I'm sitting on the bus right now and RLS is driving me insane, or at least it was until I started doing some isometric exercises.

Isometric exercises are where you flex your leg muscles but don't actually move your legs at all. For example, I'm sitting here typing this article on my laptop, while pushing as hard as I can down on the floor, with my foot slightly raised in the air about an inch. Nobody on the bus can tell that I'm exerting myself, because my leg isn't moving - it's just flexed.

If you find yourself stuck on a bus ride or long plane trip and your RLS symptoms are acting up, try this easy method to provide some temporary relief. This shouldn't be a substitute for your regular medication, but it can be a big help because it can sometimes take up to an hour for meds to kick in and relieve symptoms.

Isometric exercises are also a great way to build strength in your muscles

The Oregonian recently published a blurp about a popular RLS technique in their "People's Pharmacy" Advice section:

Q: I finally fell asleep last night but woke back up an hour and a half later. I had started getting cramps and a creep-crawly feeling in my legs. I know some people who have RLS (restless leg syndrome), so I decided to look it up and see if there were any remedies. I'm sitting at the computer right now with a bar of soap under each leg, and it seems to be working! (I thought this idea was crazy, but I figured I had nothing to lose.) Thank you.

A: (from The Oregonian) Placing a bar of soap under the bottom sheet, near where the legs will rest, is one of the wackiest remedies we've come across. We have heard from so many people that is helps, however, that it is clear some folks do benefit. Besides, soap is inexpensive and doesn't have side effects. That cannot be said about the medications prescribed for RLS.

I got a chuckle out of this one, because it sounds so absolutely ridiculous... but I figured "what the heck" - it's worth a shot. But since the soap was recommended to be put under the sheet, I figured it was more of a pressure point related solution than the contents of the soap. And if that's the case, then it should work with any object that's about an inch thick and three inches long by two inches wide.

If you're starting to grab the car keys to run to the store and buy soap - save your gas. Sure, you may find temporary relief merely due to the well known placebo effect, where symptoms seem to magically go away even though no actual treatment was performed (a mind-over-matter trick that the brain and psyche occasionally plays on us).

Or the mere act of getting up and walking over to the sink to get a bar of soap may be enough of a physical and mental distraction to provide some temporary relief. But the relief will be just that - temporary. Your symptoms are likely to return, and with a vengeance if you decided to hold off on your regular medication in hopes that this myth might just do the trick for you.

I'm a computer programmer so I have to sit at a desk most of the day.  Requip works well to mask my RLS symptoms, but lately I've been catching myself nodding off at work.  I'll literally start to momentarily doze off and will wake up as my head starts to dive for the keyboard.  I just started a new job about a month ago, and I'm worried that I might be giving the impression that I'm bored with the work.

I've noticed that the drowsiness is the most dramatic about an hour after taking a dose of Requip – right about the time it starts to take affect and calm my legs.  It's a catch 22 – I'm miserable and squirmy if I don't take Requip, but half asleep if I do!

This week I'm experimenting with half-dosages of Requip.  I cut each 1 mg pill down the middle using a sharp knife, and then take one half every 2 hours instead of one whole pill every 4 hours.  I've noticed that the drowsiness is much less pronounced this way, because I'm not loading up my system with as much dopamine at a time.

It means that I have to keep much closer tabs on my Requip intake though, because if I miss one of the half doses then I'm really miserable with not as much Requip in my system.  But I'm hoping it helps me stay more alert during the day. I've set up recurring Outlook meeting invitations at 2 hour intervals to help remind me to take my meds on time.

I stumbled across Adria's blog title The Ergonomen this morning after doing a Google search on "walking while working".  I remembered a while back there being some hype on MSN about hooking up a computer to a treadmill and losing weight while working, and it made me wonder if it would help with RLS symptoms as well.

In theory it should help a lot, since walking provides temporary relief of RLS symptoms.  Unfortunately those symptoms return after a few minutes of resting, but with this contraption you'd be walking all day long.

I like the sounds of it, and Adria did a good job covering the story. 

Can you imagine dragging a treadmill into your cubicle at work though?... let alone convincing your boss to support the idea financially? 

I've wrestled (no pun intended) with RLS for as long as I can remember - even as a small child I can remember squirming around in the back seat of our red Ford Maverick.  About 5 years ago I was diagnosed with RLS and was very relieved to learn that it was a treatable affliction.  That excitement was short-lived though after quickly discovering a year later that my body had developed a tolerance for Sinemet.  My symptoms had actually worsened as a result of taking this drug!

I switched over the Requip about 3 years ago, which has worked much better for me.  Requip is the only FDA approved medication for treating RLS symptoms, but even Requip has not been the wonder drug that I had hoped it would be.  I have learned that there are numerous factors that affect my quality of life - factors that I must manage on a daily, even hourly basis.

Here's my personal top-5 list of things I do to minimize my Restless Legs symptoms (beyond taking Requip judiciously):

It's common knowledge that magnesium helps nerve and muscle function, but I've never tried it for RLS relief until today.

I was contacted by a colleague from another forum whose father practices wholistic approaches to medical problems. He recommends using magnesium to relieve RLS symptoms. My symptoms are getting worse each month, and I figure it won't hurt to give it a try.

From the bottle of Nature Made magnesium I bought today: "Magnesium is also essential in formation of bones and teeth and in converting blood suger into energy". Those sound like good things, but the hope of RLS relief was what really motivated the purchase.

I'm going to try to gradually take each dose of my medicine one hour later than normal each day, and see what kind of effect I get from the magnesium.

I'll post my results, and please comment on this post if you've experienced relief from magnesium, if it hasn't done a thing, and lastly if it had some harmful or uncomfortable side affects.

In 2006, a small study found that a combination of moderate aerobic exercise and lower-body resistance training three days a week reduced symptom severity by about 50%. The study found that it took six weeks to see maximum benefit from the exercise program. Generally, people with RLS have reported that moderate exercise seems helpful and that strenuous exercise may worsen their RLS.

Last week I bought a Fuji Roubaix RC racing bike and hooked up with a few buddies in my community who like to ride about 25 - 30 miles at a time. The rides are vigorous and they give my leg muscles a great burn.

I am hoping that the exercise will help with my RLS symptoms, and will post replies to this post indicating the affects of exercise on my RLS symptoms. Even if there is no affect, I should be able to lose some weight and improve my cardiovascular capacity along the way

If you're reading this post, will you please take a quick minute to reply and indicate whether exercise has improved, worsened, or had no affect on your RLS symptoms?