need soothing thoughts for insomnia

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 2:49 am

Melatonin is a wonderful little helper. I have read though, that if you take more than 300(ish) mcg, your body doesn't respond well to it after a while. I take a 1mg tablet and chop it into thirds. I know that different places sell it in 200mcg tablets that work rather well. There is no drugged feeling afterwards either.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:37 pm

hi sleepless mom
another thing you could try is eating carbs for dinner. carbs relax me unlike proteins that give me energy. one food i like for dinner is cream of wheat with a little milk and honey.
i wish you uninterrupted sleep all night. take care

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 6:03 pm

i have had problems with insomnia from the time i was a kid i can rember not getting any sleep and having to go to school and try to stay focased. i have tryed every med out there and i am still awake or so hung over the next moring that i cant do anything. my sleep dr. even gave up on me. so i said the heck with it all. i now lission to differnt relaxtion cds and try to eat a banana before bed that does seam to help some times. and when i go with sleep for 2or3 days everyone knows that when i do go to sleep to leave me alone till i wake up agian.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 8:20 pm

Hi all:

I too havw troubel sleeping. I ll go to bed sleep for a few hours and then I am awake. I have a well beaten pth to the bathroom- it seems every time i go to bed i am up nd into the broom. I don't get anysleepthis way. There are days when I have no energy from lack ofsleeep. It interferes with my job.

Anyone with some suggestions please pass them onto sgt monette

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 2:41 am

Have you tried the Relaxation CD?

I have been listening to the relaxation cd in
bed with the lights turned off all week so far, and I have been falling fast asleep with the cd still playing!!!

Going thru my second set of batteries!!

Try it out Lucinda is SO soothing and the breathing combined with the muscle relaxation makes me SO relaxed that I don't even make it thru to the 'waterfall' at the end.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 3:31 am

Sgt Monette- is the need to go to the bathroom waking you up or are you waking up and then going to the bathroom b/c you're already awake? If it's the first scenario, maybe you should see a doctor or urologist. It may be something physical that is totally treatable...

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 9:10 am

some nights i just don't sleep at all. sometimes i think i may have fears of sleeping. sometimes its too much caffiene. sometimes i'm just wide awake and i don't know why. starting to exercise and do more so i'd be more tired at night. my dr. refuses to give me anything and i don't understand why.

New Days · Post by **New Days** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 9:14 am

i am changing docs and i will try relaxation cd. also more exercise and activity during day.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 1:58 pm

So many good exchanges here!

isabell: I like the idea of giving myself permission not to perform at 100% the next day, and just take it slower. The big thing for me is not to panic about yet another night of poor sleep. I am working on under-reacting to it...it's hard.

Kathy: I usually find that the next day isn't as bad as I fear it will be, although like you I have had some nights where it was SO bad I couldn't function and freaked out the next day. But USUALLY I can get through OK. You should definitely cut out ALL caffeine, though. That stuff stays in your system for hours and hours. It hasn't solved my problem, but it is an important first step.

gennie: I had chamomile tea at 4:30 am today, then fell asleep (yeah) then woke up an hour later and had to pee (bummer). But it was probably worth it for that extra hour of zzzz's.

DebDeb: the Relaxation CD is great. I often fall asleep to it, but it doesn't seem to help me fall back asleep once I wake up. I tried doing the techniques themselves without the CD in the middle of the night last night...maybe that will work better because it was very quiet.

I am basically trying to give myself permission to be tired, that is OK. No one sleeps all night, every night anyway.

I have tried medications in the past (Ambien, Sonata) but they can cause rebound anxiety the next day, so it is not worth it to me to risk that. Even though it is "natural", melatonin is not without risks so I think I will try to work through it myself right now. Thanks for your ideas.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 3:55 pm

hi sleepless mom
i to do not like to take any sleeping aids. they make me feel groggy the next day and this in return makes me anxious. just to let you know, i still wake-up through the night. i am finding though, when i keep track of negative thoughts and replace with positive ones clears my mind. does this make sense? i think the more i practice positive thinking the less i have to keep me awake. because i know its negative thats doing this. what do you guys think? i bought a yoga dvd called The Essential Yoga!
but any dvd with yoga,meditation would be helpful. i hope this helps. talking to you all has help me more then you know. thank you all