Insomnia....Help.

[OhioChick]

Does anyone have any non-medicinal ideas for dealing with insomnia? With all of the stress of life lately, as well as other issues, I just can't sleep much. Getting about 4 hrs/night for months and months just isn't cutting it. I feel like a walking zombie.

I've tried relaxation CD's to no avail, usually just watch the television until I fall asleep. If I don't have the television on....my mind wanders to all the stressors in life and sleep never comes. :(

Any ideas?

[murielm99]

1. You might try another forum.

The astrology spirituality and alternative healing group has some good ideas for things like stress and insomnia. If you are a skeptic, try to put your skepticism aside for a little while.

I know how awful insomnia can be. Good luck.

[OhioChick]

2. Thanks, I'll give that a shot.

:)

[Warpy]

3. You're good to think of non drug means first

but insomnia that long standing isn't good for you.

Once you've exhausted the warm bath, soothing music, and simple meditation, all of which can center you and push the stress away, and you're still having trouble, consider a couple of medicines.

First is melatonin, a naturally occurring substance in your own body. Most drug stores and health food stores sell it, usually in 3 mg. tablets. Since the normal levels are in micrograms rather than milligrams, I tend to break those tablets into at least 4 pieces, taking only a quarter at a time. Melatonin is especially helpful for shift workers and people with jet lag.

Benadryl (diphenhydramine) is an antihistamine that is in several OTC sleep medications. Often 25 mg. every third night or so will get you into a more normal sleeping pattern. Do NOT drink alcohol on the nights you take this. In fact, drinking alcohol on any nights will completely wreck your sleep.

I only suggest Benadryl because it's been used for decades and never been found to cause problems with addiction, although some people who are more afraid of the occasional sleepless night than they are of dependency have become dependent on it. The worst side effect for most people is a little carryover drowsiness early the next morning and no withdrawal has ever been noted for people who use it as a sleep aid.

Good luck. Nothing is more distressing than chronic sleeplessness. As somebody who worked nights for 20 years, I know all about it.

[OhioChick]

8. Thank you for responding.....

I feel so bad for not catching this sooner, likely because I re-posted it in the forum mentioned above. :blush:

I think that I'm going to try Melatonin, as you suggested. I appreciate you explaining the amount you take. I've wanted to try that for some time now, but when I look up dosages online, they really go from one extreme to another.

I can't really do the Benadryl. Unfortunately, I can't take anything similar for colds/flu. Since my BP is extremely low, it really makes me overly lethargic and dizzy.

Thanks again for you response and my apologies for not getting back sooner.

Take good care~ :)

[hyphenate]

4. A couple of possible alternatives for you

Chamomille tea just before bedtime.
if that doesn't work, try warm milk. no hot cocoa--it has caffeine in it.

if you DO drink coffee, tea or many sodas, stop right now--most of them contain caffeine, and that might be your problem right there. if you must have something to keep you awake, one cup of a caffeinated drink before noon is okay, though a completely de-caffeinated lifestyle does work well.

if you can, get some sliced turkey and have a small sandwich close to bedtime. the l-tryptophan will send you to sleep.

turn on the TV, go to a really boring channel, like the golf channel, or infomercials, and watch until you fall asleep.

a couple of supplements you might consider: L-trytophan (if you can't eat turkey every night!), melatonin (mentioned above), the diphenhydramine/Benadryl works well for me to get me to sleep--if you go into buy it, go to the area where allergy medications are, and find the store brand of benadryl. it's a lot cheaper than the brand name, and it's just as effective.

a really hard one for me is to skip all the naps during the day. it does help you sleep if you aren't napping. one small, one hour nap is the most you should take for a nap if you can't function without one.

if you live in a cold region, get an electric blanket. even as the spring goes on, the nights can still be chilly, and the electric blanket will induce drowsiness.

and then there is the thing my doctors have told me: don't stress about not sleeping. if you have a flexible schedule, and don't need to be someplace by a certain time (like working or school) let your body dictate to you when it wants to sleep. my overall schedule now is to go to sleep around 3 in the morning, until about 10 a.m., though it varies. people freak out about it, but the truth is, why should I be worried about it? if you lose the stress over being an insomniac, you will soon find yourself getting more regular hours.

I've suffered for many years with insomnia, and while I sometimes would like to function during "regular" hours, once I found out that the stress of worrying about it was making it worse, i allowed my body to make its own hours,

good luck. :)

[ginnyinWI]

5. exercise.

As long as I've had my workout during the day, I sleep well at night.

[OhioChick]

10. I have to start making time for exercise...

A few years back I exercised nightly and slept quite well. :)

[OhioChick]

9. Thanks for your ideas...

Unfortunately, I do work so I do have a schedule to keep. I can try to catch a quick nap during the day as I work from home, but I can't even seem to get a decent nap in then. :(

I cut out caffeine and sugary drinks long ago and that didn't seem to help. I haven't tried Chamomile tea yet. I need to pick some up at the grocery store as well as going to a health good store for Melatonin.

I can't drink warm milk....lactose intolerant, however I can try turkey. I hadn't thought of that! That's actually a good idea, as I'm near-lifeless following a Thanksgiving dinner. :)

I find it to be odd that you find comfort in keeping warm....an electric blanket. I'm the opposite. I fall asleep somewhat quicker when it's cooler in the house. I've read that keeping the thermostat turned down a bit at night helps. Not stressing about not sleeping had me laughing, as I do that. Look at the clock while thinking....if I fall asleep now, I'll get 3 good hours......

Thanks again~

[yy4me]

6. I can relate to your problem. It has been going on for years.

My doctor gave me all kinds of advice about sleeping, most of which we all know.

In addition to the fact that I cannot fall asleep, I have restless leg syndrome. Sometimes it is so bad, I have to get up and walk around. That passes and I go back to bed and try again.
I bought a sound machine and have it set to "rain". That seems to help a little and seems to ease the rushing of thoughts as I lay there waiting to drift off.

About the only thing that seems to work is the medicine I take for the restless leg. That is not every night, only when it is really active. It seems to make me sleepy. In combination with reading, rain sounds and the eventual kick-in of the pill. I doze off. Often up at the crack on dawn but rather that than no sleep.

The over-the-counter stuff did not work for me.

I wish you luck.

[OhioChick]

11. Thanks for your thoughts....

I feel for you with the RLS. A friend has it and says it's miserable.

The sound machine sounds relaxing. I'll have to look for one of those (can't explain it well) but it has actual water running down over rocks. I think that I just need to feel some peace before bed.

I wish you well with the RLS. :hug:

[sandnsea]

7. A cozy bed

and treating myself like it's "doctor's orders" that I sleep. I usually wake up after 6 hours, which is certainly better than your 4, but it still has the same affect. I was going to the doctor for a headache, turns out it was a chronic tension headache from not getting enough sleep. As soon as I started forcing myself to stay in bed and try to go back to sleep, I eventually did start going back to sleep and got better. The more you get in the habit of sleeping longer hours, the easier it gets.

When my mind wanders to my troubles, I try to focus on a favorite place. It helps that I don't have kids at home anymore, so none of my worries are as overwhelming as they used to be. I also did some "work" regarding my obsessive worrying, and let go of some of the reasons around my worrying. Sometimes I write down everything I'm worrying about, which usually ends up a list of things I can't do anything about and wow look at all that's on my plate, no wonder I'm stressed. Somehow that helps.

Hope things get better for you soon!

[OhioChick]

12. Thanks for taking the time to write...

I have the same problem with tension headaches, which really seem to flare up after poor sleep. I also have Fibro. which I know also plays a hand in my sleeping problems.

I've tried the "happy place" scenario before and it does seem to help some of the time. (Warm beach, white sand, hammock, etc. lol) I've had no luck with writing worries down, as I've tried that in the past. For me, it only brings all of my worries to the front of my brain. I wish we could just shut our brains off when it's time for bed.

Take care. :hug:

[The empressof all]

13. Have you had a sleep study?

You may have apnea or another kind of sleep disturbance that can be treated very effectively often times without medication. Ask your doctor to refer you for a sleep study. It may involve an overnight stay at a sleep center but my daughter had one last year that was done at home. It just involves being hooked up to monitoring equipment. Treatment of my sleep disorder saved my life. I had all kinds of issues that were resolved once I began to get good sleep....

[OhioChick]

14. Thanks for your response

And I apologize for my delay in getting back to you. A sleep study was suggested in the past, but unfortunately at the moment I have a skeletal health insurance policy which won't cover it. Actually, it doesn't cover much of anything.:(

[alfredo]

15. Take a tablespoon of honey before bed. It stimulates the Seretonin.

[OhioChick]

16. Interesting....

I would've thought with honey being so sweet....the sugar would keep you up.