An Interesting Personal Sleep Study

[questor1]

I just completed a three night sleep study using a Bushnell trail camera which took pictures at one minute intervals. The study was to test the effect of three different drugs on my restless leg syndrome. The first night I took 10 mg Clozepam and counted 80+ leg movement. Since it was only one picture per minute, it's very likely some movements were not caught on camera, because there were 127 movements in my original medical sleep study.

On night two, I took the same dosage of Conazepam, but added a bar of Ivory soap under the sheet. I was skeptical, but surprised when I saw the photos and counted only about four leg movements.

On night thee, with the Dr.'s ok, I switched from Clonazepam and Ivory to Ambien and Ivory, because of the drowsiness factor of the Clonazepam. The result was about 20 leg movements.

The best news is that on all three nights, my AHI was between 1.0 and 1.6, with all events being associated with leaks and movement that can be observed the graph and on the video.

I'm going to continue the study to make, but from what I see, the Ivory Snow effect works for me and I will continue to work on it. I've tried to turn the stills into a movie but there seems to be a critical number that crashes Windows Movie Maker. I actually have a web site I have to build this week, so it might be a which before I can get back to playing with the movie idea.

[quietmorning]

I read in an article (peaked my curiosity, so I went looking for more info) that the soap needed to be changed after six months.

This is amazing. . .and I'm very glad they found something to help. . .that really helps, as weird as it is.

Congrats! I hope it continues to work for you!

[Jay Aitchsee]

Questor, that's some really good work. I never put much stock in the "ivory soap" treatment, but who knows?
You can follow the link in my signature,"IR video", to see some other ideas on making video. I've used cheap webcams with a time-lapse program to take pictures about every 30 sec which can be converted to a short video with time stamp. The webcam apps of my newer laptops have time-lapse capability and will convert them to video, in the beginning I had to spend about $10 for a program to do it.

[kteague]

Congrats on being proactive in searching what will work best for you. I did at one point try the Ivory, and I did feel it took the edge off a bit, but it was at a time I was going through a rough period on dopamine meds. I probably should give it another chance and see if could help any now that I use only a TENS Unit for for leg movements.

Do you have a plan to in some way video yourself sleeping to get an actual count? That comparison to your sleep study numbers would give you an even better indicator for your research. Also, if you are like me and have triggers, a journal could help too. If I have caffiene in the late afternoon I risk a bad night. Have you already done things like have your ferritin and magnesium levels checked?

Best wishes as you attempt to take control of your legs at sleep. It can be challenging, to say the least, but like you, I just had to try to do something to help myself as what was available to me was not working. Hope you find what works for you.

[Jay Aitchsee]

Do you have a plan to in some way video yourself sleeping to get an actual count?

To get a count, maybe one of the newer pedometers that use accelerometers? Or, maybe just an accelerometer. Maxdarkside and BasementDwellingGeek use them to track body position.
Jay

[questor1]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I have Adobe Premier Pro that I know will handle the stills, buy seldom use it. I might give it a try. The software that comes with the trail camera also makes a video, but it can't be saved. I do have a number of options for making the video. I just have to find the time. This week is occupied because I'm doing web site work. For me, taking a picture a minute is all I need do. I'm not really concerned with getting an accurate count. All I need do for my purposes is to show a significant difference in the number of movements. The most interesting part for me is that before I had the original sleep study, I never realized I had RLS. Perhaps once or twice a week, I would get a leg jerk just as I was dozing off and think nothing of it. I had no idea it was happening more than 100 times as I slept.

[johnthomasmacdonald]

I don't follow - what do you do with the bar of Ivory soap?

[questor1]

John. the Ivory soap just gets unwrapped and placed under the fitted sheet on my bed. I place it down near my ankles. Why it works and why it for some and not for others is a mystery. Last nights pictures again showed little or no leg movement again. Ad quietmorning, in 6 months when I change it, I can put it the bathroom and use it. You can't do that with many meds. LOL! BTW - I was able to make the movie. I had to use a batch process to change the resolution. They were too big. However, the quality of the night vision pictures and the lack of a good script or acting, will never get it an Oscar. It's not worth watching.

[Jay Aitchsee]

Too soon to draw any conclusions about the soap treatment?

BTW, one theory as to why this works is that Classic Ivory Soap contains magnesium sulfate, Epsom Salts, and magnesium sufate has been linked to the relief of RLS.

[blueh2o]

I was having leg cramps for a while and tried the soap thing. Like kteague I felt it took the edge off but never quite resolved the cramps. Fortunately, they're gone now, not sure how or why. Interesting theory and if it works, good on ya!

[Sir NoddinOff]

Ya' gotta wonder who the first person was to put a bar of Ivory soap in their bed thinking it would make them sleep better. Kind of like the first person that decided a snail looked good to eat. I do love the smell of the original Ivory soap tho... when my dear 'ol mom washed my mouth out as a kid, I vastly preferred Ivory to Palmolive. NIce mellow floral finish with just a hint of tallow to balance the palate.

[VVV]

my restless leg syndrome

What is your serum ferritin level?

[questor1]

Since doing the initial 3-night study, I've recorded an additional three nights. I'm pleased to say that the Ivory soap had been doing the trick. On two of the nights, I had taken Ambien and on the other Clonazopam. On the Ambien nights, there were roughly 20 movements as opposed to 127 in the sleep study (where I also took Ambien). On the Clonazopam night there were about 10 movements. The other differences were that using Clonazopam, I slept longer with less overall body movement, fewer leaks, shorter events, and lower AHI (2.x as opposed to 4.x). The down side is that there is a bit of drowsiness with Clonazopam. However, if I go to the gym in the morning and do 20 minutes on the treadmill, perks me up. To only problem remaining is that regardless of which drug I use, I wake up between 3:30 AM and 4:30 AM and can't get back to sleep with the mask on. At that point, I remove the mask and usually get back to sleep until about 6:30. So I'm averaging 4-5 hours a night with the mask and about 3 without it. Since I have to assume that I have having events during the non-mask periods, I'm leaning toward sticking with the Clonazopam, because of the lower AHI and shorter events. Incidentally, almost all events take place during leak periods.

[SleepyToo2]

Ya' gotta wonder who the first person was to put a bar of Ivory soap in their bed thinking it would make them sleep better. Kind of like the first person that decided a snail looked good to eat. I do love the smell of the original Ivory soap tho... when my dear 'ol mom washed my mouth out as a kid, I vastly preferred Ivory to Palmolive. NIce mellow floral finish with just a hint of tallow to balance the palate.

The voice of experience, eh?! How many times did you get that delicious element added to your diet? Because of the alkali that is used to make soap, I am sure it is not recommended these days! Maybe even regarded as child abuse in certain quarters? However, you obviously survived to tell the tale! Question now, though, is whether washing your mouth out with soap before bed has an effect on your AHI? Sorry, that is one experiment I am not volunteering for!

[Jay Aitchsee]

Questor, glad to hear your therapy seems to be working. When I went to the store yesterday, I looked at some "Original" Ivory Soap bars and noticed the formulation did not contain Magnesium Sulfate, although an older MSDS does list it as an ingredient. If the soap you're using does not contain Magnesium Sulfate and it's working, then it does seem to rule out the theory that Magnesium Sulfate, Epsom Salt, is the reason.