Free from RLS for one night

[mickeyrose]

So, the night before last was my worst night ever, literally up out of bed every 10 minutes and zero sleep. So last night I decided to try some things out, I went to bed at 9 exhausted but was awake by 10 with the RLS starting. I tried the following things, a glass of diet coke (with caffeine) followed by a big mug of ovaltine and lastly a bar of coal tar soap at the end of the bed under the sheet. So excited that from that point I slept until 7am, this is a first for over two years. Now I have no idea which of the 3 things its was but I am not prepared to cut one out so tonight will try all again and see. Fingers crossed!

[Hidden]

Well the fact that you ingested the first two AND got up seem to have stayed up would be the key factors that work here - I can promise you that the soap in the sheet will not have helped you sleep outside of placebo..... unless you got someone to club you unconscious with it.

If bars of soap worked no one would be reading this as we'd all be cured!

[mickeyrose in reply to Hidden]

I think it was the caffeine, I was only up for an hour whilst I ingested the two things, then I put the soap in just before I climbed back into bed. This is the first time I have slept through the night for 2 years!

[Hidden in reply to mickeyrose]

Whatever you do, don't eat the soap!

[RoadRunner44 in reply to Hidden]

Love a sense of humour! Still giggling.

[Hidden in reply to mickeyrose]

Glad you got a good night's sleep, I am sure you are delighted. A full night's sleep is a joy, something the populace at large more or less take for granted. For me its sheer luxury

[Oma67 in reply to Hidden]

I heard a bar of ivory soap at the end of the bed at bedtime was suppose to work. But it didn’t work for me.

[Hidden in reply to Oma67]

I suppose it depends on what soap needs to be sold!

There is a site that, and I kid you not, sells lavender soap for people with RLS. It is ergonomically designed (I wish I was lying here but I'm not) to slip under the sheets (I figure me using bars of soap shaped like a life sized 1979 Ford Escort).

It also contained a special type of essential oil Lavender that allowed the aroma molecules to get to the legs better. Yes I know just how stupid and mad this sounds but such are the lengths people will go to make a couple of quid from a desperate person.

It is crap like this that makes me so angry when I see people mention the soap... and when a supposed professional buys into this I just want to climb inside my head and scrape my eyeballs out!!

[Accipiter]

I’ve done the same with nicotine. Just the right dose from a nicotine mint can stop symptoms for the rest of the night. Too much and sleep is delayed by up to 2 hours and not enough does nothing.

Caffeine appears to be able to do the same, as will getting up, mental activity or doing something with a bright screen, as these will wake you up by reducing melatonin and increasing dopamine; which is low at night.

As a strategy my personal opinion is that this is destined for failure as it impacts your quality of sleep and there can be a drug tolerance, and then dosing issues, making management an issue. Better alternatives are to have as minimal impact to sleep as possible with alternative relief strategies.

However certainly enjoy it while it works, and if it is all you have, then it is better than endless symptoms and no sleep.

As for a mechanism, some deny a physical element to RLS so to avoid that debate let’s just say the ‘motor sensory’ element as in the definition of the condition. Obviously, if you move you stop symptoms temporarily as there is no more sensory discrepancy. What also disrupts the motor sensory process is becoming more alert and if you are lucky the brain loses interest and symptoms don’t return when you go back to sleep.

It indicates that the body’s process of creating RLS symptoms is indeed ‘breakable’ and this unfortunately isn’t researched other than a focus on individual treatments which will vary for individuals.

[Amelanchier in reply to Accipiter]

I completely agree, and as I dont take meds I rely on these ‘sensory disruptors’ practically every night. The ones I find most effective and not in any particular order are

Aromatherapy

Caffeine (tea)

Food

Relaxing music through earphones .

If these fail I get up to watch TV .

Not curative in any sense of the word but with these measures I can usually get a few more hours than I would otherwise.

Curiously, I find reading at night can start restless legs or exacerbate it greatly if it s already started . I’d love to know why .

Best regards

[Accipiter in reply to Amelanchier]

The other alternatives are physical, which can be challenging to master, but least disruptive.

I hope things continue to work out well for you.

[Amelanchier in reply to Accipiter]

Thank you, 😊.

Please do you have a link or information where I can find the physical alternatives you refer to? I would like to try them .

Good wishes to you too,

Christine

[Accipiter in reply to Amelanchier]

Unfortunately there is not a good single resourse, so you may need to search through different posts. Take a look through my previous posts and replies by clicking on my forum name, and I can give details on anything of interest.

Basically stretches, massage ball, TENS, and compression should work.

[Hidden]

On a more serious note.

You may find some "sleep hygiene" measures helpful These include -

- Always going to bed and getting up at the same time.

- Not doing anything but sleep and sex in bed, no reading, radio, TV etc.

- Keep the bedroom cool. but not cold.

- Keep it dark

- Follow the "15 minute" rule. -

This rule suggests that if you can't go to sleep within15 minutes of getting into bed, then get up! There is a good reason for this. It's quite common to read how people come to "dread" going to bed. It becomes a kind of phobia as they anticipate lying there suffering. The anxiety this produces, prevents them from getting to sleep.

- Light-dark : Since light is a strong regulator of our circadian rhythms, including sleep. It's a good idea to expose ourselves to at least 2 hours full spectrum light during the day and avoid it at night.

This means avoiding the use of bright lighting or backlit devices during the evening, (PC, laptop, smartphone, tablet etc) or watching TV for at least two hours before bed.

However on some devices you can adjust display settings to filter out the blue part of the spectrum. I've set my kindle to do this between 9pm and 8am automatically.

Some people find doing a mental activity does help, it does distract you from the RLS symptoms and can even settle them down a little.

Although caffeine is listed as something which makes RLS worse, it's surprising how many people say it helps their symptoms. I'm not 100% sure but it appears that if you have too much caffeine during the day and evening (before your symptoms start), it can make RLS worse at night. However, if you take caffeine after your symptoms start. it may help.

It's probably not a good idea then to take caffeine before you go to bed, only take it when symptoms start up.

I've learned only today that green tea has L theanine in it which is claimed to relieve anxiety and promote sleep.

The soap IS a joke.

[jiniejinx27]

dont drink diet coke if it has aspartame in it as it makes restless legs worse

[Lovejoy100]

I always drink tea during the night, it helps knock me out for a bit.