See a neurologist. He needs a sleep study. That is done overnight at the hospital. That way they can identify the exact problem, and treat it precisely. My father had it, and magnesium supplements took care of it. When I started having it too, magnesium helped, but not enough. My internist had me try Requip: worse than useless, and side effects. I tried the bar of soap thing too. I imagined it helped a bit. I was told it needs to be a strong smelling soap. But no where near as effective as finding out the cause and treating that. My neurologist knew from my sleep study exactly what I had, and prescribed Gabapentin. That is an antiseizure drug that also prevents the muscle twitching. It has been a godsend. It's a very safe and innocuous medication that has been around a long time. I take it at night, since it causes drowsiness. But that is to my benefit then. I am sleeping better than I have all my life: not like being drugged, just deep and refreshing natural sleep. I just took an overseas plane trip: I could not believe how wonderful it was to just sit in my seat, and not feel I had to jiggle or get up to walk around constantly!

Ok so I noticed that someone mentioned Requip and just wanted to give you fair warning about it. I was on it for a few months and at first I noticed that about 30 minutes after taking it I would fall into a deep sleep but I wasn't concerned because the medication was taking away my RLS symptoms. I have recently been taken off of Requip due to "extreme side effects" ie: falling asleep in the middle of the day (I take it at night), doing odd things in my sleep (as in texting, talking, laughing,and throwing things! At one point I even had an entire TWO HOUR phone conversation IN MY SLEEP!!) Numerous times I fell asleep during daily activities like playing the piano and picking up a piece of paper that had fallen on the floor! :( So while Requip is a WONDERFUL RLS medication, be VERY careful if you are going to take it and call your doctor if ANY of that starts happening!!

DH takes a "non-theraputic" amount (1 mg) of the generic for Abilify (aripiprazole). Theraputic dose is 2 mg to 15 mg. Abilify is prescribed as an adjunct to an antidepressant med, which he takes at the minimum dose. His MD would like to stop the Abilify -- on general principles of avoiding unnecessary meds. However, when DH tried taking it only alternate nights, his RLS came back at night in less than a week. His MD can't understand how 1 mg of Abilify does *anything*. Obviously, it does!

From People's Pharmacy: Researchers have established that pickle juice promptly eases electrically induced muscle cramps (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, May 2010). They also have demonstrated that the mechanism of action of pickle juice or mustard is not through electrolyte replenishment (Journal of Athletic Training, May-June 2014). Nobel Prize winner Rod MacKinnon, M.D., and his colleague Bruce Bean, Ph.D., are neurobiologists. They also are prone to muscle cramps. While kayaking several miles off Cape Cod, Dr. MacKinnon suffered debilitating cramps, which was dangerous that far out in the ocean. Fortunately, they made it back to land, and they began a quest to better understand the causes of such incapacitating cramps. By thinking creatively, they discovered that muscle cramps are actually triggered by misfiring nerves rather than dehydration or electrolyte imbalances. These brilliant scientists came up with a revolutionary idea that might transform the treatment of muscle cramps. They hypothesized that strong flavors would trigger nerves in the mouth, throat and stomach. This neuronal stimulation might in turn overwhelm the misbehaving nerves that were causing muscle cramps. They concocted a spicy beverage containing cinnamon, ginger and a hot-pepper extract that “directly influence and regulate nerve function.” They call the product Hotshot (www.Flex-Pharma.com). We suspect that yellow mustard or pickle juice also may work by stimulating the same nerves. Visitors to our website report fast relief from such remedies that cannot otherwise be explained by the slow absorption of sodium in the case of pickle juice or turmeric in the case of yellow mustard. Perhaps it’s time for skeptics to recognize that just because a remedy may seem strange doesn’t mean it should be rejected.