Barbara (Denver, Co) on 09/26/2012:
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!!!
Doc (Youngstown, Florida) on 03/31/2012:
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.
Piper (Nashua, Nh) on 01/29/2012:
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!
Sherri (Houston, Tx) on 01/03/2012:
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! View Entire Thread
Guri (India) on 09/14/2013:
Yea, the bar of soap works for me. I used to apply some moisturizing lotion to my feets before sleeping and it also works.
Taylor (Zillah, Wa, United States) on 09/03/2013:
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 :)
Pam (Clinton, Nj) on 06/04/2013:
Worked Temporarily
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.
Nightdancer (Land Of, Oz) on 03/25/2013:
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.
Jean (Palm Desert, California) on 02/14/2013:
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.
Ris (Dubois, Pa) on 10/12/2012:
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 wrapper on the soap and don't put it in a sock. go ohh natural.
Barbara (Denver, Co) on 09/26/2012:
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!!!
Doc (Youngstown, Florida) on 03/31/2012:
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.
Piper (Nashua, Nh) on 01/29/2012:
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!
Sherri (Houston, Tx) on 01/03/2012:
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! View Entire Thread
