Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

At 76 this year I was first diagnosed with foot neuropathy. Not long after my legs began to electrify with all kinds of distressing sensations, agitations and vicious cramping at night. You all know the story! I was not and still am not on any drugs for this - it's all early days for me. I began to dread going to bed because the worst of it would start when in the prone position. I began to wish I could be on a slant - it seemed like surely the circulation in my legs would be better on a slant.
I began an internet search and came across "inclinedbedtherapy.com" - suggesting raising the head of the bed 6" - apparently the most therapeutic height for all kinds of health conditions.
Three days later, I had that done, and I have to say what a difference! The next 6 nights I slept soundly for 7-8 hrs - I was so exhausted from the sleep deprivation that you all know about. I woke up each morning with legs that wanted to cramp and I had to walk that off around the apartment, but each day got less of that.
Since then I don't get as much sleep as that in one go. It tends to get broken up, but I usually manage 6 hours at least - and more later.
I'm now up to 30 days since I started the inclined bed. During the day if the distress in the legs gets to be too much I go and lie down on the bed and get relief because the legs quieten down - the idea on the website about gravity helping with circulation issues really seems to work.
And the great thing is if it doesn't work for you, no harm done - it's easy enough to reverse the bed back to normal.

Hi craiglou. I too have raised the head of my bed - I put bricks under the front legs plus I put old pillows and things between the box spring and the upper mattress at the head end. It helps my general sleep quite a lot, and I think it has a small beneficial effect on the WED/RLS.

Excellent!

Hi badnights. Thank you for responding. I get the impression, however, that what you have done with your bed is create 2 inclines with a dip in the middle.
What I am pointing at is totally different - I'm talking about a slanted bed in a straight line from the head raised 6" to the foot left as it is. This creates a bit of a downward slide of the mattress with you on it, unless you have a footboard to prevent it, but it's easily managed and worth the beneficial effects it has on circulation in the legs. As I go along with this I'll post about what possible progress can be made. Right now I am still grateful for the relief I get.

My top mattress is thick enough that I notice no dip. Or were you imagining a dip between head and foot? Between left and right? There would be none of that because I have raised only the head. I get about 2.5 inches from the bricks and another 2-4 inches (hard to tell, it compresses) from the pillows.

I have an inclined bed, not for RLS but for acid reflux (Barrett's esophagus). I don't think it helps with RLS at all.