Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

Hello all! I'm new to this forum, but have suffered from RLS for as long as I can remember. I've done a lot of research into alternative cures as I'm already taking more meds than I would like and don't want to add anymore. I've read on here that soap in bed has not been very effective for most people, but I've been trying it for almost a month and have had great results! I first heard about it from a friend whose Dr. told him to try it for leg cramps, then once I started looking around online I saw hundreds of cases where it had helped. Then I saw a clip on the "Dr. Oz" website about it, and he said to use Lavender soap due to the relaxing properties of the scent, so I decided to give it a try. After more reading though I found out that lavender essential oil is far more potent in aromatherapy than artificial scents, so I bought some high end natural soap containing the oil and slipped it into bed between my mattress pad and fitted sheet. From the very first night I was amazed at how well it worked! And now for almost a month I've had nearly no symptoms at all! The soap with the essential oil in it was a bit more expensive (about $4.00 a bar), but well worth it in my case... And it makes my bed smell great every time I pull back the covers.

I would love to hear from others who may have had similar success with this technique!

the search function isn't the easiest to use, but try it and you may find people's responses over time.

From what I can recall, most people have found it ineffective. Those who found it effective had only used it for a night or two. It's much more helpful to know if something works well over time.

I tried it, didn't work.

Coincidentally just a couple of days ago my friend told me of a cure that she had read about..... put a bar of white soap in your bed...

Glad it works for you and will be hopeful to hear in the future that the bebefit continues. It's looking good that you have been symptom free for a month.

I'd like to find out if it's the lavendar oil that's helping you. Can you - or anyone else - think of something besides soap that has real lavendar oil in it, that you could test for effectiveness? An aromatherapy unit that works on electricity as opposed to a candle maybe? (don't want to fall asleep with a candle on).

I tried the soap also, and it didn't work. I have also put drops of lavender oil on my pillow and that didn't work, but it did smell good.

I remember someone posting and asking how could a bar of soap in your bed possibly help a neurological condition that occurs in the brain. I think it may work as a placebo for some people and if thats the case--great. As long as you get relief.

BETTY/WV

Came across the "soap in the bed" thing on snopes.com (a website that debunks or confirms myths, legends, or rumors). It talks about leg cramps, not RLS/WED, but still amusing and comes to essentially the same conclusions stated here.

The odd thing is that it usually classifies lore/legends/rumors as True or False, but this on is marked Undetermined.

If anyone is interested in reading it, check it out: http://www.snopes.com/oldwives/legcramp.asp

HI, Folks, I moderate several online roups for RLS/WED, and out of about 3,000 people, most of which have refractory primary RLS, I have found 2 people that use soap in any effective manner. I was a little upset with the piece on Dr. Oz'a show. He spent 4 mins on RLS, and 2 of then were used to show how to place the bar of soap in the bed. I thought his time could have been better spent in the alotted time slot. Just my opinion, BUT.......
I would think he could have spent time on proven treatments for RLS, not something that works as sporadicaly as soap. We always say "your mileage may vary" in my yahoo groups, (one that has been "on the air" since 1997, with 1257 members now from 17 different countries) We have a chemist in our group, and he says there is no good reason why the soap should work, except the placebo effect. I am not putting down the placebo effect. Nothing wrong with it if tt actually helps you get some sleep, right?
I always say, "anything that works for YOU", since we all react differently to different treatments, meds, etc.