Insomnia - any remedies that WORK??

[JanetLG]

I have had insomnia for several years, and it's getting worse. I thought at first that it was probably a sympton of peri-menopause, so I just put up with it. But it happens a lot now, and I'm starting to think there's more to it than just my hormones! Can anyone else relate to this? I could really do with some suggestions for stopping it.

The kind of insomnia that I get is that I go to bed around 11pm (I don't drink anything after about 8pm so I won't have to go to the bathroom in the night). I usually get off to sleep at first, then between 3 and 4am, I wake up. My brain just goes over and over things - not exactly 'worrying', but just  re-living, and predicting. Such as 'so-and-so rang yesterday and said blah, I've got to do this thing tomorrow, that book was good, I wonder if the rose by the front door will be out tomorow'. Stupid things, but it all just keeps me awake. I get restless legs, and a stiff neck. After about an hour, I tend to have a kind of 'advert break', where I suddenly visualise chocolate, or crisps, or biscuits - and once I've thought of something yummy, I have to get up and have it (BAD habit  )

So, I get up, go downstairs, raid the cupboards, make some tea. Then I either read, or surf online until about 6.30am, when I'm so tired I can't keep my eyes open. Then I go back to bed, and fall asleep straight away. I wake up about 9am, feeling like death, very cold, and headachy.

I feel awful all day, but usually sleep OK for the next couple of nights, then it all happens again.

I am not going to use drugs to sort this out, as I believe that would just mask the problem, but any other suggestions are very, very welcome!

A very tired Janet

[Ami]

Dear Janet,
  I studied Acupuncture. The "time" of problems is important. When you wake up at 3 A.M.-- there is the time that the liver is active.The emotion that goes with the liver is anger( and depression).
   If you go to an acupuncturist, they can tell by the location of the headache( left side, right side etc) what the headache is related to.( which organ). In Chinese medicine, each organ controls certain emotions. When the organ is balanced, the emotion can be healed(or vice-versa).
   From my own experience with stomach problems, my root problem was not "feeling deserving" of living and thriving. It had  spiritual and emotional roots.. Yours sounds to me like it also is an emotional block of some sort.
  I wish that I had more to offer, Friend                                          Love   Ami
   

[isittoolate]

Awwww Janet

I empathize with you.

I find nothing worse than that description of what your menu is for thinking round and round and over and over and not getting to sleep.

I've been there, but having all that FIRST until I would be so ragtag tired I could scream. I now read  myself into sleepy and even again if I happen to awaken again--(not often that happens) I borrow the most interesting books for me and am anxious to get to bed to continue. I read only in bed.

No medication.

Now that might not work for you but it does for me and I've just let you know I empathize.

Do you have restless leg syndrome?

Maybe you  ought to drink before bed cause you get up anyway!!! May I put a   here? even though it isn't funny?

Maybe you are dehydrated by your wake up time?

Before I began my reading, the upstairs woman sounded like a huge rat and I went on my thinking spree, and the one next door seemed to be showering every ½ hour and I'd get annoyed, then angry and that gave me more on which to cogitate, whether to shoot them, scream or call the superintendants.

I think sleeping pills wouldn't work for you, as you'd likely get your short term sleep still, then wake up---at least happened to me in hospital when I was told to take a sleeping pill.

Sorry I cannot be of more help, or of any help, but Good Luck on fuirther responses to your problem, that might be of assistance to you.

Love
Izzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzy (Get it?)

[JanetLG]

Ami,

That makes sense - about the timing being related to the liver, therfore anger/depression problems. I reckon it's to do with anger, somehow.

Izzy,

I do get restless legs, and that's when I sometimes wake my husband up (he has ABSOLUTELY no problem getting back to sleep afterwards...bastard!!), and he does shiatsu massage on my legs. Sometimes that works really well. But I don't like to wake him up...doesn't seem fair.


I shouldn't be dehydrated, I don't think, because I drink 6 glasses of water a day anyway, just not after mid-evening.

I wouldn't touch sleeping pills with a bargepole, so  even though you're not suggesting I try them, I wouldn't anyway.

The only thing I've tried taking that DID work was homeopathic coffea, 30c. But I don't want to be taking ANYTHING, long-term.


Janet

[Certain Hope]

((((((((((Janet)))))))))  I dunno, never dealt with sleeplessness long-term, but just stopping by with hugs and to say I hope you're back to getting restful snoozes soon.

Love,
Hope

[Bella_French]

Dear Janet,

Hugs to you; I suffer from insomniatoo  on and off too, but its usually caused by sensitivity to what I eat or drink at night. I seem to have pinpointed the major causes now, but it took ages to work out what to avoid.

Janet, from reading your description of your early hours of the morning `sugar cravings' it is sounding as though what is waking you is  a massive dive in your sugar levels at night. If there is nothing obviously `sugary' in your diet that would be boosting your sugar levels before bed time (alcohol, sugary sauces in your food), I agree that this would be related to hormones, as estrogen and sugar production are so closely related.

It could help to get a blood test to check all your hormone levels? Maybe the balance is out, and you need progesterone cream?

X Bella

[JanetLG]

Bella,

I do tend to hit the sugary stuff when I'm bored, so I'll have a look at what I eat during the day that could be setting me off later on. I already use Natural Progesterone Cream    Great stuff. Just ask my husband (no, don't actually  )

besee,

Sounds like you've tried just about everything, too! Glad yours has sorted itself out now. I'm off to have a look at that website - looks really interesting.


Janet

[Ami]

It is strange, but I was just thinking about someone  who has an abusive H. The saying,"Sleep with one eye open" hit me.
   I know that the "stomach " sayings have helped me  to see how my stomach got sick . Internal strength is called" intestinal fortitude." I felt it in my  gut". It is eating me up.There are so many of them.
   Maybe, you are" sleeping with one eye open "after all the trauma of your past. Just a thought . Love    Ami

[teartracks]

Hi JanetG,

Have you considered earplugs?   I wear them every night.

Have a friend who has RLS, she knows I wear earplugs to sleep, she tried wearing them and says it has made a huge difference in her sleep.  Don't know how the earl and legs get together on that one but...I suspect, that changing the noise level is just enough to gently push her sleep mode.

tt

[JanetLG]

Teartracks,

Earplugs...now, that's an interesting one.

Where we used to live, in a town, it was busy all day and all night. We used to get gangs of 'youths', to use the newspaper term, wandering past our house every night, causing trouble. I didn't get insomnia then.

Now, we live 300 miles away, in the country, and it's so quiet at night, that even though our house is on a main road, it can be two hours or so between cars going past, at night. When we first moved here, it was THE QUIET that kept me awake, because it was so unusual for me! The house has walls two feet thick (granite blocks), so it's a solid, quiet place. No sound at all at night.

Perhaps I need brainplugs?

Ami,

I'm sure it's got something to do with wariness (unwarranted now, but anyway...). I just need to work out what that's all about.


Janet

[teartracks]

Ah axa,

Sounds like you live in a castle.   

Maybe you need to pipe in some 'white noice' from the city?

I pipe in white noise, but it's not city noise, just soft breeze like steady sound.

I am a total insomniac and understand the frustration of it.  I medicate, but not with traditional sleeping pills. 

The medication is for anxiety.  I take it only at night, because that is when the 'willies' creep over me from a

past tragedy and its lingering trauma.

tt

PS  I also sleep with a small heating pad.  I push it away or pull it to me depending on my need for temperature change.  Can't explain why it makes sleep better.   It gives me much comfort.

[JanetLG]

CB,

15 years!!

I hope I can sort mine out before THAT long!

I wouldn't touch Benadryl - too many horrible side effects go with that (anaphylactic shock, hives, vertigo, tinnitus, even anorexia!), and it's addictive, too.  Bleuch!!

Regular times of going to bed has helped a bit in the past, but that's not always possible. I haven't tried turning up the other way in the bed. That should surprise my husband!

I'll try the cereal rather than chocolate to snack on, although I wish I didn't eat ANYTHING at that time of night - it's bound to just stagnate, because there's no time to work it off at that time of the morning.

Resting IS better than worrying about it, but the body does so much repairing of itself during proper sleep, it's that bit that I want to get sorted, really.
Thanks for the ideas.

Janet

[Stormchild]

Hi Janet

Try a little natural jolt of tryptophan... a warm mug of hot vanilla before you go to bed. Nuke a cup of milk in the microwave, stir in a bit of vanilla extract and some honey, and see if this gets you through the night. Skim milk is fine, the tryptophan goes with the protein and is not lost with the fat.

Turkey, the American's Famous Thanksgiving Feast, is rich in tryptophan, which is why we all nod off over the football game after gorging ourselves on it. If you don't feel too silly trying it, you can make surprisingly nice turkey sandwiches using turkey baby food and whatever other spices you like [mayo, black pepper]. Think of it as meat paste, which is what it is, after all. Try half a jar or more, half an hour before bedtime, and if you chase it down with hot vanilla, you should sleep like a top.

[I tube fed a kitty for a number of weeks. She was failing to thrive on the commercial 'tube food', which was terribly protein deficient. So I started adding regular feedings of slurried baby food with vitamin supplements - ham, turkey, chicken, veal, lamb. When turkey was on the menu, she'd purr and purr, and fall asleep before I'd finished. This stuff really works. Story had happy ending, kitty got well.]

We also make less melatonin as we age. This is one reason the elderly sleep so poorly at night [and then drowse during the day]... tryptophan is the biochemical precursor to both serotonin, the brain's natural antidepressant, and melatonin, our natural sleeping aid.

Other possibilities include chamomile tea - it must be strong, but if it's strong enough it will knock you right out. And green tea taken during the day as well as at night; it's a good source of theanine, a natural relaxant.

If you are sensitive to caffeine, avoid cocoa and black tea as well, because they contain theobromine, a chemical closely related to caffeine and also a stimulant.

Also, watch your evening vegetables! Believe it or not if you eat raw cabbage or bok choy, the glutamine they contain may keep you awake. [So obviously also stay away from Chinese take-out if they put MSG in it. Same effect.] And stay away from Marmite before bedtime, that stuff is LOADED with glutamate.

Oh yeah... also avoid white wine after dinnertime. Red may help you sleep, white is stimulating.

Hope this helps.

[JanetLG]

Storm,

That's a very technical post!! Thank you.

I'll try the milky suggestion, definitely, and the chamomile tea. I already avoid caffeine, and MSG like the plague.

The other suggestions might be helpful to others, but not so much for me, I'm afraid...I'm vegetarian, don't eat takeaways, and don't drink alcohol. Oh, and I haven't got a microwave. (Or a dishwasher. Or a tumble dryer. Or a TV. Or a mobile phone. )

Yep, I'm a Martian 


Janet

[changing]

Hi Janet-

I have these magic blankets that put all people, cats, dogs, etc  (even Martians) to sleep- they are smooth and softly furry but in a comforting, snuggly way, not too heavy in weight or scratchy in any way.  Go out and shop, and find a cuddle blanket right away!Take a lovely bath , slather yourself with lavender lotion (especially the feet) put on some snuggly socks and a pretty, comfortable gown, get under a snuggly blanket and you will drowse away before you can say...Good Night!

Oh yes- make sure that you have a great pillow as well, with a high thread count (true thread count, not the twisted fibers that are labeled as a high thread count) quality cotton pillowcase!

Have a cozy night in Dreamland,

Changing