I have been having trouble staying asleep for the past 2 years. I have no trouble falling asleep but staying asleep is impossible. I am up every 3 hours on the dot.
I had tried taking a sleeping pill once and it completely knocked me down for the count.
I have a 3 1/2 year old son and I am not comfortable taking sleeping pills because of the effects such as not devoting enough time(8 hours, I think) to sleep.
Does anyone know or tried taking anything Alternative that has helped them?
Thanks, Katie
Posted by Nutmeg (Member # 7250) on :
Hi snowsparkles,
You might look into homeopathics, herbals sleep preparations, or something like Natural Calm, a warm relaxing magnesium drink you take before bed.
I've used the homeopathic tablets called Calms Forte with some success. It's widely available in health food and supplement stores, natural grocery stores, or the natural food department of a regular grocery store.
There are a number of herbal blends in tablet/capsule form that contain things like hops, passion flower, valerian, and other soothing herbs. Some formulas add in melatonin, but since that's a hormone, you might want to avoid that unless nothing else works.
Also look into what your body is doing when you wake up. If your blood sugar is dropping too low because you went to bed sorta hungry or ate a carb snack at bedtime, that is easily remedied with a spoonful of yogurt or cottage cheese or a handful of raw almonds or walnuts before bed or a couple of hours after dinner.
If your bladder is full, well, that's something you can fix ) Or if you're in pain, you might make sure your bed and pillow are comfortable and give you proper support.
Check into one of the Chinese organ charts online and see what organs are active at the times you wake up. Our bodies do a lot of repair and detoxing while we sleep, so one of your cycles may not be working properly, waking you up.
Hope this helps. Take care. Nutmeg
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
I use melatonin when this happens to me.
If you still wake up after 3 hours of sleep, take another one then.
Posted by snownsparkles (Member # 25925) on :
Thank you both so much for the replies...I will def. try them!
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
Topic: NATURAL SLEEP - Links to articles & supplements
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Posted by MorningSong (Member # 19989) on :
There is a very good book written by a doctor who runs a sleep clinic that has helped people to sleep naturally. It has helped me.
Title: Say Goodnight to Insomnia: The 6 Week Solution. A Drug Free Program Developed at Harvard Medical School
Author: Dr. Gregg Jacobs
Posted by sammy (Member # 13952) on :
"New Chapter Tranquilnite Plus" works well. It is a good combination of popular sleep herbs. I also like that you can take 1-3 capsules per night, based on your response and what you need.
My local health food store doesn't carry this supplement so I had to buy it online. I bought it from iherb.com but I'm sure you could find it on vitacost and other sites.
Posted by nefferdun (Member # 20157) on :
CORYDALIS ROOT It is also a pain killer equivalent to 40% of the effects of morphine but it has no side effects and is not addictive. You can take it or not take it - no feelings of dependency. It is the best herb I have ever used for insomnia and I have had insomnia all of my life. Nothing compares.
Posted by GiGi (Member # 259) on :
Sleep -----
Household chemicals/mold/mites/dust/poor indoor air (open windows during day for 15-30 min. no matter how cold it is outside)
Intestinal Parasites (tip: bruxism)
Viral infection of brain (HHV-6, EBVm XMRV)
Unconscious connectedness to suffering people elsewhere
6 capsules of Ecklonia Cava extract at bedtime (reestablishes delta sleep and brain detox)
Take calcium magnesium supplements and Core (Biopure) at dinnertime
No food after sunset. No alcohol at night
Re-establish normal circadian sleep cycle: go to bed early, wake up early.
Daytime: minimize time on computer. Use color therapy (Photon Wave), transcranial TENS or Microcurrent (CES-cranial electric stimulation)
Restless legs: low Dopamin (Lyme is common. Use Cuprum 4X at bedtime
Move bed to other location
Change furniture around (feng shui effect)
These are all from Dr. K.'s collection.
Telling you a secret: the man never slept well until he started Allergie Immun - starting the first week and now into a few months of it, he "sleeps better than ever anytime before".
Take care.
P.S. and detox, detox, detox - amd then you will sleep again. I put my head on the pillow now and am out instantly for seven hours straight ... This also was intensified when I started AI.
Posted by Faith6 (Member # 14072) on :
Tran-Q?
Posted by Dekrator48 (Member # 18239) on :
L-tryptophan
L-Theanine
GABA
Sublingual melatonin
Posted by ILymbo2 (Member # 13266) on :
I do a lot of reading but very little writing here. I work "all the time" so most of my days
I stay in bed. It is just not in our budget for me to see a LLMD but maybe someday.
I would like to try this florastor but I couldn't find it on iherb or vitacost. I also
would like to try corydalis root. I found (on vitacost)Honso USA corydalis and Angelica. Is
this the same thing? I was in Walmart yesterday and found resveratrol; it was with the diet aide
things. Is the the one that is being discussed here? Pardon me if there is a post somewhere
regarding this. I am at work right now! Txs
Posted by MariaA (Member # 9128) on :
Hi- You should probably skip the WalMart resveratrol - unless it is made only from Japanese Knotweed. My guess is that it's going to be more expensive than necessary and a mixture of knotweed and grape resveratrols, which isn't as useful.
The confusing issue is that we commonly call it 'resveratrol' (that's one of the components in Knotweed AND in other herbs and fruits) but what we Lyme patients actually need is the Japanese Knotweed herb, which contains more components than just resveratrol.
For other sources of bulk herbs (for tea), http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/ is also a very good place if you need several things at once to justify the shipping. It's often cheaper to get bulk herbs as tea or powder than to buy the same thing in pills or capsules. Some of the Lyme herbs taste fairly bad and if you have nausea as a symptom it might be difficult to take.
But for those on a limited budget it's good to know about these options.
![[Embarrassed]](redface.gif)
) Or if you're in pain, you might make sure your bed and pillow are comfortable and give you proper support.