# Natural insomnia fixes?



## luvs (Apr 23, 2006)

i have such insomnia. it takes ambien & klonopin together only to get me drowsy. _that_ usually doesn't put me to sleep. i'm sick of  meds & want a natural sleep med. advice? booze works great yet i'm sick of drinking it.


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## SizzlininIN (Apr 23, 2006)

Hey Luvs! Actually booze isn't a very good remedy as it disturbs your REM sleep mode and you don't get a good nights sleep. You may want to google and read what it actually does.

I hope things are going ok for you.  I was concerned when you posted that you were going back to the hospital.  I hope things are ok?


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## cara (Apr 23, 2006)

we had  this some time ago...

I had something to say (as usual  ), but I know I forgot something..:



> don`t let anything disturbing get into the sleeping room.. no light, take care the curtains are tightly closed... and avoid any noise..
> do you have electric things in the bedroom? Throw them out, radiation is a sleep killer... when you have an electric alarm clock, make sure its more than 1m away from your head.
> 
> scientific studies found out, that the way the bed is located also has influence.
> ...


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## Haggis (Apr 23, 2006)

Regular physical exercise focusing on cardio.

Milk, peanuts (and a few other things) will make the body up it's production of seratonin helping you go to sleep.

A dinner that has a high GI (glycemic index) rating is also meant to help you get off to sleep. as well.


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## licia (Apr 23, 2006)

My problem isn't going to sleep - it is staying asleep.  Sometimes I can go right back to sleep, but more often I am wide awake and nothing helps. I've been awake since 4:05 this morning and will get so sleepy in church that I think I can't stand it, but nothing seems to take care of that problem.  I exercise 6 days a week and while that does seem to have helped some, it hasn't elminated the problem entirely.  I settle for 2 or 3 nights sleeping all night and enjoy those immensely. The others, I get through.


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## In the Kitchen (Apr 23, 2006)

*sleep*

I have heard that maletonion, stuff supposedly found in turkey, makes one sleep.  Also, warm milk.  What really works for me is taking calcium supplement before I want to go to sleep.  Bendryl was another one. Counting sheep never works.  If you can't relax and sleep you resort to trying anything.  Not listening to radio I am sure doesn't help.  Especially if you have station on that is talking about supernatural.  Why don't they have them on during the day? Did this last night and kept hearing things in other room. Dumb. 

Hope you are able to try some of these suggestions as my heart goes out to someone who has to struggle to rest.


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## amber (Apr 23, 2006)

Try reading and drinking an herbal tea.


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## jpmcgrew (Apr 23, 2006)

Melatonin works great I take it every night.I think the best is Source Naturals,peppermint flavored sublinguals.I have a bottle of 2.5 mgs you just put it under your tongue about 20 minutes before going to sleep.I now only take 1/2 to 1/4 of it now and it still puts me right to sleep.
It wont work if you got alot on your mind,so think about your dream vacation or something like that.
We naturally make melatonin I think in our pituitary gland.But as we get older our body makes less and less.
Alot of people use it to fight jet lag, it supposedly has alot of anti oxidents. Some people say it's a good anti aging supplement.Ive been taking it for about 12 years.The only down side might be vivid dreams and you could be a little groggy in the morning so you need to be able to get at least 8 hours of sleep.But Im telling you it puts me to sleep and lets me sleep thru the night.


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## jpmcgrew (Apr 23, 2006)

In the kitchen what you are talking about in warm milk and turkey is call tryptophan. I think,I hope I spelled that right.


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## mish (Apr 23, 2006)

luvs_food said:
			
		

> i have such insomnia. it takes ambien & klonopin together only to get me drowsy. _that_ usually doesn't put me to sleep. i'm sick of meds & want a natural sleep med. advice? booze works great yet i'm sick of drinking it.


 
Talk to your doctor. Tell him/her you are combining prescription meds - and if need be - go to an AA and/or NA meeting if you are truely sick of drinking.

Clonazipam is a controlled substance -- benzo - and the scrip is written in triplicate - one going to the DA as of 1/06. Combining it with Ambian, I would imagine, could have lethal results - particularly if you add alcohol - may lead to coma. Hope you're not drinking with the meds. The script says no alcohol, also read the contraindications that came with the meds.

I can't say enough about the horror of these addictive so called meds. IMO, there needs to be a darned good reason as to why one is taking them - and followed up very carefully. If anyone is hooked on this crap - sugggestion - get into a detox hospital.

Re an insomnia 'fix' - get up & go to sleep at the same time every day, take an exercise class, no caffeine or booze, keep your days full and active.


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## luvs (Apr 24, 2006)

mish said:
			
		

> Talk to your doctor. Tell him/her you are combining prescription meds - and if need be - go to an AA and/or NA meeting if you are truely sick of drinking.
> 
> Clonazipam is a controlled substance -- benzo - and the scrip is written in triplicate - one going to the DA as of 1/06. Combining it with Ambian, I would imagine, could have lethal results - particularly if you add alcohol - may lead to coma. Hope you're not drinking with the meds. The script says no alcohol, also read the contraindications that came with the meds.
> 
> ...


 
i'm a grown-up & i'm quite aware of controlled substances. my doctor is who is having me combine my meds. thing is, i'm quite aware of proper intake of controlled substances. i'm 25. also, my doc is very aware of my drinking & prescribes around that. i avoid meds unless i really need sleep.i'm not hooked by any means- oh, my. i avoid those pills. uck. that was my point. i want a natural sleep method. thanks for your advice.


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## auntdot (Apr 24, 2006)

Wish I could help Luvs.

Rarely sleep all night.

I wake up after a couple of hours of sleep and am awake.

Truly awake.

So I get up and get on the computer, or read.

Like I am doing now, except I thankfully don't have to go to work in the AM.

And then catch another two hours or so.

Sometimes am tired the next day, but most of the time am OK.

Just learned to deal with what my body tells me to do.

I suppose this is not great advice, but I guess I am just mean to say that at least I don't worry about my sleep habits anymore.

I just accept them.

Lousy advice I suppose, but that is all I have to offer.


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## auntdot (Apr 24, 2006)

Hi Luvs,

My sleep habits, as dictated by my body, not my wishes, are terrible.

I will sleep for one to two hours, and them I am awake.  No way am I about to go back to snoozing.

Finally have gotten to the point that I just get up and read or play on the computer.  If you look at the time of this post you will realize this is one of those lapses.

Sometimes I am tired the next day, other times not at all.

I guess the point I am trying to make is that once I learned not to worry about the whole thing, I am much happier.

Lousy advice, I suppose, but it is all I have to offer.

Take care.


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## luvs (Apr 24, 2006)

auntdot said:
			
		

> Wish I could help Luvs.
> 
> Rarely sleep all night.
> 
> ...


 
auntdot, that advice was actually very great. thank you.
luv, luvs


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## luvs (Apr 24, 2006)

to mention, mish, i'm too thin to exercise. my dietician may get very upset if i did that.


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## auntdot (Apr 24, 2006)

Thanks luvs,

Am erect again.  Sorry about the double post but I was having problems getting anything to work here.

Computers are definitely not user friendly here.

Found that worrying about sleeping was not helping at all, so now I try not to.

Good luck and God bless.


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## Barb33 (May 9, 2006)

keeping active throughout the day is the best remedy to sleep at night!


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## Angie (May 9, 2006)

I have major sleep problems as well, Melatonin does nothing for me.  I was on Trazadone for a while to help but got off it.

In January I finally gave in to my Xanax (a benzo) addiction.  I was on the highest dose (2 mg) and I would take a months worth (90 pills) in 3-7 days.  

Ummm, yeah, bad, eh?  I'm totally off it now but I had to hit the bottom to make that happen.

Now, for my anxiety AND sleep problems I rely on Benedryl.  The problem is, I have to take 6 of them for sleep.  I take 2 for an anxiety attack.  I have an appointmen to see a new shrink in about 3 weeks, now that I have insurance again.

I can't shut my thinking off.  That is my main problem.

I have been told that Yoga does WONDERS for sleep and anxiety.  It's worth a shot!

Also, no eating 6 hrs before bed (yeah right), no drinking before bed if you are one to get up to potty in the middle of the night.  Personally, I need "white noise" to sleep and use a fan everynight, so the electronic bye-bye doesn't work for me.

Good luck.  I feel your pain.  I wish you the best in finding something that works!


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## Diane1415 (May 10, 2006)

If I am awakened at night adn talk or am talked to I cannot get back to sleep for hours. I have instructed everyone in the house to not talk to me until I get up in the morning. It seems if I don't make my brain work than I can drop off to sleep easily.
besides Valarian Catnip tea also is a good sleep inducer. Never tried it after a midnight wakeup though.


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## Trip (May 10, 2006)

I have probs off and on, my doctor said when I do to take gravol, the anti-nauseant (but don't know if avail in US). It works wonderfully for me.


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## Claire (May 13, 2006)

I am also one who has no problem falling asleep if I go to bed early, but cannot stay asleep, and spend hours and hours awake in the wee hours of the morning, only to fall asleep when I'd like to be up and about, getting things done.  Now that I am no longer gainfully employed, this isn't that big of a deal.  If I stay awake until 11 or later, I won't fall asleep, sometimes at all, all night.  If I go to bed with a book at 9, I'll fall asleep within an hour and at least get 4 or 5 hours of sleep before I awake in the wee hours.  Booze is a convenient short term fix, and I resort to it more often than I should (mostly on weekends).  To be honest with you, I've found that not worrying about getting enough sleep is the very best solution.  Easy for me to say, without a job or kids to deal with in the morning.  But even when I was in the workforce, I found that it was much better to spend those waking hours doing something relaxing, preferably something I could fall asleep at (reading or writing -- not on a computer, mind you, a book or notebook so you can fall asleep doing it).  

Interestingly enough, quite often that hour or so of sleep I get at sunrise (for some reason my system shuts down right about then) is loaded with dreams.  So much for booze being bad for REM, because those dreams are there whether I use booze, tea, or soup as a sleep aid (I find some starchy soup is really a sopophoric).  I often will awake, finding I've slept maybe 45 minutes, but have had hours and hours ... or even days ... of dreams.


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## Claire (May 13, 2006)

Oh, to address the drug issue, I was in the hospital once in my 20s.  My surgeon insisted I needed to sleep, period, and prescribed some sleep aid (I have no idea what drug it was).  I used it for two weeks, faithfully as prescribed, then found when the Rx ran out that I couldn't sleep at all.  I had to go to work, ten hour days 5/wk, plus half days otherwise to pay the medical bills.  AND I COULD NOT SLEEP because of withdrawal from the drug.  I'm not going in that direction again if I can help it.  Insomnia isn't that terrible, I can live with it.  I can't live with chemically-induced sleeping and waking hours AND the bills that come with it.


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## apple (Jun 11, 2006)

i just started taking melatonin. and it seems to be helping which makes me greatful 

lemon balm tea helps as well. it    helps with nerves. only just have a small cup before bed as youdont want to beup weeing all night


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## licia (Jun 12, 2006)

I slept til 5:15 this morning - quite a difference from the last few days when I awoke about 2:30 and couldn't go back to sleep for a couple of hours. I was quite busy yesterday and that may have made a difference. After church, my dd came over and we swam and played in the pool. then my sil came over when he finished his golf game. We made dinner and my gd and gs came over. I had got an ice cream cake to celebrate gs's stitches being taken out of his finger. He was so sweet. He said "mema, thank you for getting me an ice cream cake. I know you did it because I was good when the stitches came out." They swam for quite a while after dinner until almost 7:30 when we had a bit of rain. By the time I got tidied up, a load of laundry going, packed for my water class today, read the paper, it was 10:30. I was quite worn. If I hadn't had to go to the bathroom, I'd probably have kept sleeping.


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## TATTRAT (Jun 12, 2006)

There is a natural chemical in celery that is a natural seditive. Sounds silly, but I have tried it and it worked. I'm not quite sure what the chemical is, but I'm sure there is more info on it on holistic sites and such. 

the drugs to induce sleep seem to have more neggs then positives and can lead to what is basically an additction, and as forementioned, long lasting side effects/withdrawl, can be worse then when the insomnia started...
I am sympathetic to the issue, I seem to sleep like4 hours a day, AT the MOST...and it begins to take its toll after a while.

sometimes, a good stiff drink will help, but you don't wanna get in that habbit either.


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