BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...

Subject: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Bobert
Date: 21 May 12 - 08:59 PM

Okay, what's the deal???

A very intelligent nurse of 40 years said that putting bar of soap under the lower sheet will prevent leg cramps???

Anyone on this???

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Rapparee
Date: 21 May 12 - 09:13 PM

Yeah, and an axe or knife under the bed will cut labor pains.

It might well work; it would create a lump in your bed that might prevent you from sleeping soundly enough to get a leg cramp. Better to investigate the cause of cramps.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 21 May 12 - 09:18 PM

It might work, but what's absolutely guaranteed to work is puttin' a live rattlesnake in the same place. You only get leg cramps if you're asleep, and if there's a rattlesnake in the bed with you, ain't gonna be sleepin'.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Bobert
Date: 21 May 12 - 09:22 PM

Shoot, Rap... I've gotten Charlie Horses when I sleep going back 40 years... I ain't much worried about what causes 'um 'cause I eaten bananas and all but bowed down to Mecca to rid myself of 'um...

The soap seems to be workin'???

Strange???

The old folks say that Life Boy was best???

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Rapparee
Date: 21 May 12 - 09:24 PM

Putting a live floozy in there will also work, if the P-Vine catches you.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Bobert
Date: 21 May 12 - 09:31 PM

I love floozies... Well, maybe not that way these days...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: MarkS
Date: 21 May 12 - 09:49 PM

Yes, it works, or at least I works for me.

I was skeptical but also bothered by leg cramps. Got the hint from
some natural healing site or other and figured, "what the hell!" and tried it.

Now I do not sleep without a small (hotel size) bar of soap under the fitted sheet, and have not been bothered with leg cramps in years.

Can't tell why, but in the words of that famous folk singing group, The Monkees, "I'm a believer!"

Try it and let us all know after about a week.

Mark

Oh, and Ivory is the best one out there.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Bert
Date: 21 May 12 - 09:55 PM

3 things cause leg cramps.

1. cold
2. lack of electrolytes
3. Intermittent exercise

SO! Cover up at night.
take some salt and salt substitute or pedialyte.
exercise regularly.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 21 May 12 - 09:57 PM

Neato. I have no idea why that would work, and I doubt anyone else does either, but if it does...that's enough for me. I don't have to know why.

Another thing that works rather well is to take magnesium supplements, and I do. The stuff I take is called Magnesium Citramate, 3 caps a day, and taking it daily definitely cures the leg cramps. However, it costs a lot more than merely putting a bar of soap under the sheet.

So I think I'll give the old bar of soap a try too and see how it goes.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 21 May 12 - 09:59 PM

The common explanation is that having something under the covers that keeps gettin' in the way encourages you to move a little and kick it around occasionally, and prevents you from blocking the circulation for too long at a time.

It doesn't work for us, but that's probably because any time you try to move your foot there's at least one cat asleep on top of it that has it pinned down. You have to wake up enough to kick pretty hard, which sort of defeats the purpose of the soap.

As a side note, a recent TV show called "The Doctors" that generally gives pretty good advice on stuff recently claimed that:

"recent laboratory testing has shown that the claim in folk wisdom that a sip of pickle juice will stop leg cramps does work, but nobody has any idea why."

John

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Rapparee
Date: 21 May 12 - 10:03 PM

There are also a variety of diseases and disorders that can cause leg cramps, including inadequate blood supply; nerve compression (lumbar stenosis); kidney, thyroid or hormone disorders; diabetes; hypoglycemia, and anemia. Some medicines can also cause cramps, especially intermittent use of cannabis indica.

Iffen ya ain't sure what's causing it, see a doctor.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 21 May 12 - 10:06 PM

And if a doctor is causing it? Then who do you see?

Don't think I'm not being serious when I say that. Doctors have killed a whole lot of people.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Rapparee
Date: 21 May 12 - 10:15 PM

You see another doctor. If it's from some meds, tell the prescribing doctor. Lordy, look at old dude's thread on his mom.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Janie
Date: 21 May 12 - 10:19 PM

makes sense to me.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Bobert
Date: 21 May 12 - 10:34 PM

I donno... I'm on my 2nd week... One leg cramp 3 days into the experiment... None since... Used to have them 3 nights a week...

This makes no sense to me but if it works??? Hey???

B:~)

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 21 May 12 - 10:38 PM

Snopes mentions this.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: frogprince
Date: 21 May 12 - 11:45 PM

This got discussed sometime a couple-or-five years ago. At the time my question was, "can you get a placebo effect from something you don't believe in", because I gave it a what's-too-lose try and my cramping reduced by at least 80%. I'm fairly certain that my legs weren't disturbed by the lump enough for that factor to be significant.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 21 May 12 - 11:53 PM

Hi, Morwen. The Snopes essay mentions Dove and Dial. Other people have mentioned Ivory. Dial is surely a detergent, not actually a soap. Ivory is soap. Dove? I'm not sure.

So if the chemistry of the product doesn't matter, maybe what's affecting people is the perfume. Maybe the fragrance keeps people from sleeping too deeply and letting their muscles stagnate.

My husband has a keen sense of smell. One night I tried cooking food overnight in the slow cooker, and he announced the next morning that he woke up again and again, smelling the darn food. That was the end of that approach to cooking.

One thing's for sure - this is one cure where there's very little risk involved, so why not try it?

Bobert, just don't let the bar slip out of the bed where you might step on it when getting out. That's the only risk I can think of.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 22 May 12 - 07:25 AM

Deep sleep causes total relaxation of the muscles. So anything which brings about less deep sleep would not seem to be a good idea. I'm sure I read somewhere that there is medication which is a muscle-relaxant. (But beware, the bladder muscles might also relax too much!)

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Wesley S
Date: 22 May 12 - 07:48 AM

In the other leg cramp thread we've talked about the bars of soap. My sister suggested that - she gets the cramps too - and she's an ER nurse. But I've also started drinking a glass of tonic water daily and that seems to help { also suggested by my sister }. Then on NPR someone suggested a big spoonful of yellow mustard while you're having the cramps to make them go away. That seems to help too.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Charley Noble
Date: 22 May 12 - 08:24 AM

"3 things cause leg cramps.

1. cold
2. lack of electrolytes
3. Intermittent exercise"

To this I would add doing roofing work after not doing proper exercises. Going up and down the ladders, scrambling across the roof and crawling along the scaffolding to get at the soffits and facia, certainly can generate leg cramps.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: kendall
Date: 22 May 12 - 09:15 AM

I asked my Doctor bout this and he said some of his patients do it, and he doesn't know why it works.
Try COQ10.Also, plenty of water.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Jack Campin
Date: 22 May 12 - 09:40 AM

CoQ10 is a hell of a lot more expensive than soap.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 22 May 12 - 10:01 AM

Taking a couple tabs of potassium while recovering (or trying to recover) from a leg cramp has helped me in the past. Lately not so much. I've tried the tonic route -- doesn't seem to work for me. Lobelia tincture rubbed into the cramp USUALLY helps and I've got a tube of a homeopathic remedy that also works...most of the time.

I drink a fair amount of water a day, so it's not a hydration problem with me.

It's not just leg cramps in the usual places. For the past six months or so, I've been getting cramps in the front of the ankle. Not the same kind of absolute PAIN as in foot, calf and thigh cramps, but very very uncomfortable.

I think stress may contribute. After Tom broke his ankle and while he was in the hospital or at rehab, my left hand would cramp multiple times a day, usually when I wasn't doing much. First time I remember it happening was while I was standing in line at the deli counter. Hand cramps weren't unusual to me, but the frequency sure was. Since he's been home, I don't think I've had one.

I'd love to find something, though, that would prevent me being rudely awakened by a leg or foot cramp. I've got an extra bar of Ivory and I'll give it a shot. What have I got to lose?

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Rapparee
Date: 22 May 12 - 10:15 AM

I get cramps on the inside of my legs from the crotch to the knee, ankle cramps that wrap around the front of the ankle and foot, and my hands have started cramping. I wouldn't min the last so much if it left one finger in the air and I could say, "Sorry, hand cramp" but it sometimes makes holding a pen or a fork difficult.

So far it hasn't affected my banjo playing any.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Wesley S
Date: 22 May 12 - 01:29 PM

"I get cramps on the inside of my legs from the crotch to the knee".

Yeah - those are the worst. What I've found is that if I can apply some pressure to the ends of the muscle when it's cramping that it will eventually go away. I press down hard with my thumbs on the very ends of the muscles.It's kind of embarrassing in public though to have your hand buried in your crotch while you're moaning in pain....

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Rapparee
Date: 22 May 12 - 01:46 PM

Well, if someone comments just ask them to help. Usually shuts 'em up right quick like.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Bill D
Date: 22 May 12 - 02:05 PM

Under the sheets? WHERE under the sheets? By the feet? By the knees? Are you supposed to feel it, or just absorb the 'emanations'?


(I don't currently get cramps....just wondering.)

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: gnu
Date: 22 May 12 - 02:27 PM

Rap... "So far it hasn't affected my banjo playing any."

Very thoughtful of you. I am sure someone will respond soon.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 May 12 - 02:54 PM

If simple treatments (leg stretching, addition of potassium and magnesium and vitamin D to diet, etc. don't work-

Quinine is recommended by some doctors, but has some bad side effects. My current doctor says No.
See this article from National Institute for Health-
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1463088/

Of course leg cramps may be a symptom of several conditions, a doctor should look for underlying causes if the simple solutions don't work.

Pickle Juice or brines that are rich in potassium actually were mnetioned by my doctor, but I said "No way," so the alternatives of sea salt (see contents list to see if K (potassium) is present), bananas, etc. were recommended.
Some tonic waters also contain potassium. (But not too much gin and tonic).

See this article from University of Maryland Medical Center-
http://www.umm.edu/patiented/articles/what_restless_legs_syndrome_other_sleep-related__leg_disorders_000095_1.htm
(or just google)

Magnesium is available in several compounds. Vitamin D (recommended by doctors in our Canadian area where sunlight is ineffective for much of the year) also should be in the diet.

And if simple solutions don't work, talk it over with your physician, and perhaps ask to see a specialist.
(Consultants are no problem in Canada, but sometimes long waits. All covered by the medical service.)

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Bert
Date: 22 May 12 - 03:11 PM

Do you know why sea salt is so rich in trace minerals? It is because it is full of seagull poop. Every time they flood the salt flats, thousands of sea birds rush in to feast on the fish trapped in the shallow water. They have to flood the flats many times to get the salt/poop mix thick enough to harvest.

I think I'll stick to salt for sodium and either bananas or potatoes for potassium although salt substitute (potassium chloride) might do the trick I don't like the taste.

I guess if I were really plagued with this problem rather than it being just an occasional nuisance, I might try a little yeast energizer
and maybe just a smidgen of Epsom Salts

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: gnu
Date: 22 May 12 - 03:43 PM

Seagull shit? I could just lick my truck!

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 22 May 12 - 05:39 PM

I usually drink two glasses of tonic water daily for the quinine, and it seems to work. When i drink less, I sometimes have mild cramps. When I drink none, the cramps are more severe. My daughter-in-law, who is into all things natural, suggested it to me when I told her about the problem, which wasn't until my feet started cramping, too. I could feel my toes start to curl down and feel the cramps travel up my legs.

I will try the soap, too. It may cost less that the tonic water!

Thank you for the links, Janie and Morwen.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Bert
Date: 22 May 12 - 06:33 PM

Maybe, but 'gin and soap' doesn't sound nearly as good as 'gin and tonic'.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 22 May 12 - 08:19 PM

The use of magnesium supplements to help with leg cramps is pretty well known and is documented as being of significant help in those cases where it's appropriate, but probably won't help in other cases.

Opionions that I've found from what appear to be reliable sources are that magnesium supplements are only helpful in cases where there is, or is very likely to be, a coexisting potassium defecit, and combining the two might reduce the amount of magnesium needed, if there's a significant difference in the cost of either.

Both are available OTC (over the counter - i.e. without prescription) in the US, and dosage withing the OTC package suggestions should be safe, however there are some hazards associated with "potassium overload" with extremes of excessive overdose. (I haven't seen similar warnings for magnesium, but "extremism" is seldom helpful.)

The only reliable way to know if you really will benefit from either is by serological tests (laboratory blood tests) that most physicians, here at least, will generally include in any annual physical if you report your symptoms properly.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: frogprince
Date: 22 May 12 - 09:56 PM

I've probably had put the soap around knee level, but I really hadn't thought more specifically than to have it somewhere in the leg area. I just use a motel bar, so the lump doesn't amount to much.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: gnu
Date: 22 May 12 - 10:29 PM

I have placed soap slivers near the ankle area and shall report.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Bobert
Date: 22 May 12 - 10:36 PM

I have just smoked some Dial...

Will get back to ya'll later...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Janie
Date: 22 May 12 - 10:55 PM

Did anyone read the link I posted?

Just asking.





When I get leg , toe or foot cramps it is always related to some combination of dehydration, lack of potassium or other mineral salts/electrolytes, etc.

Eat more bananas and drink enough water.

Or, put a bar of soap (soap, not a detergent bar) under your sheet, Skiin absorbs the mineral salts. I expect the bar of soap under the sheet takes a bit longer to be effective, but don't really know.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 23 May 12 - 01:33 PM

Slipped a bar of Ivory under the sheet last night -- I can sort of play with it with my feet if I want to.

I also slugged some tonic water (sans gin, sans lime) just because I was thirsty and it was handy. (It hasn't seemed to help before.)

I fairly often drink pickle juice. I LIKE pickle juice. (I wonder if pickle juice goes better with vodka or with gin? Well, who cares. It's easier just to drink out of the pickle jar...)

Was awakened somewhere around oh dark thirty with a cramp in my calf. Prolly should have popped a couple potassium tabs, but I didn't. It walked off quickly and I got back to sleep.

Maybe the soap takes awhile to work...?

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 23 May 12 - 02:00 PM

I keep buckwheat filled heat packs in the freezer. When the cramps come, I put one on the floor by the bed, sit on the edge and knead the pack with my toes. Then dig my heel into it and point toes up toward shin keeping the knee straight.

Because my heels are very sensitive to pressure, there is a small foam pillow at foot of bed upon which I put my calves letting my heels hang off the edge. This forces me to extend the achilles tendon and reduces the calf cramp for me.

If I didn't need the pillow I would have tried the soap.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 May 12 - 02:29 PM

Rice-filed heat (and cold) heatpacks, I find, are superior to buckwheat-filled.
Use only American-grown brown rice; avoid Bangladeshi and other oriental paddy produce which might carry Mad Chicken Disease; also avoid the Italian, noted for inducing Mad Tenor bel canto syndrome.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Charley Noble
Date: 23 May 12 - 02:37 PM

One of my roofing friends just gave me a little pill bottle called "Leg Cramps" which is quinine fortified. There's a laundry list of other ingredients as well. It is marketed by "Hyland's."

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 23 May 12 - 09:20 PM

Janie, not only did I read your link, I thanked you for it In my previous comment!

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: GUEST,999
Date: 23 May 12 - 10:23 PM

I have not read the thread, so I apologize if I offend anyone. I'll have y'all know I do not need soap under the sheets to have leg cramps. It's a stupid idea. At least anyone who's ever had leg cramps will know what I mean, I'm sure. Say NO to soap, IMO.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 23 May 12 - 11:24 PM

Shane's right with ya there, man. He's been saying NO to soap for years.

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 24 May 12 - 08:05 PM

Nowadays all my "soap" is liquid. On Wednesday I went to the market to buy Ivory, but I would have to buy a 4-bar packet. Today I went to the pharmacy and bought a 3-bar packet. I drank only one glass of tonic water today which would normally mean mild cramps. If all goes well, I'll save the tonic water I have in stock for occasions when I wish to drink it with gin!

Subject: RE: BS: Soap Under Sheets For Leg Cramps...
From: Bobert
Date: 24 May 12 - 08:29 PM

Gone about a week with the soap... One cramp... Usually have 2-3...

I donno???

B~