Difficulty Sleeping

[anniez]

I have been raw since last July and have had amazing health improvements. For many years I have had trouble sleeping. I can get to sleep OK, but after just a couple or three hours I wake up and can't get back to sleep. Sometimes I am so tired that I go to bed at 7 PM and then am up to stay up by midnight. (My husband says I am like a baby with her days and nights mixed up!)

Sometimes I don't eat dinner because I am just not hungry,and I wonder if that could be part of the problem. I want to emphasize that this is a problem of many years (I have had a sleep analysis done).

I know what the problem is: when the brain waves go into delta sleep then the alpha waves intrude and wake me up. What I don't know is what to do about it.

Would appreciate any input.

Thanks,

Annie

[Dimond]

Annie,
Have you tried different meditation techniques-prior to sleep and throughout the day? It may take a bit to work, but can be quite powerful. Other spiritual practices too-yoga or other exercise, affirmations (especially combined with meditation).

Some info here, though I'm in the process of improving it:
http://dimondhealth.com/EmpoweredLiving.htm

Not eating dinner should actually help your sleep, unless you're body is starving and is why it's waking up which doesn't sound like your case.

Have a friend that takes melatonin prior to sleep and it always works for him.

[ShelShel]

I have this very same issue. It's very hard on the body and mind. I'm exhausted by 5 pm after waking at 3 am after only five hours of sleep.

I really find my only solution as of late is to have a cup of sleepy time herbal tea. The camomile really helps me fall into a deep sleep and is soothing to my nerves right before bed. I also take a vitamin B supplement.

Perhaps I won't always have to do this, but for right now...with our economics as they are...it helps.:)

Hope you find something that helps you as well.

[rawstrength]

You need total darkness to sleep. Remove anything with lights that stay on during the night from your room and get a eye mask to where to sleep to block out light.

You also need to be protected from EMFs, the vibrations from electronic devices. Get that alarm clock away from your head! Try to have as few electronic devices near you when you sleep as possible. The products at www.earthfx.net really work to protect people from EMFs and have helped many with their sleep issues. If the sheets are too expensive for you, just get the pad for $99 and sleep with it on top of your pillow - that's what I do and my sleep has never been better.

Try to limit TV and computer time in the last few hours before bed. The bright lights from the screens can really alter your circadian rhythms.

Lettuce juice is a natural sedative that can help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Try juicing up some rommaine and drinking it at bedtime.

There are ways to alter your brain waves using sound. Try researching binaural beats. These sounds produced in the brain when you apply a different tone to each ear using stero headphones can cause the brain to naturally produce specific brain waves, such as beta, alpha, theta, delta etc. Listening to some while sleeping could really help you (though this advice does contradict the no electronic devices while sleeping advice :) ).

Sweet dreams!

[Veronica01]

For me i'm a very light sleeper, i absolutely cannot fall asleep unless im in a pitch dark room with no noise, if anyone is watching tv in my house i can't fall asleep. When i go to bed it also takes me at least 30 minutes to fall asleep and i tried to meditate and just concentrate on my breathing and my heart rate.

Also i find if i have any chocolate/cocoa i am wide awake and not tired at all, and if i don't exercise enough it's the same. Eating lots of fat bothers my stomach so i can't sleep either, so i am doing low fat and rarely oils or nuts otherwise im exhausted the next morning and feel like i didn't sleep at all.

[MelissaO]

I have had problems sleeping for the past 10 years. I have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep.

For me herbal teas or juices before bedtime make me get up to go the bathroom during the night so I try and void those. I try and not do anything that will stimulate me after lunch time (ie things with maca in it, fruits, or cacoa, or chocolates.).I take Valerian root about a half hour before bedtime, I don't watch TV or read during this time frame - instead I do my night time yoga DVD which is very relaxing or take a warm bath with lavender oil added to the bath water.

I wish I could meditate at night however with kids and 3 cats most times my house is a stir right up until bedtime.


**the Valerian root took about a week to really start working well for me.

[Humanist]

Keep a pail of cold water by your bed, and a wash cloth. If you wake up too early, immerse the wash cloth in the cold water, wring it out, and apply it to your mid-section. This will draw blood from the head to the body, relieve the excited brain, and allow sleep to follow.

[mongodelight]

cooked food is like alcohol. It knocks u down and u can sleep. Obviously it takes some time to relearn to sleep naturally without the drug cooked food.

[T-Bird]

Keep a pail of cold water by your bed, and a wash cloth. If you wake up too early, immerse the wash cloth in the cold water, wring it out, and apply it to your mid-section. This will draw blood from the head to the body, relieve the excited brain, and allow sleep to follow

I think that would really wake me up!

[cornvalley]

Do physical activities which require sleep to recover and you will have better sleep.
Weight lifting, hill climbing, sprints.
Challenging mental activities also need a nice period of sleep to recover from.
Do not go to bed too early, don't get up to late.
10-6
11-7
:)

[Humanist]

I think that would really wake me up!

Don't knock it until you try it. It might surprise you. Variations of it have been recommended by hydrotherapists since the 19th century.

[anniez]

Thank you all for the suggestions, many of which are completely new to me. Some additional info: I walk for 30 minutes per day and do 20 minutes of bodyweight exercises. I am still struggling with fibromyalgia (which is the source of the sleep problem) so cannot do strenuous exercise. I have no trouble getting asleep - I have trouble staying asleep. I never eat chocolate or any variant thereof, and don't use any stimulents, i.e. coffee, tea, etc. It goes without saying that I don't drink soft drinks. Also, I am a committed Christian, and as such pray on a regular basis.

Having said all that, I am going to research some of these suggestions.

Thanks, again.

Annie

[Cheremoya]

Tart cherries contain melatonin which is a hormone produced by your body, if you live in a cold and dark place your body may not be producing enough. Get some sun and what they said : meditation and a pitch black room.



http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/lornac/cherrycobblsauce-1.jpg

This I made from a Vanessa Sherwood recipe.

[sprouts2go]

That tart looks yummy. Do you have the recipe to share? I have been waking up a few times a night and it is not to urinate. I just wake up and have a hard time going back to sleep. Then again the cat snores next to my head. HMMM.

[sport]

Don't knock it until you try it. It might surprise you. Variations of it have been recommended by hydrotherapists since the 19th century.

That explains the fact that it is a bit crude and maybe messy. I am sure that there must be a more modern equivalent.
The rest of it makes some sense though and may help.

[Humanist]

That explains the fact that it is a bit crude and maybe messy. I am sure that there must be a more modern equivalent.
The rest of it makes some sense though and may help.

Insomnia can have many causes. If brain congestion is the problem, hydrotherapy can be very effective because cold water applied to one part of the body will draw blood to that part, thus relieving congestion in other parts.

[sport]

I have been studying bedding recently because I am about to move to a very healthy house and I am determined to get a healthy bed.
My reading is leading me to get the following.

Solid timber bed.
Latex mattress with a wool topper.
Untreated organic cotton sheets
Organic wool pillows.
Organic wool blankets.

This is the best combination for maintaining the correct temperature and moisture level. The lack of metal in the bed and mattress will cut out electro magnetic radiation and the solid wood will reduce formaldehyde and chemicals from the bed itself.
Wool has a wicking effect and takes moisture away from your body.