help with sleeping (Full Version)

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Jen06 -> help with sleeping (2/26/2008 5:58:44 PM)

I cant sleep but I do not want to go back on the sleeping pills, so if any one at all has any suggestions I will take them... this laying there all night staring at the ceiling or reading a book is startin to get to me. Atleast my classes has benifited from it though.



Phin -> RE: help with sleeping (2/26/2008 6:25:30 PM)

obvious stuff first, cut back on the caffine, energy drings, if you play video games dont play for a couple of hours before heading to bed if you do alot of exersizing, again dont just before bed.

I am betting you have done all of this. you might want to run yahoo or google searches for "natural sleep remedies" I wouldnt give it much longer before seeing a doctor, make sure you express your concerns about sleeping pills.



Jen06 -> RE: help with sleeping (2/26/2008 6:38:05 PM)

i havent touched the caffinee in a few days and enegry drugs. this is getting old, fast



Statepalace -> RE: help with sleeping (2/26/2008 6:41:08 PM)

As a (former) chronic insomniac, lets start with the basics.

1. Stimulants.

Big fat no. Cut out caffeine completely. Do it on a Friday, so you can suffer the withdrawal effects on the weekend and not have to deal with a raging headache and class at the same time.

2. Sleep hygiene.

You can Google those words for more ideas, but it basically means keeping your sleeping area JUST for sleep.

This means NO lights, cool and quiet, inviting bed. Get new sheets if you can, turn your mattress, something to make the bed more appealing.

Do not do anything other than sleep (or have sex) while in/on your bed. This might be hard if you're in a dorm or have a small room where you use your bed as a couch/desk/table, but it is very, very important that your brain think "sleep" when you lie down. Stop reading IN bed. If you can't sleep, get out of your bed and sit on the floor and read if you have to.

3. Melatonin and/or Valerian root. Both over the counter and available at most big grocery stores. Read the directions, enjoy. I would try this on a Friday night with nothing to do Saturday, because it might make you oversleep a little bit.

4. Schedule. Make yourself get up, even if you don't have anything to do. Make yourself lie down and count sheep by a certain (reasonable) time. Having your body associate certain actions/times/clothes with bed can help.

5. Check your meds, if you're taking any. Zoloft gave me awful insomnia, and now that I'm off it I fall asleep much more easily. 




angelikaJ -> RE: help with sleeping (2/26/2008 6:42:11 PM)

Valerian?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerian_%28herb%29





Jen06 -> RE: help with sleeping (2/26/2008 6:43:15 PM)

thanks i will take your suggestions!



christine1 -> RE: help with sleeping (2/26/2008 6:47:31 PM)

if you don't want to do sleeping pills, try the sleepy tea's and warm baths and the relaxing scented oils like lavender, you can mix them with witch hazel and spray them on your bedding...it isn't a cure all, but it is helpful.



Statepalace -> RE: help with sleeping (2/26/2008 6:48:26 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: angelikaJ

Valerian?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerian_%28herb%29






Yep. I've found it helpful. It has some sedation effects. You can find it in "Sleepytime Tea" along with chamomile. It's not going to knock you out, but might help just a little bit.


Valerian, in Pharmacology and Phytotherapic Medicine, is the name of a herb or dietary supplement prepared from roots of the plant, which, after maceration, trituration, dehydration processes, are conveniently packaged, usually into capsules, that may be utilized for certain effects including sedation and anxiolytic effect.



ThinkingKitten -> RE: help with sleeping (2/26/2008 7:09:20 PM)

Couple more suggestions:
1. Exercise regularly - a brisk walk for 20 mins if nothing else, but not within a couple of hours of going to bed.
2. Avoid the temptation to nap during the day. At most take one nap only, but set a timer for no more than 20 minutes. This stops you from sleeping long enough to enter REM sleep (the dream state, and deepest sleep). Waking up suddenly from REM sleep can leave you groggy and headachy, so the goal is to let your brain enter the upper levels of sleep only, which is more refreshing.
3. Quit the negative internal pressure dialogue (if it exists) - "damn, I've been lying here for an hour already, and I still feel wide awake". Adopt a "who cares?" attitude.
4. Lie in a DARK environment as much as possible. The absence of light at regular times is an indicator to your internal clock which says - "night-time, sleeptime".



gorgeous1 -> RE: help with sleeping (2/27/2008 12:03:30 AM)

Ugh...insomnia...

If you care nothing for your liver, try Nyquil- does it every time for me. Also, you can buy the COSTCO brand sleeping pill "Night-time Sleep Aid"...seriously- made me sleep better than any scrip.

I switched off between these two for about three months and suddenly, my body became accustomed to going to bed at a certain time and now, voila...I go to sleep like clockwork at 10:45, except for a rare occasion like tonight, where I had wine and now I'm, amp'ed.

I know taking Nyquil and sleep pills is not the best, but I have never slept better after a regimen of alternating the two- now I am a regular sleeping beauty with no drugs.

Nighty-night.



celticlord2112 -> RE: help with sleeping (2/27/2008 1:37:39 AM)

Chamomile tea has long been used as a sleep aid



KrysFyre -> RE: help with sleeping (2/27/2008 2:34:09 AM)

Actually I've found Avena Sativa (wheat extract I think) to be helpful getting sleepy. You can get it from most health food stores. Couple of drops in a glass of water settle down in bed and about 10minutes later I'd start to drift. The draw back is feeling very groggy in the morning, however I found I'd rather feel the grogginess than stay up all night.





Phoenix2raven -> RE: help with sleeping (2/27/2008 12:29:31 PM)

Essential oil of lavender but buy the good stuff not the crap sold at health food stores. Heres the oil I use.http://www.youngliving.us/ if you cant diffuse it put a couple of drops on your pillow or behind your ears and on your earlobes. 



mnottertail -> RE: help with sleeping (2/27/2008 12:30:28 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Jen06

I cant sleep but I do not want to go back on the sleeping pills, so if any one at all has any suggestions I will take them... this laying there all night staring at the ceiling or reading a book is startin to get to me. Atleast my classes has benifited from it though.


benadryl tablets



deliciousmorsel -> RE: help with sleeping (3/3/2008 2:17:59 AM)

Benadryl is excellent! A lot of these arty health food store herbs work for a few people, but they make me break out. Then I have to take the benedryl anyway.

Melatonin is actually good too. It will help reset your body clock to sleep at a decent hour.

You'd be amazed what caffeine is in. No coffee, tea, soft drinks are crawling with caffeine, chocolate is full of caffeine, anything with ginseng will keep you up, it's bizarre what they put that in now. All that Red Bull and related products are off limits too. Crawling with stimulants.

And sitting at the computer all evening will mess with your brain. Never get to sleep.
Sweet Dreams!



Chloelicious -> RE: help with sleeping (3/3/2008 2:24:19 AM)

1. Lavender oil as previously said
2. Hot milk (not sure it works)
3. Camomille tea
4.Valerian blossom caps (in pharmacy and natural food store)

chloé



NoVacancy -> RE: help with sleeping (3/3/2008 2:33:12 AM)

As the others have indicated, Benadryl.  I had chronic insomnia for years.  20 years ago Benadryl and Melatonin (together) were suggested by my general practioner.  For over 20 years, I have taken them BOTH at night.  I never experienced grogginess in the morning from either of these (although most everyone else I know has).  Everytime I go to the doctor, I mention that I take both of these (every night) without fail and have done so for over 20 years.  No doctor has ever expressed any concern over this. 

An interesting thought to consider.  I am nearly 50, but I look very young (I have been told I look like I am in my 30's).  I am a light eater and although I am not thin, I am slender.  Baby's produce a lot of natural melatonin (which is why they sleep so much).  We all have natural melatonin production in our bodies, just greatly reduced from when we were babies.  Adding synthetic melatonin to your chemistry simulates the effect that you experienced as babies and will help you to sleep (as well as reset your biological clock.  Normally, natural melatonin is secreted when the sun goes down....a conditioned response acquired over years of messages of "time to go to sleep").  I sometimes wonder if all the years of melatonin have not also had something to do with my very youthful appearance.  Medical experts would probably scoff at that (as well as some folks here), but I don't know too many people who have taken melatonin as religiously as I have and I cannot explain why I have not aged at the rate my siblings have.  Just a thought. 



dollparts85 -> RE: help with sleeping (3/3/2008 2:43:26 AM)

If you go to your doctor they should be able to give you a script for Vistaril, it is an antihistamine similar to Benadryl but slightly stronger and has an anti anxiety side effect. Helps ya sleep.



sub4hire -> RE: help with sleeping (3/4/2008 10:17:16 AM)

Depending on your age melatonin capsules may work wonderfully.

Clear your mind before sleep.  You may be thinking too much, stress.
Those are the first things I'd look into.




WalterRego -> RE: help with sleeping (3/4/2008 12:02:26 PM)

Sleepytime teas do nothing for me. Yogi Tea has a Night time blend which I like better and find marginally more effective. But in the healthfood store I have found Valerian and Skullcap teas. I brew those along with something to drown out the foul smell of Valerian and it seems to help. You can also "spike" some of the other "sleepy time-type teas with valerian and skull cap.

These help (along with the practices set forth above) but if I really absolutely must get to sleep,  nothing works like Sonata. Unlike Ambien and others which make me feel hungover and depressed the next day, Sonata seems to have no side effects and thus can be taken much later in the evening. The only possible drawback for some, but which I find useful, is that it doesn't last too long. It gets me to sleep easily and comfortably but I can still wake up early in the morning easily  to go out running.



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