I can't sleep, any remedies besides medication?
Answer:
Sleep is an opportunity for the brain and body to rest and be restored. In addition, many functions important to good health take place during sleep at night. The amount of sleep that people need can vary widely. Infants may need up to twenty hours; many children need from ten to fourteen per night. The average requirement for adults is estimated at six to eight hours, but many people need much more than that—feeling chronically stressed and compromised, both physically and mentally, because of insufficient sleep. Homeopathic remedies are useful during episodes of insomnia, and may also help individuals with longer-standing sleep disorders. If problems are serious or very distressing, consult a professional homeopath.
Aconitum apellus: This remedy can be helpful if a person panics with insomnia. Fear and agitation come on suddenly when the person is drifting off to sleep, or may even wake a sleeping person up.
Arsenicum album: People who need this remedy are often anxious and compulsive about small details, and have trouble sleeping if they feel that everything is not in place. They are often deeply weary and exhausted, yet feel restless physically and mentally. Sleep, when it arrives, can be anxious and disturbed, with dreams full of fear and insecurity.
Calcarea phosphorica: This remedy is often helpful to children with growing pains, and also to adults who have aching in the joints and bones, or neck and shoulder tension that make it hard to fall asleep. The person lies awake for many hours, feeling upset and irritable—then has trouble waking in the morning, feeling deeply tired and weak.
Cocculus: This remedy is often helpful to those who feel “too tired to sleep” after long-term sleep loss—from getting up with an infant, taking care of someone who is ill, a disruptive work schedule, travel and jet lag, or chronic worry and insomnia. The person may feel weak and dizzy, with trouble thinking, and may be sleepy, irritable, or tearful.
Coffea cruda: Mental excitement and nervous stimulation that keep a person from sleeping suggest a need for remedy. Thoughts preventing sleep can be happy or distressing. The person may be looking forward to something that will happen in the morning, but feels stressed and exhausted as the night wears on. If the person falls asleep, it is usually very light with vivid dreams, and disturbed by any little noise or motion. (This remedy can also help if overuse of caffeine is the cause of sleeplessness.)
Ignatia: If insomnia is caused by emotional upset (grief or loss, a disappointment in love, a shock, or even an argument) this remedy may be helpful. The person is sensitive and nervous, and may often sigh and yawn in the daytime, but find it hard to relax at night. As the person tries to fall asleep, the arms and legs may twitch or itch. If sleep arrives, it is usually light, with jerking of the legs and arms, or long and troubling nightmares.
Kali phosphoricum: A person with insomnia from nervous exhaustion caused by overwork or mental strain, or following a taxing illness, may respond to this remedy. The person is very weak and sensitive to everything (noise, lights, touch, and pain). Irritability, depression, and anxiety with an empty feeling in the stomach are often seen.
Lycopodium: People who need this remedy often have no memory of dreams and often doubt that they have slept at all. Insomnia may set in primarily because of worry: lack of confidence can make them doubt their own abilities, although they are usually very capable. Insomnia caused by digestive trouble, especially gas, can also indicate a need for this remedy. The person feels drowsy after meals, but has trouble sleeping at bedtime. Ravenous hunger in the night that wakes a person up is another indication for Lycopodium.
Nux vomica: People who have insomnia after over-indulgence in stimulants, food, and drink—or after overexertion, either physically or mentally—may benefit from this remedy. They may be able to drift off, but sleep is light, and they often awaken in the early morning (typically three a.m.) and lie awake for hours. On getting up, they are tense, impatient, and irritable, with a feeling that they sorely need more sleep.
Silicea (also called Silica): This is a useful remedy for nervous people with low stamina who get too tired, then have insomnia. The person often goes to sleep at first, but awakens suddenly with a hot or surging feeling in the head—and finds it hard to fall asleep again. People who need this remedy usually have anxious dreams, and some (especially children) sleepwalk frequently.
Sulphur: This remedy may be helpful if insomnia comes from itching—or an increasing feeling of heat in bed, especially in the feet. The person is irritable and anxious, and often feels a need to throw the covers off. Lying awake between two and five a.m. is typical. Insomnia that develops because of a lack of exercise may also be helped with Sulphur.
Zincum metallicum: People who need this remedy often have insomnia from mental activity. They can get wound up from overwork—or be naturally inclined toward nervousness and just have trouble relaxing. Their legs and arms often feel extremely restless, and lying still in bed may be impossible. Even during the daytime, a person who needs this remedy may feel a constant need to move the muscles.
Homeopathy Dosage Directions
Select the remedy that most closely matches the symptoms. In conditions where self-treatment is appropriate, unless otherwise directed by a physician, a lower potency (6X, 6C, 12X, 12C, 30X, or 30C) should be used. In addition, instructions for use are usually printed on the label.
Hot milk with honey will help a little.
I have always had such problems. When I feel time-pressed, anxious or there is something important coming up, I cannot sleep. I have had times when I go to bed at 22 h and cannot get to sleet till 05:30 in the morning. Sometimes I used to make myself a cup of coffee and sit at the computer and wait for the sunlight to come in.
I think you should make it clear to yourself why you cannot sleep? Anxiuous, emotional problems, bad days at work, school maybe? If so, first make a conversation with yourself, evaluate the sitation, maybe after thinking it twice it is not that bad? If you are able to calm yourself down this may help you to get some sleep. If you feel lonely, anxious and cannot really have a positive conversation with yourself, go out, call a friend, have a drink, just get your brain busy with other things. Having a lot of social contacts can take you out for a depression - loners suffer more.
If can't sleep for other than the above reasons, maybe you have a health problem. Do not eat too much before going to bed, do not watch too much TV (I read an article that when u watch too much tv before going to beed u get overexcited), do not drink more than one cup of alchohol or any coffee before going to bed. Insted, a good idea is to drink a cup of warm milk with honey to relax. If you are getting too much of work and work up to late in the night, you might be getting too tired and sometimes being too tired prevents u from sleeping rather than forcing you into a deep sleep.
Try exercising during the day. That usually does it for me.
make your evenings quiet and peaceful,free of worries if possible.go for a evening walk, take a light supper early and avoid alcohols and caffeinated drinks.take a hot bath when its time for bed.massage your body with a soothing aromatic oil like lavender,drink a small glass of warm milk and lie straight on the bed.with both your hands gently stroke your forehead with the fingers and massage the bone structure around the eyes,gently massage your nose and lips, your chin and cheeks.take deep breaths,slowly from the bottom of your abdomen and release after holding for a while.close and open your eyes counting upto five for several times or till you fall asleep.listen to your thoughts and try to visualise dreams instead of trying to avoid it.its better to fall asleep naturally like this than to read and let yourself fall asleep unknowingly. doing this one night may not help to put you to sleep right away,but keep practicing and it will definitely improve your sleeping pattern.
Go to the Supplement Aisle and purchase MELATONIN.
This is a natural supplement that we actually have in our brains that regulates our sleep patterns. Take one or two and within 30 min you will be nice and sleepy...not druggy kinda of sleepy but natural...and no hangover feeling in the morning. take this for a few days to regulate your sleep pattern and before you know it - you will no longer need to take it
good luck.
ps...do not drive after taking this, and of course do not drink or mix with other meds.
Chamomille Tea
To help you sleep see a massage therapist , massage therapy helps restore many of the body's natural functions. To help you get to sleep do deep breathing and concentrate on just your breathing by putting your hand on your stomach and make it rise and fall.
L-theanine is an amino acid that is relaxing, passion flower, kava kava,those are the ones i think of first. There is a product from enzymatic therapy for sleep that works well. Sorry, I can't think of the name of it. they have a web site www.enzy.com
I also find taking a bath in lavender helps.
Hypnotherapy is a wonderful way to relax without any side effects.
Either go to see a Hypnotherapist or get a relaxation CD (or download)
I work 3rd shift so sleeping is a task for me at times. I usually drink a combination of chamomile and lavender tea, 2 to 3 times, 3 or 4 hours before I want to sleep.
Finding chamomile tea in teabags is as easy as going to your grocery store. Lavender, however, is not an ingredient in most teas. You should be able to buy some dried up lavender at a grocery store if you live in a decent sized city.
Combine the chamomile and 2 teaspoons of lavender into a hot glass of water and let it steep for 15 minutes. If you don't get results instantaneously, keep trying it for a week.
Hope this helps and check out the websites to make sure you aren't taking any medications that might be harmful when interacting with these herbs.
Smoke pot and eat a bunch of food (known as the munchies). Not the healthiest but you will sleep like a baby once your stomach is full.
Don't drink any thing with caffeine like sodas, coffee or tea in the evening after dinner. Go to bed and turn on the tv. It works like a charm!
The medicine and health information post by website user , ByeDR.com not guarantee correctness , is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
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