WomenCo.

I've been having alot of trouble sleeping recently. I've had this problem before and been able to get back to a regular schedule after a few days or a few weeks but this time it's not correcting. Anyone have any ideas or advice that might help me get more than a few hours of sleep a night?

At what point should you consider getting professional help?

When you find out, please let me know. I have fibromyalga and interrupted sleep is routine.

I would say see your doctor now ! You need to get the required 8hrs rest  per day or as close as possible.

I typically get in bed so that I can have 7 1/2 hours of sleep, and I still wake up feeling exhausted. I've tried vitamins (when I remember to take them), and nothing seems to work. So I sleep just fine, but no amount seems to be enough. So I'm constantly tired, some days exhausted.

Hi I came across an article on insomnia.It gives you some natural remedies to induce sleep.I am mentioning the same below.Hope it helps you out....You may want to check out the same at http://www.natural-homeremedies.com/homeremedies_insomnia.htm

Various yogaasanas that are effective in the treatment of insomnia are shirasana, sarvangasana, paschimottanasana, uttanasan, viparitakarni and shavasana.

Extract about 30 grams of the milk from the poppy seeds (Papaver somniferum) and mix this milk with an adequate amount of sugar. Take this once in a day especially after dinner, when preparing to sleep. This remedy is one of the effective home remedies for insomnia.

Controlled breathing is also effective in inducing sleep.

Take four nutmegs and grind it to a fine powder and take this powder every night before going to sleep. This is one of the most effective home remedies for insomnia..

Regular, active exercises during the day and mild exercise at bedtime enhances the quantity and quality of sleep as the exercise stimulates the elimination of lactic acid from the body. Walking, jogging, skipping and swimming are the good exercises.

To overcome the problem of insomnia one should stick to a regular sleeping schedule like going to bed at a fixed time every night and getting up at a fixed time in the morning.

Applications of hot packs, hot fomentations to the spine, and hot footbath before going to bed are the effective measures.

Take some root of the pippali (Piper longum) plant and grind to fine powder. Take one teaspoonful of this powder every night by adding some jaggery. Take this powder with a glassful of warm milk. This is very effective home remedy for insomnia.

The cold hipbath with feet in hot water at bedtime is the other beneficial water treatment.

A cup of milk with honey at bedtime is helpful in inducing sleep.

Mash a single ripe banana into a bowl and then put the roasted cumin seeds into it. mix both properly. Take this after dinner. It will induce good sleep and is very good home remedy for insomnia.

Valerian wallichi has mild relaxant properties and is useful in sleep disorders. The fresh juice of the valerian should be taken in a teaspoonful quantity before going to sleep. This is also very effective home remedy for insomnia.

Bedtime Drinks

• Oranges
  
  Orange flower water in warm water with little sugar is the most effective in inducing sleep. Orange leaf tea or the juice of 2 oranges in a little hot water sweetened with honey is also effective in dealing with mild insomnia.

• Milk or buttermilk
  
  Any of the two can be taken with a pinch of cinnamon and honey for quality sleep.

Here are a few more tips:-

· Relaxing and massaging remedies

Hot Bath

Before going to bed, take a hot shower or bath helps to soothe vata and promote a sound and restful sleep. Add some relaxing aromatherapy oil like lavender in the bath if you like.

Warm Oil massage

Try getting a relaxing head or sole massage before bedtime, it may be all you need to induce sleep. Rub some oil on the scalp or the soles of the feet with slightly warm oil. Massage gently. Use any of the following oil:

- sesame oil

- jatamamsi oil

- brahmi oil

Nutmeg Eye Pack

Nutmeg is a common spice used to encourage sleep. All you need is some ghee and nutmeg powder to make a fine paste. Mix them well and apply the paste around the eyes and on the forehead just before going to bed. This helps you to ‘doze off’.

· Food Remedies

You may have heard mom say ‘ a glass of warm milk will send you to bed’. And it is indeed true that taking warm milk before bedtime encourages a peaceful rest. Take it plain or add some almonds or nutmeg for a more effective and delicious drink.

· Almond milk

Add some crushed almonds, a pinch of cardamom or nutmeg into the warm milk. You can grind them before adding to the liquid.



· Nutmeg in Milk

If you like it simple, just sprinkle some nutmeg, about 1/8 teaspoon, into a cup of warm milk.



· Milk & Garlic

If you don’t mind the pungent aroma, mix 1 cup of milk with a clover of fresh garlic, chopped, and ¼ cup of water. Boil over a small flame til 1 cup of the garlic milk is left.

· Soothing Chamomile

Tea can also have a soothing effect. The most popular for inducing sleep is chamomile tea.

· Herbal Formula

Here’s another effective drink to help you sleep better. You need:

1 part chamomile

1 part tagar

1 part valerian root powder

Add ¼ teaspoon of this powder mixture to some water and drink it just before going to bed.

· Tomato Juice

For a tangy drink before bedtime, take 1 cup of tomato juice with some natural sugar (according to taste) and a pinch of nutmeg. Take this drink around 4pm to 5pm and have dinner between 6pm and 7pm. It may be a little different but it should lullaby you to sleep soundly.

· Dreamy Cherries

You would have never thought that a bowl of cherries can get you set for a restful sleep. Cherries are great for relieving stress and mental fatigue, and a daily dosage of 10 to 20 cherries can help fight these conditions and send you on cloud nine, fast asleep. If you like, take it with some warm milk.



· Yoga Exercise

Meditation just before going to bed can help dispel sleep disturbances due to woe and anxieties that keep the mind occupied and difficult to relax and prepare for sleep. Try this exercise:

Sit in a comfortable position on your bed and put attention to your “third eye” – the area on your forehead between the eyes. Listen to your breathing and follow it inhale and exhale, or you can do the traditional So-Hum meditation. Think of the syllable “So” and when you exhale, think of “Hum”. Next lie on your back and continue with the breathing, focusing your mind on the “third eye”.

If you have a jetlag and find it hard to sleep, it’s usually a result of excess vata in the body. Ayurveda recommends this three step remedy to avoid jet lag:

· Swallow 2 capsules of ginger (00 size) with water an hour before flying off.

· On the plane, try to drink at least 3 cups of water, at intervals of 1 to 2 hours. Dehydration increases vata so drinking water is better than cafffeinated beverages.

· Upon arrival at your destination, if you reach there before nightfall: try drinking chamomile tea with equal portions of mint and jatamamsi (1/3 teaspoon jatamamsi). Steep in hot water for a bout 10 minutes. Served with your favourite biscuits or sandwiches, or drink it on it’s own.

· If you arrive before night, drink a cup of hot milk with a pinch of ginger and nutmeg, or rub your head with some warm sesame oil on the scalp and soles of your feet. When you arrive at your destination, you will fall asleep with ease at bedtime.

Kar23- I'm currently looking for work and getting ready to move. So I have a feeling that it's beacause of stress. But even at that if I get's worse or continues much longer I'll be seeing the doctor. I'm currently still trying to find a Doctor in my area that I like. The past few that I've gone to have been very impersonal and so I'm sorta uncomfortable going to either of them for something that can be stress related because I'm afraid that they will just ship me out the door with some sleeping pills. I'm within driving distance of my old Doctor who works like every other Saturday but the distance makes it an all day event.

To Everyone else-Thank your for your responces. I have heard of some of these and some not so much.

There are times I go 90 miles an hour though my life and end up looking at the clock at 3:00 am thinking, I can squeeze some sleep in the next 3 hours, be up by 6 and commute time with traffic means to leave by 6:30…”

However, as always, this type of non-sustainable behavior pattern leaves me searching for a remedy or ‘band-aid’ for normalcy in sleep pattern behavior. Here are 2 ideas:

If I’m up late stressing over something personal then taking a reminder like a warm bath to pamper and self love works well, however I’m usually up working late pressed for time.

1) With that in mind I don’t have time to draw a bath, nor do I want to just sit there and think about sleeping. So I embrace an ayurvedic remedy in taking 2 capsules of Holy Basil and 1 capsule of Co(enzyme)Q10.

What does this do? Drops your blood pressure, naturally allowing you to shut down and go to sleep.

Holy Basil has anti-mutagenic and anti inflammatory properties and more importantly, brings into balance your blood pressure, by dropping it a few points (for me about 10). CoQ10 also drops your BP: diastolic about 10 points and systolic 17 points. Typically your BP spikes in the morning helping you rise and to meet the day, then falls back down in the evening hours preparing you for sleep. This cycle is part of your circadium rhythm. A roughly-24-hour cycle in the biochemical, physiological or behavioral processes of your body. (If I take Holy Basil in the am, within 2 hours, I am ready for a nap.) 

Don’t ignore this clock.

2) Eat Turkey. Turkey has a natural sedative in it, an amino acid called tryptophan. Tryptophan helps the body produce serotonin, a remarkable chemical that acts as a calming agent in the brain and plays a key role in sleep.

Remedies and Fibromyalgia. A while back I spoke with a neurologist about Fibromyalgia and a few ideas came up. There are organic, natural products that enhance neurotransmitter pathways and enhanced cognitive function can help your body ‘reset’ the neurochemical processes in your spinal cord for pain. And omega fatty acids, in fish and flax oil, for neurological and immune system support can help with pain.

Hope this helps.

I'm lucky in that aspect of my life at least. I have been blessed with alot of very good friends. And even though I don't come from a very close family I do have several family members that I can count on so long as they don't have to deal with eachother. I'm making the best of it though I have gotten alot of stuff that I would otherwise not gotten done taken care of. I mean yeah it makes alot of stress but I got so much done tuesday that I never would have gotten done at my last job that I think looking for work is worth it for all the money that I have saved being able to not have to hire someone to take care of the moving and some other personal matters.  I was working between 200-250 hours a month from time to time and still wasn't caught up I was burried under a work load that someone with no experience in that field should never have had to deal with. But that's not all their fault I should have know to find out more information before I switched fields but I litterally knew so little that I didn't even know what to ask. So it's one of those situations where the change is worth the challenge even if I'm only sleeping 4-5 hours a night sometimes. I'm on top of things again and I'm happier for it now.

I guess you didn't really want my life story. Sorry if that was more info than you needed. I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm ok. I noticed that some people seemed concerned and I didn't want anyone to think that I was in trouble.