Does anyone have any remedies for insomnia?

[sunnyday]

Do any of you have any suggestions to help with sleep problems? I go to sleep but wake up every hour or two all night, every night. Needless to say, I am worn out all the time. Once in a while, I can't get to sleep fjor a long time. I need some rest! The sleep I do get is not deep or satisfying, either. Right now, I am so tired . Any suggestions will be most welcome..... Thanks....

[Miss Mary]

I have two that might work. Don't eat anything after dinner and exercise for at least 30 minutes each day. I prefer walking on the treadmill (but running/jogging/bike riding are all good choices. The best, my doc says, is swimming laps). I found these two examples helped me! I think I may have a mild form of sleep apnea. I would wake up several times a night for years. Then I tried the 2 suggestions above and slept all night long! Funny how you stumble upon something like this, accidentally!

I'd try things like that before you try meds. I've also heard you should make your bedroom as peaceful as possible, dimmed lights, don't work in there (no laptop!), no bright lights. Turn in the same time each night, get up the same time each day. Even on weekends. Now that's hard to do but I've heard that's best.

Good luck!

Mary

[sunnyday]

Mary,
I'm good about the eating and bad about the exercise. Thanks for the tips......

[mf_dolphin]

You might want to talk to a Doctor about your problems. There can be medical reasons for your sleep problems. A sleep study might just be able to pinpoint the reasons for your difficulty.

[sunnyday]

Dolphin,
What kind of health problems do you think of? I talked to my doctor, and he gave me medicine that makes me too groggy the next day. I'm interested in possible medical causes, tho.....

[mf_dolphin]

My wife went through a sleep study because of similar situation. The medical causes can range from bladder to breathing problems to anxiety. Ask your Doctor about sleep specialists in your area.

[sunnyday]

Thanks so much, Mashall. I am the Queen of Stress and Anxiety, esp. right now.

[hunter84]

I always heard a shot of tequilla will help. Don't recomend for kids though. But i'd probably check with your doctor like Marshall had said.

[stormchazer]

Warm milk or a hot bath.

[john186292]

Warm, not hot..hot overheats body.. bath soak, twenty min or longer.
Concentrated powdered milk.
Buddha's breath counting meditation.
Mechanical massager on back , chest, etc.
pedro chan's FINGER ACUPRESSURE PAPERBACK book, has about 4 points.

money in the bank, to end financial worry.

cooler bedroom.
dark curtains.
white noise generator.
asprin or similar, before bed.

avoid exercise jusrt before bed. but some during day, hjelps.
aerobics recommended.

paddle on tongue with weak current was in news yrs ago, might be still in research... something like ameerican sleep council did not ans my email asking for many info points incl this one.

One japanese oldster slept three days and was awake three, as std cycle. supposedly... maybe journalists got it wrong. They still shock me with the errors on same story reported thru one day, diff stations.
LOL

bed comfort is part of good sleep, not all.
John in new orleans
ps tell me what works for you.

[Lindaloo]

Tylenol PM always works for me. Knocks me right out. lol.

[john186292]

Stress and anxiety?
can you tell us causes? I know it might be too personal.

if med bill worry,
canada has free med system.
They live longer too.

consider rural living... urban stress is awful. cops too busy to handle "minor " crimes. Pick rural area with cabs tho.

bill collectors?
turn off ringer, get 7.50$ /month caller id service that shows name of caller.
resign ;yourself to calling back friends after seeing names on gadget, hours late.

door sales? put up no soliciting sign. these will become common now that no call list blocks sales calls.
ASSERTIVENESS books help for daily hassles

angry? get a punching bag, like japanese factories have.
get a shortwave radio for news and music variety. variety is relaxing, travel is relaxing, even if only armchair. ten dollar shortwave by bell+howell from carolwright.com and publisherschoice latter has ads in weekend paper mag insert. shortwave can tell you where to move for less stress ... maybe canada.

[sunnyday]

Linda,
Do you have a bottle of Tylenol PM handy? I'd like to know what is in it besides Tylenol because I take some prescription meds, too, and have to be careful about mixing things.
John,
I have many big causes of stress. I wish I could talk about them. Seems like no good way to get rid of these things....
Thanks, you all.....

[Derek Ortt]

What I've done to fight 6 years of insomnia and a nasty sleeping pill addiction that has lasted just as long is to buy a bike, attack on nearly every uphill stretch, and make tempo on the flats (exposes yourself to the wind and uses energy). That really tires me out, especially as I am doing this in very high heat and humidity and has helped me in my fight against the pills

[john186292]

HERBALS . .. watch out for valerian... could not get up after that! ouch!
ditto rx muscle relaxers.. try tiny amount at first.

YOGA can be wonderful! espec. if you also do the meditation part, not only streches. Sub to yoga journal. Visit buddhist temple for the vibrations of peace.. or a good christian church, too.

//One new school of psychology sees money problems as the deepest root of most mental ills.
Seems true to me. Got money, sleep fine. Econopsychology? eicopsychology? forget the name... let me know if you learn the name.

hand self-massage also helps . avoid abdomen and legs if problem with clots.

////"biophysical therapy" says do the beatle Lennon thing ... like primal scream, to release stress. only with no sound, as not to alarm neighbors LOL.

It also recomds punching bag. if no bag, punch the air . Works for gals too. LOL. biophysical therapy was hot decades ago, now not in vogue... prob hard to find the book. The word has other uses, so much garbage on google search, i will bet. New york city was the home of the inventor.

///For quiet in the city, join soundscape.org or .com. At yahoo groups. Kaufmann runs the site.

////also try banboomcars.com or .org. also try noisefreeamerica.org or .com. much work to be done to protect sleep from noise ! to say the least! boomcars, bar noise, trains, jets, propane cannons on farms, amphitheaters, on and on. Sleep gets little notice these days of no money for cops. Vote for more money for cops , long term solution to sleep destroyers.

[Lindaloo]

sunnyday... Tylenol PM ingredients

Acetaminophen 500mg =Pain reliever
Diphenhydramine HCI 125 mg= Sleep Aid

If you are taking sedatives ot tranquilizers do not use this with them. Ask a doc first.

[john186292]

TEQUILIA.. I urge not. alcohism is a hazard, and destroys people. ugly thing. dr dean edell says alcohol is more addictive than heroin, and has studies to back that up.

TALKING IT OUT.. to find safe place to talk about stress, maybe some sites exist for support groups for each psy stress that u may have. try google search. google.com is best searcher. use fake name. give no location. aviod flamers by stopping reading when it first gets abusive.

I think there are selfhelp in the flesh groups , listed in the back of many "alternative" weekly newspapers, the kind that carry yoga ads. twelve step is a common name for such, i think. They are free, made up of other sufferers, and usw have no professional leader. thus are free.

A shame so many in medicine are just greedheads, and mighty few take on free patients. They are exceedingly rare. A real indictment of our current generation of biology majors. Just in it for the money.

[john186292]

PLAIN tylenol works for me, the first night, then less in following nights. less effective, that is.

ibuprophen just shown to nix the heart helping effect of asprin, when together.

CHEERY site. news on extending human lifespan, from serious university research, not snake oil sort as on radio.. go to grg.org

John new orleans

[GalvestonDuck]

Warm bath definitely helps if you have AC on or the house is cool. I read somewhere a few months ago that a cooling body relaxes better and sleeps better. So if you warm your body by taking a warm bath, then head right to bed in a cool room, your body will relax and you'll fall asleep easier.

[Pburgh]

sunnyday, I definitely would not recommend sleeping pills of any kind. Even the diphenhydramine (which is benedryl) is not good. Sorry Linda These might work for an occasional sleeping problem, but yours sounds like it's chronic. If it has persisted more than 10 days go to a doctor who will do more than just give you pills. Anxiety and depression could be your prime culprits and neither of them should be taken lightly. My strategy for anxiety is - "If it is out of my control, it is out of my mind." I do not worry about, get excited over or stress about problems that I cannot change. JMO Take all of the coulds, would have and should haves out of your language. That's past history and you can't change it.

((Hugs)) Hope this helps a little. Any books on cognitive therapy are great.

Take care and hope you get some rest
Karan