Any Other Insomnia Suggestions?

messtafarian

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I've been eating ice cream at night and I think it's keeping me up. Too much sugar -- I was up again all night, with a tummy asking for more food. I fell asleep about 5 AM and slept til noon ( I'm on unemployment at the moment so no job to zombie to). I got sevenish hours but I could tell I was actually more awake that night pacing around and searching the RP forum than I was all day.

Milk and salt, not sugar?
 

charlie

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Gelatin helps, especially to balance out the high sugar in ice cream.
 
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messtafarian

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Okay I think I'm going to that tonight instead of ice cream. Ice cream is not such a great idea for me anyway...
 

charlie

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charlie

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Peata

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I had some trouble like that too when I first started Peat until I got adjusted to the different foods and sugar. I don't seem to sleep real well with a lot of fat before bed, so I don't usually have the ice cream, or at least not much of it.

Before bed, I like a cup of low fat milk with 2 t. sugar and some salt. I find it very relaxing. I also keep a squeeze bottle of honey on the nightstand and if I wake up and can't go back to sleep, I squeeze 1 or 2 T. in my mouth. Always put me back to sleep in 20 - 30 min at least.

I think my liver just didn't have enough glycogen initially, or couldn't store it through the night, so I would need something - particularly sugar, to get through. Things got better slowly over time. I haven't had any problems lately with waking up in the night (other than to use the bathroom).
 

charlie

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and red light.
 

marcar72

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Gelatin, salt, and Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime (chamomile) tea is my combo to better my sleep. I also try to get some carbohydrates at the end of the day. :2cents
 

Bluebell

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jyb said:
Don't underestimate CO2 breathing too before bedtime.

Do you just lie in bed, and breathe into a bag for 5 mins, then drop off? How does the bag breathing make you feel?

Bag breathing is still on my to-do list.
 

Jenn

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marcar72 said:
Gelatin, salt, and Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime (chamomile) tea is my combo to better my sleep. I also try to get some carbohydrates at the end of the day. :2cents

I do the same some evenings but with Earl Grey with or without milk with a large spoonful of sugar.
 

Stilgar

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I suffer from insomnia once in a while.

Cocoa/chocolate anytime after about 5pm and I often can't sleep, or if I can, I notice it affects my sleep quality. I guess that is just something I have to keep an eye on.

Valerian sometimes makes the problem worse - it makes me sleepy, but if I have the all-night kind of insomnia where I can't sleep 'til 5am, it often makes me feel strange. As if I am dreaming and very drowsy, but still awake. Mind you, I haven't repeatedly tested it.

Possibly worth mentioning that marijuana is my go to cure, works about 90% of the time, but understandably isn't for everyone.

Aside from that, if I wake up in the night or I want to sleep really well, potatoes, coconut oil and salt are my go-to. Salt particularly.
 

gretchen

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You could try something like taking an epsom salt bath. There is an essence called Olive that might help calm you down; you could put a few drops in:
http://bachflower.org/olive.htm

Also, getting on a schedule where you go to sleep and get up at the same time- really generic type advice but it can work. Getting up with the sun helps reduce cortisol and watching a sunset can help prepare you to go to sleep. Has to with melatonin and prolactin, etc, which are probably all out of whack if you if have insomnia.
 

jyb

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Bluebell said:
Do you just lie in bed, and breathe into a bag for 5 mins, then drop off? How does the bag breathing make you feel?

I use my bed sheets to make a closed surface around my head. It shouldn't matter if its not perfectly closed - as long the air gets hot underneath, meaning that CO2 is building up. I do several minutes, when I feel its been long I take in some fresh air for a bit, then start over. Breathing becomes deeper and more relaxed, conducive for sleeping. It resets the breathing rhythm, which can be noticed within a few minutes after you're done.

Bag breathing, gelatin, sugar and salt... all these contribute to relaxation but each in a different way so doing all of them at once makes sense if one suffers from persistent problems.
 

Peata

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jyb said:
Bluebell said:
Do you just lie in bed, and breathe into a bag for 5 mins, then drop off? How does the bag breathing make you feel?

I use my bed sheets to make a closed surface around my head. It shouldn't matter if its not perfectly closed - as long the air gets hot underneath, meaning that CO2 is building up.

I've always done this too, before I knew about bag-breathing or CO2 benefits. More than once I fell asleep like that, then woke with a jerking start and yanked my face out for fresh air. I guess I ran out of oxygen completely in my sleep and my body woke me up to let me know. Anyway, I've also used that method in a pinch to calm down when I had no bag to breathe in or sheet - just put my coat or something up around my face and breath into it the same way.
 

jyb

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Peata said:
I've always done this too, before I knew about bag-breathing or CO2 benefits. More than once I fell asleep like that, then woke with a jerking start and yanked my face out for fresh air. I guess I ran out of oxygen completely in my sleep and my body woke me up to let me know. Anyway, I've also used that method in a pinch to calm down when I had no bag to breathe in or sheet - just put my coat or something up around my face and breath into it the same way.

It's clever that you found out before reading about it. I would have never done it otherwise, not only because I thought it'd be bad for me (lacking oxygen would kill cells or something), but also because the effect can't always be felt immediately. At the beginning of the breathing, the air can feel a bit heavy and uncomfortable, it's only after a few minutes of persistence that the breathing gets reset.
 

Peata

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Before knowing about the benefits when I did it, I think it just made me feel more "secure" in bed, in that I was mostly covered up with the blankets or sheet, I was breathing warm, moist air, and I assumed I'd feel a "suffocating" effect and pull my head out before it did anything to me from lack of oxygen. I feel it helped me relax and fall asleep sometimes. I still do this a lot.

As far as doing it when I'm out somewhere with a coat or something, that part has only come since Peating. I can use it in a darkened auditorium or anywhere if I feel a need to get calmer. Nobody really says anything about having a sweater or jacket up to my nose -they just assume I'm chilled from the air I guess, if they're even paying any attention to me and not the entertainment or whatever is going on.
 

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