have tried alot of things, including a bar’ of soap. For me it didn’t touch it, but what has worked is a combination of magnesium glucimate (take as much as you can, until your body tells you it is enough – don’t worry, you will know!) it really works! I also use a oil that is rubbed on my lower back and the area that is acting up at the time, it is called ‘Night Time leg calm’ from Natures Inventory. This too has been fantastic, it doesn’t make it go away for good, but it allows me to rest and to sleep. I also have just discovered that my problem with RLS might be my sciatic nerve…. will keep you posted.
I’ve had RSL for over five years now… Beginning when I turned 45. No remedies have worked until I heard from a visiting neighbor’s friend that putting an unwrapped bar of soap under the top sheet at the foot of the bed reduces the episodes and for some people, even eliminates it. I tried it with a bar of goat’s milk soap (no reason) and NO kicking! I don’t know why it works; perhaps, it’s the aroma of certain ingredients – I don’t know, but I’m glad I finally found something other than drugs!
Wow! A big yea for the bar of soap! I have had restless leg for years, and just suffered through, banging my foot on the floor incessantly (which helps not at all 🙂 Since beginning medication for hypertension it has gotten worse, and keeps me from sleeping at times. Last night I came to this site, not really thinking I’d find anything but hoping…
The bar soap idea seemed pretty strange, but the whole alkaline thing suggested by a contributor appealed to me, so I gave it a try. I use coconut soap and didn’t think that would work, but my daughter had a little scrap of a bar of Dove which she prefers. Since it was pretty small, I gently rubbed it over my legs for a few minutes – not making much contact at all. Then I just let it sit atop my legs. Seriously, that was the last time I felt the effect of RLS! I slept the night with that little scrap on the sheet under my legs, and that was all it took. I slept soundly through the night, not waking once (which is notable in that I’m taking a diuretic in my drug coctail!
Fantastic! I love this website and all the wonderful people who contribute. Thank you!!!
Just a thought for all those detractors of the "bar of soap" remedy.. All things have resonance (even dead things) Resonance cannot be seen but can have profound effects. Maybe the soap has a resonance???
@ Rigger–i know this was an older post, but I just sent off for some of that Night Time Leg Calm. I hope it works for me!! Thanks for the tip, too. It's now 10:30 am and I never got to sleep last night, thanks to my RLS. -_- I tried quinine water (tonic water) with V8 juice (as I can't tolerate the taste of tonic water on its own) and I have a bar of soap under my sheet strategically placed between my calves (that's where my RLS hits). My tub is old and the veneer is coming off and it LOOKS horrid. Mentally, I KNOW when I wash it it's clean…but I can't get past the looks of it enough to actually bring myself to SIT in it, lol! If I could, I would add some lavender essential oil and epsom salts. (Just wish I could get past that mental block about my tub looking so nasty even when it's clean! ) I always slept SO well when I lived in places that had a decent tub to soak in. Half the time I would fall asleep in the tub…lol. And I never had RLS on the nights I did that, either.
Thank you again for the tip! 🙂
I wanted to thank you for the bar of soap idea. This is the weirdest coolest thing I've found yet. Not only does it work for restless legs, but for almost any ache and pain you can imagine, for me. Neck aches, headaches, back pain, flitting pains, on and on. I just hold the still wrapped ivory soap bar in my hand while I sleep or even hold it on the pain directly. I've even seen it help sore throats and mouth sores. It is the weirdest thing, but it is beautiful. We even have a bar in the living room so if we need it, we have it handy. It even helps my hubby and he's a hard sell. I just wish I understood it. God bless this site and all the sharing going on!
Yep. I felt a little foolish doing this, but it does indeed work for RLS. I happened to use an old bar of Lifebuoy soap, and it is firm enough to have lasted for at least three years. Every now and then I use it for handwashing or something and it seems to revive the smell of it, which I happen to like.
An explanation to the soap bar use for the restless leg syndrome.
1st a soap is alkaline. It has to be to remove oil and grease as they are acids (as in fatty acids!).
For instance check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivory_(soap)
where it says "The Ivory soap bar (classic) had contained: sodium tallowate, sodium cocoate or sodium palm kernelate, water, sodium chloride, sodium silicate, magnesium sulfate, and fragrance.[7] The soap bar had a determined pH value: 9.5. "
Surprise, its pH is 9.5 i.e. alkaline. Also notice it has magnesium sulfate i.e. Epsom salts.
Now from http://www.progressivehealth.com/RLS-magnesium.asp
you can read
"Magnesium for RLS
If the massive amounts of body magnesium are low, you can have restless legs, cramps of the uterus and other muscles, migraines, and other problems. It is an essential mineral critical in 300 enzyme reactions in the body.
Calcium, magnesium, and potassium all have an effect on muscle contraction and relaxation. In addition, they help nerve transmission. Experts say that you can help calm your legs and get some rest by making sure that you're getting enough of all three minerals. Taking a daily dose of between 800 and 1,000 milligrams of calcium, 300 milligrams of potassium, and 500 milligrams of magnesium at bedtime may help reduce RLS symptoms.
Magnesium is important for muscles to be able to relax, while calcium helps them contract. Too little magnesium in relation to calcium (or low levels of both) can make muscles cramp more easily and may make some muscles, like the smooth muscles that wrap around big blood vessels, stay somewhat contracted.
Magnesium deficiency can make muscles go into spasms easily. When you're short on magnesium, the waste products of metabolism, such as lactic acid, are harder to flush out, so you may get tired, burning, sore muscles."
Now check http://www.earthclinic.com/cures/restless_legs.html
and see how many post refers to minerals, magnesium, blackstrap molasses.
So definitely, RLS is related with mineral deficiency. Therefore I would suggest people with RLS to consider alkalizing protocols that would include multi-mineral like BSM …
Search about how to take magnesium. One way is externally with Epsom Salt baths. Or take a pinch of ES with a heavy meal or with a glass of water. Magnesium will help the liver and kidneys in the digestion of proteins. I am now taking about a total of between 1/2 and 1 teaspoon a day of ES with my water through the day with beverages. But one must start slowly first. I need less ES in the summer when a eat a lot of fresh veggies.
For lengthy and technical articles on minerals you can read the following:
This, http://www.acu-cell.com/acn.html , for a very lengthy article on Calcium/Magnesium/Vitamin D.
For muscle spasms http://www.acu-cell.com/dis-mus.html
And this, http://www.acu-cell.com/femn.html , for iron and manganese.
For good natural sources of numerous minerals you can take BSM and cold water kelp.
Alain
Well, I've tried taking just about every nutrient listed to varying degrees of success. The ivory soap bar seems to be the easiest and works the best. I tried putting it in socks, which worked well, but my feet ended up getting too hot and I had to pull them off with little crumbles of soap going everywhere. I tried a bar of soap still in it's pkg and found, rather than letting it kick around randomly in the bed, if I just held onto it it worked fine. I wake up, and I'm still holding onto the bar of soap. It's like a security blanket or something. It really does work. It's verrrry weird, makes little sense and whoever thought of it is a genius. How it works, I can not understand, but it does. Thank God for home remedies. If you havn't tried it, please do, it's strange but works for me. Thanks to everyone on this site for your help~ Namaste
restless leg syndrome: try herbal teas from your acupuncturist
Yes. A bar of ivory soap also worked for my RLS. You would have to put a new one every now and then.
I have suffered from restless legs for 15 years (since I was started on an SSRI for depression). I could not go off the antidepressant because otherwise I would become unable to work. When I took hydrocodone for a pain condition, my restless legs went away. My doctor tried me on all sorts of medications for restless legs and nothing worked. When I told her that hydrocodone worked, she said “I cannot prescribe that for restless legs or I could lose my license.” So, I did some research and found out that hydrocodone, like other opiates are made from poppy seeds. Now I take 1 pound of poppy seeds (you can get from bulk food stores) and mix with 16 ounces of fruit juice. Shake well for 20 minutes. Poke small holes in the top of the fruit juice bottle and drain out the juice. Drink approximately half cup of that juice every night and you will not have restless legs. At least, it works for me. You can use the poppy seeds twice and then toss.
Be careful with poppy seed tea. It is as addictive as any of the more demonised opiates (diamorphine [“heroin”] for instance) but you are consuming a wide array of the opium poppy’s dozens of alkaloids (morphine, codeine, thebaine, papaverine and many, many more). In certain individuals and dosages, poppy tea is a comforting, functional, relieving natural medicine – but it is as physically addictive as any other pharmaceutical or illicit opiate. Should you fall into habitual use of this “tea” (or wash, as I prefer to call it – the opiates are on the coating of the seed) you’ll be addicted to that full spectrum of opiate alkaloids. The implications of the alkaloid profile are two-fold; the body metabolises broad-spectrum opiates much slower than purified morphine, codeine or opioid drugs that generally contain a single substance. This gives poppy tea a very long half-life in many people, meaning addicts (of which I am one, for the record) – can take it once a day, or even wait longer than a day for re-dosing before withdrawal symptoms become apparent. The downside of this is that upon ceasing the use of poppy tea, the withdrawal experience (which for most addicts includes intense Restless Leg syndrome; hence the slang term “kicking” a habit, which I believe to be a direct reference to this phenomenon) can also be extremely prolonged…. Leaving you back – or maybe worse off – than when you started.
While poppy seed tea can be a godsend for some people, it must be emphasised that there is a great potential for addiction, that it is nearly impossible to know how potent your seeds are, batch to batch from the same store. Because of this, quitting is complicated as taper need to be precise. I became addicted to these seeds for their narcotic properties almost 8 years ago. I am in the process of finding a way to shake my addiction with as little discomfort as possible. I am not saying “don’t use poppy seeds”, I am just urging caution. Mild as they may seem, they can lead to serious narcotic addictions. People may ridicule the idea of a poppy seed addiction, but for myself and plenty of other people, it is no laughing matter!
If you are going to use poppy seeds for RLS, please be aware that even taking some every 2-3 days can lead to physical dependence. It stays in your system for a very long time. You will then – if you miss that crucial daily dose or cease taking poppy tea – find your restless legs are dramatically worse, as the post-acute withdrawal symptoms from opium can drag on for months at a time. And opiate withdrawal RLS is not your average restless leg syndrome – it can be agonising. I would recommend using this remedy no more than once a week, if you choose to try it. Keep your doses as low as possible, as opium can be a very euphoric, misleading drug that can easily lull one into a false sense of security, and start dosing daily as I did.
I apologise for the negative post, but I really feel people need to know some of the consequences of this treatment, as it lead me from the spice isle through a wide range of “hard drugs”, injecting street heroin and wasting a lot of time, money and effort in trying to stay “well”, rather than sick from opium withdrawals. I am now seeking to turn my life around – I’ve always eaten well and lived a healthy lifestyle, but drug addiction does not discriminate! Please be careful with these seeds; I wasn’t – even though I knew the risks – and now face a tough battle to rid myself of them.
My people perish for lack of knowledge. Thank you for your informative post. I did not know these things. My compassion goes out to you as a former addict to many substances. Most people try this and try that, sugar, coffee, salt, tobacco, herbs, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Whatever….. trying to feel better and that is how it all begins.
I love the flowers of the poppy and also enjoy poppyseed lemon treats. I haven’t gotten into it much since it is usually a treat that is overly sugary with fats, like a doughnut. For me doughnuts are poison.
I commend you for the post and the bravery to hang it out there…. Blessings JOY
Some people are capable of having poppy seed tea in an evening without succumbing to such a painful lifestyle. That's like saying, for God sake be careful when you have a beer, you may end up a raging alcoholic homeless and roaming the streets with cheap wine in a brown paper bag. Your scenario, although possible is highly unlikely. Like all things, moderation is the key.
I have used the bar under the sheets as well. I think it is a life saver!!! another trick, if you wear socks to bed at night; you can also use a sliver of soap in each sock. I do this too, when my husband complains about the bar of soap in the bed.
I have just recently been suffering from RSL and it is making my life completely miserable. So I have just been reading all the useful remedies provided by fellow sufferers. Thank you very much. Starting to-day! I am going to have a go. Strangely however I have always dedicated my good health to Cider Vinegar, but in recent times have neglected to do so. I wonder if this is the cause of my nightly suffering. I saw my doctor who gave me pain-killers and sleeping tablets but they are causing other problems like I do not have the energy I usually have. I will start to-day from the beginning of these pages and will let you know in about a week how I have got on.
Thank you all so much.
Barbara from Wales
Hello Barbara,
I haven’t checked this out personally but have read that putting a bar of ivory soap in the bed gets rid of restlessleg sysdrome. Nobody seems to know how it works but have read where several different people with restless leg syndrome says it works. One of the claimants said you don’t even need to remove the wrapper from the bar of soap.
Dear Barbara:
1. A half cup of soy milk added with 1 tablespoon of blackstrap molasses, 1 capsule of folic acid (1000 mcgr.) and 1 table of potassium citrate (250 mgr.). Use your blender.
2. A strong alcohol massage in both legs (calf), before going to bed.
It is working to my mother, so far. No more sleeping interruptions.
To your best days.
Luis
Can say that I was diagnosed with RLS about 2 years ago. One night I was reading online and noticed that I was hurting in my lower back while sitting. I looked to see what would help that problem and found- 3 -simple exercies and when I did those I slept all night long. It seems that the lower back is related to Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS). I do also believe that a lack of minerals and folic acid and Vitamin D3 are also needed but the exercises doing them 3 to 6 times a day about a minute and I sleep all night long. This works whether I take the vitamins and mineral or not as sometimes I get lazy about taking pills all the time and can go weeks before I take the supplements again. But the exercises are simple: 1-Rotate the Hips as in trying to use a Hula Hoop. 2-Twist the upper body 3-Do squats with the knees as low as possible and do all of this no more that 1 minute for all 3 exercises. Do this a minumin of 3 times or more as needed.
I’m going to try these tonight. I do have issues with lower back pain. Took a nap this afternoon and RLS started. Worth a try. Thank you.
These exercises are so great and were so helpful during my last pregnancy. even though minerals helped a lot I still found that I would have bad bouts of RLS. if I did these exercises, even in the middle of the night, I found that I could go right to sleep after that. Thank you again!
I am, like all of you have already posted here, going crazy with this RLS. I have read and read and read (and read) about some of the things that are helping you all. I have not tried any, but am now at the breaking point. I will try the apple cider vinegar or baking soda or maybe both. What I wanted to say here, is that I noticed a lot of people talking about how the irritation is coming directly from their legs. My experience is my lower back problems; I can feel it stemming from there, and working it’s way down into my knees, mostly on the left side which is where the sciatic nerve is. I believe this has a lot to do with, at least my problem. I also get that nervous twinge in my upper back between my shoulder blades and then get the rls feeling in my arms. I don’t know what all this is about, but like many, I am at the point where I’ll try anything to get a good nights sleep. Thanks so much for all your posts.
You may want to check out The Magnesium Miracle by Carolyn Dean, M.D.,N.D. and read about muscle pain and spasms on page 67:
“magnesium helps muscles relax magnesium relieves spasms”
Some people increase their intake of calcium to help muscle cramps which helps for a short period but then makes the situation worse. Many health care professionals believe that most people do not get enough magnesium or vitamin d3. If you visit amazon’s bookstore online you can actually view information in some of their books which might be helpful to you for your health.
Hope this helps! Wishing you well!
Just wanted to let Jezugirl know that I have the exact symptoms she describes and that she is not alone in this feeling. I very rarely have pain from this condition, but more like an overpowering energy that grows until I have to get up and move.
I believe the recommended dose of vinegar for weight loss is 2 teaspoons in 16oz of water sipped throught the day I don’t know if this will be enough for rls if not do it 2 or 3 times throught the day but also rub your legs with the vinegar, I get almost instant relief from this. Hope it works for u too. Gail
Since I am seeing more posts about Restless Leg Syndrome, I thought I would share with all of you as a possible solution. I was telling a friend about the Earthclinic web site and she told me she once had restless leg syndrome. She said remembers how releatives used rubbing alcohol for horses legs. She thought, why not and rubbed her legs with it. The next day and to this day she has had no more symptoms. I don’t have personal experience with this but I thought I would throw it into the mix to see if anyone else had tried it.
Good Morning, I would just like to mention that I moderate 3 online supprt groups for RLS and sleep disorders. I do have SOME members (under a dozen) who swear by the soap thing. I think almost all of us have tried it at one point or another when we were desperate. Out of 1500 members, I would say that soap may work for 6 of them. I am not putting it down, but most of us need more than soap to keep the RLS at bay, and our sleep partners from getting kicked, if you have PLMD. It is most certainly a trial and error thing, treating RLS, and we just have to keep plugging away.
Thanks!
Restless Leg Syndrome: I have a theory on this one, that this disease, RLS, exists in the animal world with a different name. WMD – White Muscle Disease.
Somebody on here with this disease will eventually get a blood test. I propose that someone with RLS tests for Selenium Deficiency.
I have found magnesium supplements at bedtime work like a charm. However, they also loosen the bowels a bit, but nothing uncontrollable.
I had never heard about putting the bar of soap at your feet but I have put soap on a wet paper towel and rubbed it on my legs at work. It works wonderful. I am so glad someone told me about it. It’s awful when you are trying to work or sleep and can’t because of RLS.
Horse Chestnut tabs from a health food store will relieve symptoms of RLS in some people. There is some evidence that insomnia and RLS may be secondary to folic deficiency. People with a family history of RLS may benefit from taking 5-10 mg per day of folic acid. However, those taking folic acid should make sure they are receiving at least 500-1000 mcg of vitamin B12. Also, consult a physician before using folic acid if you have epilepsy as folic acid interacts with some epilepsy medications and can trigger a seizure in some people. Obviously, from the discussion, different people benefit from different supplements and treatments. One should experiment carefully until you get it right.
Folic Acid cured my inherited Restless Legs. My mother also had restless legs. I am 47 years old and I have had restless legs in the evening for about 10 years. I couldn’t sit on the couch and try to relax or take a long car ride at night without my legs going crazy twitching. It’s only been in the last year or so that it has actually affected me in bed while I’m trying to sleep. It progressively got worse until it was keeping me awake for most of the night. That’s when I realized I was not going to take this lightly anymore. I have done research and tried many things over the years, but when you read so many things some of it just goes over your head. The folic acid connection was one of the things that just kept going over my head. So when I looked deeper into it recently, I started seeing many accounts of how folic acid deficiency can be inherited. Some people just cannot absorb and utilize folate effectively and that can be an inherited problem. I looked deeper and learned that some of the signs of folic acid deficiency, aside from restless legs, are periodontal disease (my mom had it in her mid thirties and had all her teeth removed), poor circulation (my hands & feet are always cold), and even Alzheimer’s (my mom contracted Alzheimer’s in her mid sixties). I read that if this is the case with you that you need to supplement with high doses of folic acid. I bought the 800 mcg tablets and started with just a couple of them at a time. I have built up to taking 15 of them at night before bed and my restless legs are no more. I can hardly believe it, but it’s true. It took about a week or two for it to completely disappear and if my body adjusts to this dosage and it comes back, I will just continue to increase my dosage as necessary. I am a firm believer in healing ourselves with natural products and methods. I have used much information from this wonderful site to improve and cure my problems.
I’d like to add that EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), which is a form of self-applied acupressure, has also helped me greatly. Used correctly, it will stop the twitching in your legs. For me it was only temporary because of the folic acid deficiency, but it was a huge help to me in the middle of the night when I couldn’t get to sleep because of my restless legs. I hope this can help someone else who struggles with this problem.
Took a drug every night at bedtime to ease RLS so I could get some rest. Discovered that the drug would become ineffective after 24 months and then there was no help. Desparation began to mount.
At dinner one night a friend told me about the bar of soap. He was very sheepish because he thought I would laugh. When I didn’t, his wife presented me with a bar of Ivory Soap. Used it that night and threw away the drugs. That was 4 months ago. Since then, no drugs, no RLS, and lots of sleep.
I use Ivory Soap unwrapped between the sheets somewhere between the waist and knees. There may be variations that also work but I am not broke so I will not fix it.
I have restless legs that intesify after a workout. I've tried the bar of soap remedy, and it does not work for me at all.
I too have had the creepy crawly sensation, associated with Restless Leg Syndrome. I tried lots of home remedies and finally I am cured but there is not one single remedy that did the trick. A remedy is good for a little while then it is not efficient anymore and I have to use another one for a while. I have listed everything I tried and your readers have to do like me: test them and by trials and errors they will find a few that are good for them.
VERY EFFICIENT FOR ME:
1-Massaging the legs.
-Almond oil is a light oil widely used in the profession but any good oil will work.
-Three places to massage: on the side above the ankle, inside the thighs, vertically all along the back of the calves.
-Tapping gently on the great saphenous vein with castor oil. It runs along the inside side of the thigh.
2-Being warm:
This is extremely important for me: even if I have never noticed that my legs were cold, I have discovered with surprise that my legs need to be warm.
Wearing a pyjama and also sometimes support stockings (but I believe any regular hosiery will do). I have a dawn conforter and a dawn matress pad. If nothing works, I crawl against my husband and the warmth of his body always helps me.
Feet
All the problems of the feet have an influence on the legs.
-Foot bath before retiring with hydrogen peroxide or Epsom Salt or baking soda or sea salt are extremely important.
-I massage lightly my legs, from ankle to knee (in this direction) with the water from the bath.
-I have worn insole in my shoes for more than 25 years. I cannot do without them.
3-Drinking before going to bed
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water
or
Baking soda and cider vinegar (Ted’s recipe)
or
Cinnamon and honey in warm water
4-Spiritual healing (reiki or other modalities)
Laying on of hands done by yourself or a practitionner
or
Remote healing sent by a friend or a practitionner.
If you don’t know anyone to send it to you, you can contact me and I will do it for you for one or two days so that you can experience it and see if you can get some relief this way. (My pleasure. No charge)
5-Other good aids:
Exercices with legs
Inversion table
Full bath
Magnet anklet
Foot detox pads
NOT EFFICIENT FOR ME BUT IT MAY BE FOR SOME READERS:
Soap in bed
Magnesium supplement
Molasses
In-home professional massage
Sleeping on the floor
Bed in North-South direction
Unplugging everything in bedroom (to avoid the electromagnetic field EMF)
Avoiding digital clocks on bedstand
OTHER IDEAS WORTH EXPLORING
Chi Kong
Tai Chi
Electric massager
Cider vinegar on legs
Foot bath with cider vinegar
Reflexology
Drinking drops of hydrogen peroxide
POSSIBLE ROOT CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM
While massaging my legs, I discovered that there are three places inside the legs that feel hard and painful and benefit immensely from the massage: on the side above the ankle, inside the thighs, vertically all along the back of the calves.
Looking at a chart, I realized these places correspond to the path of the great and the small saphenous veins. Does that mean that Restless Leg Syndrom is a blood circulation problem?
“three places inside the legs that feel hard and painful” sound like trigger points. Check out the book “Trigger Point Therapy Workbook” by Clair Davies to see if it makes sense to you. I’ve suffered from RLS for about 10 years and finally reached out to a naturopath who immediately knew what caused it and what to do. RLS is from lymphatic waste pooling in the legs which irritates the nerves, causing the muscles to spasm. This made perfect sense to me, but I’d never thought of it before. Before I went to the naturopath, I’d been taking 3 capsules of magnesium asporotate (Solaray brand) before bed, which works as a muscle relaxant. (Taking much more than that has a laxative effect. ) I’d also do deep runner stretches of the hip flexors, which were the muscles giving me all the trouble. This helped somewhat. Often I’d be up 2-3 times during the night, awakened by jerky legs. I’d walk around the house, sometimes almost to the point of tears because it was SO incredibly frustrating. The magnesium and stretching helped, but obviously they weren’t enough. The naturopath suggested the following things which worked like magic:
– 10 to 15 minutes daily bouncing on a mini trampoline. This helps stimulate and clear the lymphatic system
– homeopathic lymphatic drops daily, again to stimulate the lymphatic system
– curcumin daily to clean out the liver which deals with waste delivered to it by the lymphatic system
– yoga, especially inverted poses. For the last 25 or so years I’ve taken good care of myself: exercised regularly, eaten health food, drank plenty of water, taken supplements. I was already avoiding foods that cause toxins (waste) in the first place–meaning junk food and foods I was allergic to. This was a difficult problem to solve. Now, I usually sleep normally and have slacked off on the trampoline. (If I did the trampoline daily, I’d probably have a complete cure. ) When I exercise a lot, the RLS flares up. I can usually stop it and get back to sleep by deep leg stretches and then a shoulder stand for about 5 minutes. This was really affecting my life in a negative way. I’m so thankful I found things that worked and hope others do too.
Has anyone tried Vitamin K2 for leg cramps of RLS? I am going to try K2 and curcumin/tumeric as soon as I receive them in mail.
Side effect reported
Guess what kids, one of the major causes of RLS, is anti depressants and over the counter cold/sinus meds. muscle relaxers too. You didn’t hear much about RLS until everyone and their brother was on ANTI Ds. Also, a lot of sinus medications, cold and flu meds.
I noticed this as a child, I could not take over the counter or prescribed meds because of those side effects. I decided I would rather have the symptoms of the cold or allergies than the RLS they gave me, back in the 1960s, 70s,80s, they didnt have a name for it, you hardly ever heard of it. But once the whole world got in anti depressents you starting hear about it. Even Nyquil or Benedryl does it to me, flexeril, all that stuff.
So if you have RLS, you might start looking back on when it started and what meds you introduced into your life. I’m not saying you should go off your prescribed meds, but every once in awhile the insert of a medication will now list RLS as a side effect, but not often enough. I hope this info can help someone. Just a thought.
Yes, that is because antidepressants, antihistamines, antipsychotics, anticonvulsants and antiemetics reduce the amounts of iron in the brain can cause restless leg syndrome.
Supplementing with molasses or plant-source iron helps.
Re creepy crawly leg sensations associated with restless leg syndrome… using an electric massager on the afflicted area of my leg, usually the calf, stops the creepy crawly sensation. This sensation is associated with Restless Leg Syndrome although my leg does not twitch or jump. I experience this sensation in the early afternoon or evening when I am lying down and resting on the couch. When I use the above treatment for about 5-10 minutes, the crawling sensation cycle is broken.
For my RLS treatment, I usually take a very warm shower, and then I massage my legs to the sole of foot bottom for about fifteen minutes and with this procedure I do get a good night rest.
I have had problems with RLS and have found two remedies that work for me.
The first is magnesium supplementation, which I see is often mentioned on this site. When I feel the twitching, unable-to-stop-moving feeling, I get out of bed and take the recommended dose of a calcium/magnesium/Vitamin D supplement. I get back in bed and am asleep before I remember to check if it has worked. This doesn’t seem to have a cumulative effect; I have to take this most nights. I might not need it a few times a week.
The second remedy I’ve found is a very healthy diet. When I eat nothing but fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans and a little fish, I never get RLS symptoms. As soon as I add unhealthier things to my diet, it comes back. I hope this is helpful to some of you out there and I hope you try some of these remedies before turning to Requip or some other drug.
for anyone who can’t take acv for their restless legs they can rub it into their legs, this works just as well as taking it internally
I am new to the site. I have had restless leg syndrom for MANY years now and take medication for it. I DO NOT like the side effects. I see where many people are talking about acv. I have severe rls and would like to know how much acv and water to mix? Also what time of day should this be taken? I can not take naps either because if I take a pill to sleep I am no good for the rest of the day.
I am a 59 year old female, about 5ft6inches and weigh 180, I would also like to try the acv for weight lose. Any suggestions?
Thank you for your time,
Alice Curt
Thanks for the info about the Apple Cider Vinegar. I just read this and plan to try it in just a minute. Do you also have knotted veins in the thigh area that hurt soooo bad?
Dear Dorothy,
The knotted veins sound like varicose veins. The Apple Cider Vinegar May help that, too.
~Mama to Many~
A simple bar of regular Bath Soap placed under your bedsheets below your feet works amazing well to get rid of "Restless Legs"! It doesn't really seem to matter what type of soap is used, and you can even leave the soap in its wrapper. I'm not sure why this works, but I'm sure it has to do with the "outgassing" of the soap chemicals, which you can smell. Or it may have to do with the Molecular structure of soap, and the energy those molecules put off and how they influence your muscles. Either way, it works! I have read about this several times in "natural health" articles and have had many people use this. They think it sounds crazy, but they are happy either way with the results. We have found no negative side-effects with doing this. Try it yourself and stop your Restless Legs in your bed at night!
RLS –I vote “Yea” to Soap and Yea to Calcium Magnesium tablets. Don’t know why the soap at your feet works, but, it does. Immediately. CM tablets also work–when I remember to take them!
I use Cream of Wheat for my RLS!! My legs have always hurt plus I’ve had poor circulation for as long as I can remember. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore, so I researched causes and found one reason was an Iron deficiency. I then researched foods rich in Iron and came up with Cream of Wheat, 1 cup equal to 10 mg. and Total, 1 ounce equal to 18 mg. RDA is 19 mg. per day. Don’t care for Total that much but love COW. Have now been taking it for 3 weeks straight, my legs are totally cured. How long did it take? Instantly. I noticed the results after the first time I took it. Even I can’t believe it, it’s a miracle!!!
Been taking cream of wheat for six months and it is doing nothing for my nightly restless legs. Tried the soap, no effect. Tried magnesium with and without calcium, tablets and powder (CALM), no effect. Would cutting out one or two cups of coffee in the morning really make a difference? The only sure thing which works is walking around for about two hours between 2 AM and 4 AM, plus some tylenol. Don’t ask me why. Carlos.
Are you by any chance anemic? That is one of the contributing factors.
Hi Carlos – Along with being checked for anemia as suggested by Blanche, have your thyroid checked too. Restless leg syndrome can be a problem for those suffering from hypothyroidism. Also, make sure you are not dehydrated (check out the water cure on the Internet – you add just a little bit of sea salt with your water). Although magnesium (CALM) really helped me with RLS, perhaps you need to apply magnesium oil transdermally on your legs/feet (I believe Bill’s formula is 60% magnesium chloride and 40% distilled water). Good luck – I hope you find something that works! Bess
This Apple Cider vinegar and honey recipe cures RLS. The recipe for it is 2 qts. of water to 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar and 1/3 cup honey. Drink 8oz. 4x/day. The vinegar and water will stop restless legs in approx. 5 to 15 mins. Every time. Take as needed.
Many other benefits to drinking ACV as well:
<LI>1 tablespoon of Raw Apple Cider Vinegar mixed in 4 ounces of purified water after a meal has been used as a natural <A title=”Acid Reflux Remedies” href=”http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/home-remedies-for-acid-reflux/”>remedy for heartburn</A> and as a replacement for toxic heartburn medications.
<LI>Raw Apple Cider Vinegar may help improve bowel irregularity, thereby removing toxins from the body at a faster rate.
<LI>Helps clear up skin conditions and blemishes giving a smoother texture and complexion.
<LI>Raw Apple Cider vinegar may also help with <A href=”http://www.familyhealthguide.co.uk/joint-pain.html”>joint pain</A> and stiffness.
<LI>Apple Cider Vinegar helps to break down fats so that your body can use them rather than store them. For this reason, many diets include ACV in their regimen.<BR>
<LI>On a small scale, ACV was studied by researchers at Arizona State University. The preliminary <A href=”http://care.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/27/1/281″>study</A> was published in the <EM>Diabetes Care</EM> journal. It reported that ACV helps reduce levels of glucose.
UPDATE: It's been a long time since I posted my miracle cure of Cream of Wheat for my RLS. Just so you know, I still use it, but don't use it exclusively for my RLS, I use something else. The reason being, I found the root cause of my problem (from my doctor) is related to my diabetes, it's diabetic neuropathy. Although I still have it, it's now manageable and doesn't affect me like before. At least I know. Feel free to contact me about what I take.
Hi, great to know about the low iron/diabetic neuropathy link. Can you tell us what else you are taking in addition to the Cream of Wheat? Thanks!
Yes, it's metformin and since taking it my legs feel 99% better.
Hi Mare, In your post about RLS, you mention: “Yes, It's metformin …. ” Can you please explain this further, including its action & the dosage? Thanks, Larry
Metformin — dosage for me is once a day, in the morning before I eat anything. I think the mg. is 250. Honestly, if I had known my diabetes was the REAL cause of my RLS I would've taken it years ago, but I didn't have medical insurance and couldn't afford to see a doctor. It wasn't until my sister, a nurse, contacted a (medical) doctor who saw me pro bono took a lot of tests and when apprised of my family medical history diagnosed me as having Type II diabetes and telling me my RLS was related to my diabetic neuropathy (nerve pain.)
FYI, I still have foot pain, especially after walking a lot, this is where the cream of wheat comes in, but the RLS is all but gone, except for about 1%, which is almost negligible!
Also, I've started taking mustard, approx. a couple of teaspoons. I heard about this on Dr. Oz one day, he said pro football players take it for leg pain. Even though I thought it sounded a little strange I took it and it seems to help a lot. Apparently there's something it that alleviates joint pain.
If anybody else wants to chime in on this I'm all ears.
If you research diabetes on EC you will be getting the truth about metformin. GreenMedInfo online will also get you the full picture.
I have no nerve pain since using high amounts of Amala (Indian vit. C) which is for years. I take it with honey, yes, honey about three times a week with or after meal with powdered Turmeric in goats milk. Nothing else needed. This is after a lot of research.
It is in the doctors handbook that allopathic medicine causes death which is then certified to be caused by “diabetes and heart failure”.
These meds. cause dehydration till the heart gives out. Inform yourself and you will benefit.
Namaste, Om
Oh… I forgot to mention, I'm now using magnesium oil for my feet when they hurt. I love this stuff, everybody and I mean everybody should get it and try it! It comes in a spray bottle and is applied topically, I use right before bedtime and boy does it help with my throbbing pain. It calms them down and makes it possible for a restful night's sleep. When I awake poof the pain is gone!
So in conclusion, for me it's cream of wheat, table mustard and magnesium oil. And of course, metformin for the RLS.
P.S. Initially I take magnesium taurate to fall asleep… which I've been taking faithfully for approx. 8 years now. Love magnesium for all its applications!
Hi Om, Could you please share your exact recipe for using the Amla to calm nerve pain?
Thank you, Meeya
I have suffered from RLS most of my life (I’m 47)and discovered the link between RLS and mineral deficiency about 20 years ago. I have supplemented with Potassium, Calcium and Iron. I cook my own food, eat very little processed stuff, and have always craved spinach and broccoli (I even like brussel sprouts!). But even eating all the right stuff, I still need the supplements. I also suffer from endometriosis (horrible female problem), which I think is also related somehow to the mineral deficiency. I have been taking Blackstrap Molasses (full of good minerals) for about a year to try to combat those symptoms. I haven’t experienced the “miracle cure” other women have written about, but at least I’m off the Percocet! Recently I have been reading on this site about magnesium supplementation. Am I right to think that low magnesium can cause malabsorption of other minerals? I’m going to try it for a while and see what happens.
After having hemorrhoid surgery I had terrible RLS every night. Also had heart surgery 6 weeks before hemorrhoid surgery. Dr. gave me Meripex which did not help with RLS. @ 65 years enough is enough!!! Been taking percocet like Linda from Florida said she did also. Anxious to try some of the remedies suggested in the testimonials. Will let you know the outcome………Laura
It’s been 9 years since my son was born and I started taking Mirapex for my RLS (so that my wife could sleep when she came back from nursing our first child during the night). I’ve had to up the dose considerably (in order for me to even fall asleep now… With terrible side effects). Read about Magnesium and took some at intervals today. Staved off the nightly RLS symptoms until 10:00 p.m. However, at about midnight I woke with symptoms again and have been up for 6 hours now. Found your website and drank the ACR/honey mix 30 min ago and downed two tablespoons of molassis 15 min ago. Rather than a controlled study… I needed some relief. I hope for better tomorrows. I’ll keep you posted. Peace to you all and thanks for sharing your results with others. Having no control over such a debilitating health concern has left me so bummed out.
Hi what has helped my wife and a few friends with this is bicarb of soda flat teaspoon in half cup of water. or my wife favors, no joke, rubbing a bar of soap on her legs then sleep with it in the bed, dry soap.
Hi, in general you are v.right, your diet, supplements, this and that. My case maybe different but that does not matter. I'm doing the same but I'd say nothing works regardless. If there is something the change is non-tangible 3-5%. Hard to say working or not. Sorry to tell you that but what people are posting that works normally won't.
Regards, Bogdan
Hi, there is a cure for restless leg syndrome, and it comes in the form of BLACK STRAP MOLASSES. While using BSM for I discovered that my restless leg syndrome stopped completely, as long as I use it daily. I have suffered for years with this condition, family members, my dad , brother and aunt have it so hereditary I am sure and from what I read there are plently of pills doctors will prescribe for you, but for me natural is the only way to go. I take 1 tablespoon a day of BSM, I use it to manage my female issues and PMS, and heavy bleeding, that now is cut in half, and the happy side affect to that regimine was the cure for my restless leg syndrome, which caused so much pain, and movement just to fall asleep. I have to say that this website has given me my life back in a way that is a miracle. No pills for me if I can ever help it. I look up a syndrome, or condition and more then likely I find it here and I try it and or apply it to my own life and see how it goes. So far so good. I believe that we know ourselves better then any doctor ever could. This website could be the very thing that saves your life. I mean more and more on tv to radio I see and hear more and more about restless leg syndrome and companies promoting more and more medicines for the syndrome so they can make money, if they did research like I did online they would see the cure right in front of them, it comes up in my search right away. Simple and inexspensive and it doesn’t hurt the body in other ways. I get frustrated just seeing commercials trying to get people to take there drugs. Anyhow, BSM 1 tablespoon a day has cured my RLS and I am forever grateful. I do my best to promote this site to friends and family and I know they get tired of listening to me sometimes, but thats OK! The truth here for me is a miracle so passing it along is just what we’re supposed to do. In the right kind of world. Thanks a million to all have written here.
Be very careful what you call a “cure”. something may help you with your symptoms, nbt by no means is it a cure. If you stopped taking the BSM your RLS would come back, so that is not a cure, it is a method of treating RLS for SOME people. what works for one person does not work for the next person. people should use the word CURE sparingly and carefully. Insulin does not CURE Diabetes, but it controls it. Way different than a cure.
Hello Donna,
Hope you didn’t have a visit from the FDA that has you so cautious about using the word “cure”.
If you can remove symptoms of a problem with vitamins, minerals or supplements, I call that replacing something that you are not getting from your diet, not a cure. Of course if a deficiency is the problem, then you are going to have to continue to take the vitamins, minerals or supplements that help unless you alter your food intake to supply what you are deficient in. When you alter your diet to include what you are missing, I call this improvement in nutrition which in turn gets rid of the problem of a deficiency. However your body is most likely going to require certain vitamins, minerals, etc. so the only cure is to alter the diet to supply the required nutrients. The general consensus today seems to be that our soil is so depleted that it is next to impossible to get all our bodies need from fruits & vegetables grown in it. However it seems that our Supreme Being is doing a better job of rebuilding the soil in the woods than our farmers are (organic farmers are learning to do a better job of it) because the “critters” living in the wild seem to be quite healthy.
I’ve seen support groups on the net that are actually fronts for pharmaceutical and other special interest groups. So if you signed up for one of these groups, you’d see that they are actually promoting a medication for restless leg syndrome and giving negative press to effective and much cheaper home remedies. Why else would someone want to beat the whole Not a Cure drum here?
I have no problem calling something a cure if it does the trick! I have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis / Hypothyroidism and my last bloodtest showed low Ferritin which can be a precursor to Anemia. Molasses is one of the high iron suggestions to help increase iron levels. It provides the body with something it needs….that’s a cure! Obviously if you are not taking in enough of the vitamins and minerals it needs it will again become deficient.
I will give the BSM a try, thanks for the info, if it works for me your a life saver, if not thanks anyway. Larry
Ok I have been using the BSM for a few weeks now. My RLS is mostly gone but stil some tension in my legs, but I have had the RLS for 25 years now so it may take some time to get rid of it completly. I am also using goji berry juice, its working wonders, my eyes are starting to get better. Between the BSM and the goji berry Im getting a lot healthyer.
Black strap molasses! Thanks for reminding me! I had taken BSM for many years and had only some RLS. I’ve actually forgotten to take it for over a year and my RLS has worsened since then to a point that it’s unbearable. I will immediately go to the store and buy some! Of course it helps since it’s very high in minerals, something very important to have to keep rls to a dull roar!
The problem of all the sugar in BSM was a concern to me. I found that by putting BSM into Kombucha tea then let it sit for about a week, the kombucha would eat all the sugar and leave me the minerals and every thing good about BSM, plus the goodness of the kombucha. I put in kombucha tea that has already been fermented, a scoby and the amount of BSM as I would normally use sugar. Next I will try kombucha coffee made with BSM, will probably make a strong tasting coffee kombucha.
Hi, I have had Restless Leg Syndrome for a lot of years as has my Sister and Mother – who said that it is a family thing on her Father’s side. I am trying the Black Strap Molasses which I happen to have, but I am not to keen on the taste! I will see how it goes, I can always try ACV or Baking Soda and Water.
I already take a few different tablets and don’t want to add any more if I can get away with it.
Thanks all it was interesting reading!
While I understand the frustration over syntax here, and the corresponding paranoia about big pharma, I do believe that we should endeavor to use precise language, especially here, and especially where our health is concerned. Calling something a cure if it only treats the symptom (not the underlying cause) is a fallacy. I'm not sure what BSM is in this regard. But if someone here is trying to make clear for others about how to best understand this collection of great remedies, then I rather think this is a good thing. If you are mean or vindictive, that's another.
BTW, I struggle with RLS and haven't found a proper treatment or cure yet, but I'm working on it!
I have been working with a naturopathic doctor for a number of ailments. Although I do not have RLS, this Dr. has a radio show (620am) in Pittsburgh and has commented on RSL causes. It is usually a mineral deficiency. Adding Calcium, Magnesium or Potassium is typically the remedy. However one must be aware that there is also an underlying cause depleting minerals in the body. Soda pop (pH=2.5), coffee (pH=5.0), alcohol can pull minerals from muscles (cramps) and bones (thinning) to ring the body back to alkaline (the blood is tightly regulated at a pH of ~7.4). Try cutting out such items and supplement with good quality minerals and you should see a marked improvement. Good luck!
Looks like this a problem of too much acidity.
any pain relieving balm with the active ingredients menthol and methyl salicylate should relieve your rls in about 15-25min. i used some extra strength balm which was kinda ICY to numb the discomfort and HOT to relax it away worked wonders for me and it should for you enjoy!
Blackstrap Molasses which I was taking for something else, cured my RLS. I had been drinking warm soymilk with one tablespoon of molasses every morning and when I ran out my RLS came back. I then read about a new study that said iron might cure some RLS. The day I started back on molasses, my symptoms disappeared.
I heard from a friend that he didn’t drink diet soda because of the RLS he experienced. I realized that when I’m on the road (truck driver) drinking diet sodas I’m fine, but when I get home all I drink is tea with splenda. Within one week I’m experiencing RLS and, as mentioned in one of your posting, herpes outbreak. I think this is pretty conclusive. The word really needs to get out about this.
Glen, Look into Aspartame and artificial sweetners and you’ll see why diet drinks, as well as many other things that contain this product are not good for you. I use Stevia. It’s a natural sweetner, not a chemical. You can find it online, or in your local health food store.
How about splenda?
Stevia is widely available. I buy mine at Walmart. Among other things (oh, joy), I have Interstitial Cystitis (Painful Bladder) and artificial sweeteners cause flares.
When I was pregnant, I had terrible RLS in the third trimester. After I had the baby, it got much better. Unfortunately, five years later, I had a miscarriage and seemed to have RLS again. It wasn’t as severe as the first time but it kept me up at night none the less. Meanwhile, I had started using regular deoderant with the aluminum(sp) in it. I read that that is one of the contributing factors of RLS so I stopped using antiperspirent. (Of course I use something to deoderize like a mineral rock :)) My mild case of RLS is gone.
Thanks very much for this site. I’ve gotten a lot of good ideas from here. I had to laugh at the dog chasing cars in the dreams comment. I can relate. My dreams totally evolved around my kicking legs. I was wondering if aluminum deoderant was behind my rls. We had been using Lavelin for years and suddenly couldn’t get it anymore.I bought another kind at the HFS and the label said- no alumninum chlorhydrate. I got faked out by the label and started using it. Then my hubby noticed on the back real small it said- active ingrediant- aluminum. I thought- I’ll just use it up since we paid for it. I started eventually to get rls and was wondering if it had to do w/ it. Tom’s makes a deoderant w/o aluminum and my hubby likes it. Remember those “mineral stones” are made of aluminum. Learn from my sheeple move and read the fine print~
I’ve been trying a bunch of stuff that has been reported on this site. It seems to help, unfortunately, I’m not sure exactly which thing is working. One thing I’ve done too is cut way back on eating Tums for indigestion. I read on the internet it can be an iron blocker. Since I’m a vegetarian, I have to be careful about getting enough iron as it is. I’ve started back using vinegar for indigestion, it works well and is supposed to be good for rls anyway. I’ve also cut way back on aspirin, it supposedly can block iron absorbtion is what I read. I’ve beefed up on slow absorbtion, fem iron (not taking within one hour of tea- tea (chai) is supposed to block it), molasses, magnesium, D-3, folic acid, taking vita C with iron pill, and I tried the baking soda in the water. Baking Soda is really not the healthiest thing long term either, but when you’re hurting, you really don’t care. I also tried a massager, and hot bathes, so far all those things have helped some. The socks in the bed have helped a lot, I do have a problem with cold feet. I’m going to try the sliver of ivory soap in the socks tonight when I go to bed. What’s kind of weird right now is, my legs quit aching and now my arms are instead. They never hurt before.
Hopefully, stopping the aluminum deoderant will make it go away. These other things to speed it up. I knew the Tums were my downfall also.
I’m certain if I keep diligent, I’ll get back on top of it again.
Thanks again for this site and for everyone’s posts. Thank God for the internet. If we had to rely on doctor’s we’d really be screwed! They have their place, but it helps to have tried and true natural and safe remedies that work and being able to share them. God bless you all~ Namaste, Cynthia
You can make your own deodorant:
5 tbsp. Virgin Coconut Oil
1/4 cup Arrowroot Powder (or Corn Starch)
1/4 cup Baking Soda
5 drops Tea Tree Oil
Optional: Jasmine Oil or any Good smelling Essential Oil
Mix the powdered ingredients together
Add the Tea Tree Oil to Coconut Oil (and Essential Oil Fragrance) and stir
Drizzle into powdered mixture until it forms a ball sort of like play dough consistency.
I store mine in a small jar. Cleaned out pimento or small artichoke jar works well.
Apply with fingers.
Hope it helps!
For everyone who tried the bar of soap (for one night). give it some time. I was on med. for my RLS. I heard about the soap and put two bars (1 ivory and 1 dial) under my sheets, I kept taking my meds for a week before going off of them. no problems, unless I kick the bar of soap out of the bed- I don’t put them under the sheets- and don’t retrieve them the next night. don’t keep the rapper on the soap and don’t put it in a sock. go ohh natural.
I have restless legs at night sometimes. Since reading about the many cures here I have tried 1/4 tsp of baking soda in a cup of water: within 20 minutes my legs are calm and I am able to sleep. I haven’t found anything else that helps; won’t try pharmaceutical drugs to help, don’t want any side effects. The baking soda really helps me!
First and foremost, I truly “appreciate and thank all of you that are responsible for having and providing this web site, which I have to confess that I became of aware of, within the past couple of days, and as a result of me having felt so overwhelmed, plagued by/with, and was unable to understand what had been happening to me, in terms of all of the discomfort, loss of sleep, irritation and other factors associated with the Lazy Leg Syndrome (rls) in my own case.
As a result, being unable to sleep/rest, feeling very irritated and more, I found myself in dire need of getting some sleep, although I had been/was, once again at this time, unable to sleep, which for me had been the case for numerous days and/or nights now.
Thus, for days, weeks and finally a couple of months now (…and yes, I’d gone to my doctor, including a couple others, explained my rls symptoms, even had some x-rays done, but to no avail), I found myself very sleep deprived, which for me, had really begun to take its toll in some ugly ways, as I became more short tempered with family members, other people, felt tired all the time and a host of other things that I knew had begun to make me a very unlikeable person to be around: I didn’t even want to be around me at the time!!!
So, it was out of deep frustration, and feeling as if I would, any day or time now, come to a breaking point/brink of having losing it, because of my lack of being able to get some real rest and sleep during the night, which had begun to, I believe, bother me from an emotional, mental and physical stand point. I needed sleep!!!
Anyway, once again I’d given up my efforts to try and rest/sleep on a particular night, despite the fact that I had gone to bed early, around 8:30 p.m., and according to the clock in my bedroom, the time was already 3:30 a.m.
By the way, on that night, like many others, all I had done while in my bed, for the most part, was toss and turn along with experiencing lots of discomfort, pain, groaning and moaning that was directly associated with the rls that felt as if it was going to never stop, but would, instead continue to get worse.
So, I was up again, sitting at the computer and surfing the web trying my best to not disturb others of my family members, all of whom appeared to, during this time, be into a deep, restful and peaceful sleep, unlike myself.
But, at last I found myself actually smiling while reading your web page, and having come upon a portion related to the ailment of, as well as some of the remedies for rls. Before long I became very interested in all of the information I had read about, as well as absorbed, concerning rls and the use of baking soda to help cure and/or remedy some of the discomfort associated with rls. True, I was extremely non-trusting and found myself unable to believe that most, if any of the remedies/things mentioned on the page I found myself reading would help my rls in any way at all.
Still, there was information dated 08/07/07 from Pat who said he/she resides in Frederiksburg, Virginia, and that he/she suffered with rls and had, as a result, used 1/4 tsp of baking soda in a cup of water, and within 20 minutes her/his legs became calm and he/she was able to sleep!
I do not know if I will ever really know just what made me believe that this same thing, once I got me some baking soda and took it, as described by Pat, that I too would feel some relief, and might actually experience the joy of getting some rest and sleep, but I did believe what Pat had been kind enough to share with me and other readers of that information on your web page, and a result, that very night I found a brand new box of baking soda (I often buy baking soda to use for its many uses, and had recently purchased at least three boxes of it), took some of it, although reluctantly; but actually fell into a deep and restful sleep for the first time in a very long while.
“Thank you so much Pat.” I really am grateful to you for helping me out in the matter of the use of baking soda to help ease and/or cure symptoms of rls. You have certainly won my approval, and I am so grateful to you, I might even vote for you as the new President for the USA in the up and coming Presidential election.
Sincerely, Thank you, again, and ever so much for helping me get some relief and sleep in dealing with my episodes of rls by using the 1/4 tsp of baking soda remedy, as described by you in your letter to this web site.
Greateful
Baking soda cured my RLS (Restless Leg Syndrome).
Up to now, I have used a 500mg magnesium tablet and it worked for several years…take a tablet and 20 minutes later no more RLS.
Lately, it isn’t working as well, so I came back to EarthClinic.
I tried the baking soda… one quarter teaspoon in a half cup of water…it worked fine…30 minutes and no more RLS.
What a blessing to have this site to reference!
Do you rub the baking soda and water on your legs or do you drink it?
Drink the Baking Soda/water. IT REALLY DOES WORK! Allow 10 to 20 minutes and you’re good. THANK YOU so much to the original poster.
Try an OTC pain relieving cream, usually with menthol like you would use if your muscles were sore and keep it by the bed. Apply to the base of your spinal cord and around low back area. This method works for me 99% of the time, but last night was so bad that didn’t work well enough. So I looked up RLS on EC: I had my husband massage my lower body briefly (he used sides of hands in chopping motion) and then I drank a small amount of baking soda in water and that did the trick! Thanks to EC and contributors!
I was on the hunt to see what I had on hand and what worked… Good news, the baking soda mix worked little before the 20 mins (17mins), as of right now 26 mins I still feel the ease of the pains going away. Thank you all for sharing.
This helps alot for the RLS (ressless legs syndrome)
1. glass of water (warm) 8oz.
2. 1/4 tsb baking soda (sodium bicarbonate 100%)
3. Stir it for 30 seconds
4. Drink it all down
5. write the start time down and wait for ease of pains to go away (feeling easement at 17mins)
Thank you everyone.
First I love this site! I have several ailments and have found several useful things that help.
I have had Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) for about 26 yrs. And it just gets increasingly worse. As much as I hate to admit it I misread about the baking soda and thought it was baking powder. Which works great for me. I did try the baking soda after I dicovered my mistake and it did nothing for my RLS.
Does anyone know if baking powder is any worse for me than baking soda? Which I have not seen anything bad about the soda.
Also my RLS is not painful, my legs just will not stop moving. Which is what I thought RLS is! The Dr.s do not agree but I believe mine is because of the nerve damage in my spine. It started right after I herniated my first disc. Some times when my body hurts real bad, not being able to lay or sit still is almost worse than the pain!
Thanks for listening, Judy
I know most baking powder has aluminum in it but there are some that don’t. Read the label if you use a lot… you might not want so much aluminum in your system.
Baking soda does work on restless leg syndrome. I actually apply the liquid to the knees where my problem most manifests. Take a half teaspoon of Baking soda and disolve in a half glass of water. I just take my fingers and wet them with the liquid and topically apply to knees. Do this application twice to each knee or the whole leg if the entire leg is bothering you.
Next: NO sugar after 3pm. There is a direct corrolation between this syndrom and sugar consumption. No cokes, sweets of any kind after mid afternoon. No 10pm ice cream cheating!
Finally, you’ll find Calcium AEP will help the condition. Google Calcium AEP Nutrition Review and you will find a great article on the wonders of AEP.
Dr Hans Niepier did amazing work on AEP 40 years ago. And AEP is very inexpensive. Don’t say, Oh I get calcium in pills I already take. No we’re talking about a different nutrient. AEP is a special product.
Calcium AEP is a must for MS patients. In the book “Vita Nutrients” on the section on MS treatment Calcium AEP is the key to Dr Adkins treatment protocol. When the MS patient has a flair up with acking legs, the AEP taken (3 to 5) can bring blessed relief.
Between these three, restless leg can be a thing of the past. At least it has been for me.
RLS – I'v suffered with in my legs and recently started in arms so I tried this bicarbonate of soda. It worked a treat. I usually wake up in the night. First time I've tried this. Best night sleep. I thank you for this. xx
I had heard that for those who inherited restless leg seem to require high doses of folic acid. I’ve tried this and it works great. I take about 20, 800mcg’s at night.
I have had restless leg syndrome for years. One day a lady suggested magnesium to me. Now I take magnesium at night and find it helps my legs relax and I can get to sleep. My mother also has restless leg syndrome and has been taking medications for it but has had a lot of side effects. I told her about magnesium and now she only needs half the medication that she used to to get to sleep. Hopefully this helps other people.
I read all the comments made on controling restless leg… I want to add that I read the book, RLS cured forever and the author suggestion an elimination diet of all forms of dairy products (casinate, whey, milk, non-dairy creamer, etc). My RLS has improved 98%… I believe I was experiencing an allergy to dairy products due to a mineral deficiency my body is experiencing. I feel much better but it has been difficult at times when I crave donuts or products that contain dairy. However, it is worth not having RLS. I also want to add that I recently had a baby and I give him formula (I must be highly sensive to exposure… Throw-up.. Spills.. etc. ) so I believe this is why I still get some RLS. Anyway, I am going to try the vitamins, vinegar/water, blackstrap molasses and ivory soap. Thank you for all the info.
I went to the health food store to ask about what I could give my 15 month-old son for constipation. They suggested 1-2 tsp. of blackstrap molasses in his bottle. I bought the bottle, came home, came to this website and discovered all different things this stuff is good for. I am 8 months pregnant. I was having a lot of trouble sleeping and developing symptoms of restless leg syndrome (common in pregnancy). I decided to give it a shot. Long story short, my son is pooping like a champ and I started sleeping through the night without any jerking limbs ON THE FIRST DAY! I ran out for one day, and I had a horrible night sleep. I am amazed and delighted.
I have taken potassium supplements for many years (plus iron and calcium) to control my RLS symptoms. It took me a while to find the right balance of supplements, but my RLS rarely keeps me from falling asleep. It still bothers me on long car trips or in a long movie if I’m tired.
I had a sleep study done a couple of years ago, and the doctor remarked at how much leg movement I have in my sleep (even with taking the supplements). He indicated that RLS is associated with low iron. So, I increased my iron a little, and the symptoms improved. I know, however, that the potassium helps because if I run out of it my legs are “dancing” within a couple of days.
Of course, it goes without saying to check with your doc before starting ANY supplements. It is not actually low iron that can cause RLS, but low Ferritin stores. I have not seen anyone mention this.You have to ask for the Ferritin test, not just an iron test. It all depends on how your brain assimilates the iron, and stores it. Your iron level is another whole test. and, that would be why Molassess helps because of all the iron in it. Remember one “cure” that works for one person, will be troublesome for the next one. using the word cure with RLS is a misnomer, as there is no cure. Like there is no cure for diabetes. You can control the symptoms at times for RLS, but not cure it.
Three weeks ago my naturopathic did a full blood work on me for vitamins and iron deficiencies. My ferritin count was a 2 which is extremely low she put me on 100 mg of iron a day (a combo of Floradix and Iron C) for 6 weeks and my rls has been gone since day one of the regiment. I have suffered with rls for years and this is the only thing I have done different. I give all the credit to the huge iron intake that my body so desperately needed. Ferritin count is so important and regular medical drs do not check it.
I started taking apple cider vinegar for the acid reflux , i took one tablespoon with a cold glass of water a day for a week and right away i notice that my legs didn’t hurt at night any more, which they have been bothering me for years. i never went to the doctors about it. every night it kept me awake for hours,and i felt like crying thinking i don’t want to have to go through this the rest of my life. i started taking aleve or whatever else i could think might work which i don’t like taking med. aleve didn’t work that good. anyway, the apple cider vinegar did work for me. i did have to quit taking it every day because i only weigh 132 pounds and the vinegar was making me lose weight so now i only do the vinegar every 3 or four days and it is still working. i’m very glad i started taking it for the acid reflux and found that my legs no longer I’m am so thankful. i have no problem going to sleep at night any more. as bad as it bothered me and now that it doesn’t, i want every one that has restless legs to give it a try . oh yea i started taking it october 5th 2006. well that is a bout it good luck to any one with restless legs. i know what it is like to have restless legs ,and i hope it works for all who tries it. good luck
Yes. Thank you so very much for posting this. It really worked for me. About an half an hour to an hour before I go to sleep, I warm up a glass of water (8 oz. or so) and add 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar and 2 teaspoons of honey. (I buy the one that says unfiltered apple cider vinegar made from ripe apples – organic, pasteurized). This formula really worked for me. The taste is good and I read a lot of things about apple cider vinegar, it is supposed to be a very good thing and has been used for centuries safely. So definitely give it a try. Thank you again!!!