I dont quite know if this is the right place to post this, but oh well. I was looking insomnia up on the internet the other day cuz i thought i had it, but then found that im more likely to have something called DSPS (Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome). Its basically where your circadian clock still works but it runs late (in my case VERY late). If you want more information, just go here: http://www.geocities.com/delayed_sleep/ i know none of you have cures for this, but my question is, do any of you have natural remedies or secrets that help you fall asleep easier at nite? I really hate doctors and want that to be the absolute last resort, so your help would be muchly appreciated. Im just sick of not falling asleep til 7-8am every night
I'm a homoeopath and sleep disorders are more common than most people think in this crazy world. The "circadian rhythm" thing is true only when you cross time-zones (jet lag), and should not be applied to static locations, because your circadian clock works by association of sunrise-sunset measured against your awake/sleep periods. Often, stress or anxiety is the cause of sleep disturbances, so training the mind to relax by meditation is very good, natural, and ultimately beneficial. I'm also in the business of mind-related training, and gaining control over your mind is the one most important things any of us can do. When it runs amok, we wear the consequences ~ sometimes big time! (check out any news hour!!) The herb Passion Flower taken as a tea will help calm the mind before bedtime, and it is important to rearrange your nightly schedule so as to avoid hyped-up TV programs, and train you mind to participate in tranquil passive activities such as learning a musical instrument, reading, or some artistic exploration at nights. Also, there may be an agitator in your diet ~ the food colouring "tartrazine" is a big-time baddie for hyping people up, as well as the usual suspects in caffeine, sugar, and just as common now, amphetamines. Hope this helps. If not, post or PM.
I always fall asleep praying. it also depends on what kind of bed and sheets you have. tell me about them, there are different solutions! XD
I found in my own case The following things GREATLYT help mme sleep -A blind fold -Ear Plugs -Darkened Windows (I need black blinds or cardboard over my windows) -Light exercise before bed -A sleep tape (I've conditioned myself to fall asleep by the second or third song. Same 4 songs everynight before I fall asleep.
my husband finds it hard to sleep when he has stress or is just not sleepy... I give him chamomile tea... he dozez of quickly... sometimes I use two tea bags to make it stronger. try it out... it also works great for aches and pains
i also drink chamomile tea. i do a couple relaxing yoga poses, like "legs on wall" and "seated forward fold". about an hour before bed i take a warm bath with lavendar oil. also, i have lavendar oil mised with water in a candle wax pot thing and so the house smells like lavendar. its really soothing and relaxing. when i cant sleep, i meditate. also, i found out the tv keeps me up b/c of the light so check to see if theres any light that could be keeping you up.
Oh My God, I HAVE that!!!!!!! no matter what i do, i cannot go to sleep untill the morning, hell, its 7:20 am right now, and i havent went to bed yet. It really sucks, i keep trying and trying to get on the normal sleep track, and i ALWAYS fall out of it. cus my body doesnt feel like its right to go to bed at midnight. ive tried ambien, im on kolonopin and ill take a couple, try alcohol, melatonin pills, nothing really helps that much
All I have to say is be weary of sleeping pills. Not only are many of them heavily addicting (physical dependency), most of them also have some strong, negative side effects. I was prescribed Ambien about 2 months ago and ended up taking it for only 3 weeks. I did not recieve a proper consultation on this medication before taking it, and let me tell you, I didn't get what I paid for. If you are already dead tired and you take the Ambien then lie down immediately, you'll be fine; asleep within 20 minutes. However, if you have any kind of stimulation (eg. computer, tv, phone, cleaning house,etc.) Ambien may as well be considered a narcotic. There seems to be some sort of threshold that if passed (awake), can be dangerous. Ambien is known to cause temporary amnesia; many users report not remembering anything they've done from the time the pill is taken, until they have woken up. This reaction can also continue if woken up during sleep, before the effects of the pill have ended. Personally, when I stayed awake on the drug, I experienced severe and unbelievably fast mood swings (maybe 10 seconds from laughing uncontrollably.. at nothing, to crying so hard I couldn't breathe) and auditory hallucinations. The bad part about it was that I was aware of how irrationally I was acting, but there was simply no way to stop it. Because I was aware of the effects, and also aware that I couldn't stop them, I also experienced a panic attack that left me with palpatations and chest pain for the following 48 hours after taking the dose. I could type more, but all I have to say in the end is really... in my opinion it is better to suffer from insomnia than to take any of these sleep medications. If you do opt to try one, get a consultation on it from your doctor AND the pharmacist. If your doctor gives you samples, go to the pharmacy and ask the pharmacist anyway. Then research online. It is important to know what you are taking and how it will effect you because as we all know, there is no miracle drug.
This might be a good thread to present my own weird sleep disorder (I've never found one in the books quite like it) I never have trouble falling asleep, and I can sleep uninterupted for long periods of time. But I never feel rested after sleep, I just feel like I've been up all night. I can always remeber my dreams, and I think this is the key - I have very energetic, tense dreams (have for years, no matter what's going on in my life) and I seem to start dreaming immediatly after falling asleep. When i was a kid I used to move my arms and legs a lot in my sleep, but my bf says I don't do anything like that, just some occasional talking. Does anyone know of anything that helps to suppress dreams, or could possibly provide me with a dreamless sleep? I know dreams are supposed to be healthy, but I can ALWAYS remember mine, and they are NEVER particularly inlightening - just tense and stressful. Hmmm.... if nobody here has any ideas maybe I'll post this in the "dreams" forum, come to think of it...
No, no... it is impossible to not have dreams, just simply impossible. What you are having problems with (and why you feel unrested) is that you are waking up during the REM cycle of sleep. It is during this cycle that your mind and body actually gets rest. If I ever sleep long enough to actually go into the REM cycle, I rarely awaken naturally during the cycle. You know you've woken during the cycle if you can remember your dreams. The nights you don't remember dreams, you've gotten better rest and slept through all cycles of sleep uninterrupted. That's as much as I know.
I have bad insomnia too. I never can sleep til like 4/5 am... I've seen too much bad late night tv lol. I have a doctor's appointment next Thursday about sleeping pills... I've already been prescribed serax(in hospital) but it does nothing to help me sleep. Ambien sounds like a scary drug, has anyone tried any other sleeping pills that work? I've tried Nytol(crappy otc med) and it did nothing. Thanks
Untrue. I HAVE done quite a bit of research on the subject, and just not found exactly what I'm looking for. In a "normal" sleeper, sleep cycles are "x" amount of time (usually around an hour and a half), and toward the beginning of the night you spend most of that cycle in rejuvinating, restful, dreamless sleep, and a short period at the end of the cycle in REM sleep, where your deep dreaming takes place. Actually, there is another dreaming part of the cycle - before the restful sleep, where you have little snippets of dreams that don't seem to mean anything or go anywhere (like that falling dream that everyone gets now and then while they're drifting off). Anyway, the longer you sleep, with each sleep cycle you get less restful sleep and more REM sleep (which excercises you brain, and hence isn't as restful). This is why most people do most of their deep dreaming toward morning, and can sometimes remember their dreams. Personally, I am an experienced lucid dreamer. I usually know when I'm dreaming, and I can ALWAYS remember my dreams. However, I have checked myself many times, keeping track of the clock. My problem is that I seem to be entering REM sleep very early in the cycle, having deep and detailed dreams before my body begins to be rejuvinated. Since it's hard to tell time in dreamland, I know that it's hard to know for sure - but I've had absolutely long and detailed dreams and found myself waking only about 20 minutes after I drifted off in the first place. As I said, I am an experienced lucid dreamer, so why can't I change my dreams? Well, lucidity comes in two steps - recognizing that you are in a dream, and being able to alter the dream. I can always tell, easily and immediatly, that I'm in a dream. But for some reason I haven't been able in a long time to change the dream myself. It's like I'm caught in another universe, and I know it's diferent, not right, and not real. But I can't do anything about it except tell myself to wake up. Arggh! It's seriously frustrating, when you make yourself sleep for 6 hours and wake up feeling like you just worked for a solid month.....
