Herbs, Pills and Tea. A trio of good choices...
Sleep is the best meditation. Dalai Lama
A good husband is never the first to go to sleep at night or the last to awake in the morning. Honore de Balzac
The best cure for insomnia is to get a lot of sleep. W. C. Fields
When I was a kid, I could fall asleep in a nano second and sleep for a total day, wake up, eat and then go back to sleep some more. Nowadays I'm lucky to fall asleep, stay that way for more than an hour, an then toss and turn for the next seven hours. Menopause has really messed with my sleep cycle.
So, I've done the sleep hygiene routine, and eliminated all caffeine from my diet after 11:30 in the morning and I still have problems. There are a few more tactics that can be tried. One involves visiting your doctor, the other one being a smart consumer.
You're at your gyno guru docs office and you tell her the problems you are having with sleep in general these days. Before she ever writes an actual prescription for a sleep aid, she may take several steps first to determine the best course of treatment for you. An actual Sleep Study, where you go to a Sleep Lab for a night of monitoring may be the first step in helping you. Sleep labs are pretty popular these days because its been estimated that about 1 in four adults has probems with this important part of their lives. A sleep lab will be able to rule out if there are any physiological problems associated with your sleep, such as sleep apnea, a condition in which you actually pause in breathing for a few seconds, to restless leg syndrome . If there is a physiological reason why you aren't sleeping, that can be treated and you can be helped. If there is nothing actually causing the problems with sleep, then medicinal intervention may be initiated.
Anyone who watches television or reads popular magazines has been exposed to a series of new ads touting the benefits of drugs that help with sleep. Ads for Ambien, Lunesta, Sonata and even over the counter Zzzzz from the makers of Nyquil, have all but exploded onto the popular market in the past few years. You need an actual physicians' prescription for the first three mentioned. The way they work is to target the part of your brain responsible for regulating your sleep/wake cycles. Lunesta is used primarily for somone who needs to get at least 7- 8 uninterrupted hours of sleep. It works all night long. Sonata actually helps you fall asleep, and you can even take it if you wake up in the middle of night and can't get back to rest. Side effects for all these drugs are varied and you should know about them before starting any regime. The lowest recommended dose is initially prescribed and you need to chart your sleep patterns with the drug. Re-evaluation is necessary after a few weeks or a month by your doc to see if the drug can be stopped or if the dose needs to be increased.
Over the counter sleep aids are as varied as prescriptive ones. The active ingredient in Zzzz is benadryl. If you've ever had a sinus infection or allergies you know that benadryl helps, but it also has the effect of making you sleepy. Excedrin Pm and Tylenol PM both have benadryl as well, so be aware of that. Now, if you have glaucoma or any kind of high blood pressure, be wary of taking a product that contains benadryl because it doesn't work well with the medicines needed for those issues and you can potentially harm yourself if you mix them.
So, what if you don't like taking actual medicines for anything but you still want something to help you fight this battle with sleep deprivation. There are some Natural Elements that may help.
Melatonin is a hormone produced in the pineal gland in your brain. Melatonin levels fluctuate in a 24 hr period. In daylight, the levels decrease; at night, they go up. Taking synthetic melatonin, or a product that has it in it before bed, may induce sleepiness. I mentioned in a previous blog that many of the phytoestrogen products available for menopausal women have some degree of melatonin in them for night time use. Makes sense. The phytoestrogen helps with hot flashes and the melatonin keeps you asleep.
People who swear by Valerian, or valerian root, will tell you that taking it helps with nervousness and restlessness, making sleep come more easily. There have been numerous studies worldwide that claim it does help, and just as many that claim it does nothing. You have to get it in an herbal store, or an organic market, and it can be used as a tea, or in pill form.
My grandmother was a big believer in warm milk before bed or in a cup of Chamomile tea. Chamomile has a long standing history as a beneficial sleep aid. Weak tea produces relaxation, while a stronger brew does make you sleepy. Many of the herbal teas sold commercially, like Sleepytime tea, have chamomile in them. The side effect of this though, is that you may wake up in the middle of the night because you need to urinate. Sometimes, this whole process is a case of damned if you don't and damned if you do!
I don't recommend anything mentioned here, except speaking with your physician if you are having sleep problems. The best thing to do first is start with good sleep hygiene. Eliminate the caffeine,and get a good relaxing routine going before bed. If this doesn't help, before you put anything into your body, call your doc. He or she is the best person for giving guidance with this problem.
Anyone who watches television or reads popular magazines has been exposed to a series of new ads touting the benefits of drugs that help with sleep. Ads for Ambien, Lunesta, Sonata and even over the counter Zzzzz from the makers of Nyquil, have all but exploded onto the popular market in the past few years. You need an actual physicians' prescription for the first three mentioned. The way they work is to target the part of your brain responsible for regulating your sleep/wake cycles. Lunesta is used primarily for somone who needs to get at least 7- 8 uninterrupted hours of sleep. It works all night long. Sonata actually helps you fall asleep, and you can even take it if you wake up in the middle of night and can't get back to rest. Side effects for all these drugs are varied and you should know about them before starting any regime. The lowest recommended dose is initially prescribed and you need to chart your sleep patterns with the drug. Re-evaluation is necessary after a few weeks or a month by your doc to see if the drug can be stopped or if the dose needs to be increased.
Over the counter sleep aids are as varied as prescriptive ones. The active ingredient in Zzzz is benadryl. If you've ever had a sinus infection or allergies you know that benadryl helps, but it also has the effect of making you sleepy. Excedrin Pm and Tylenol PM both have benadryl as well, so be aware of that. Now, if you have glaucoma or any kind of high blood pressure, be wary of taking a product that contains benadryl because it doesn't work well with the medicines needed for those issues and you can potentially harm yourself if you mix them.
So, what if you don't like taking actual medicines for anything but you still want something to help you fight this battle with sleep deprivation. There are some Natural Elements that may help.
Melatonin is a hormone produced in the pineal gland in your brain. Melatonin levels fluctuate in a 24 hr period. In daylight, the levels decrease; at night, they go up. Taking synthetic melatonin, or a product that has it in it before bed, may induce sleepiness. I mentioned in a previous blog that many of the phytoestrogen products available for menopausal women have some degree of melatonin in them for night time use. Makes sense. The phytoestrogen helps with hot flashes and the melatonin keeps you asleep.
People who swear by Valerian, or valerian root, will tell you that taking it helps with nervousness and restlessness, making sleep come more easily. There have been numerous studies worldwide that claim it does help, and just as many that claim it does nothing. You have to get it in an herbal store, or an organic market, and it can be used as a tea, or in pill form.
My grandmother was a big believer in warm milk before bed or in a cup of Chamomile tea. Chamomile has a long standing history as a beneficial sleep aid. Weak tea produces relaxation, while a stronger brew does make you sleepy. Many of the herbal teas sold commercially, like Sleepytime tea, have chamomile in them. The side effect of this though, is that you may wake up in the middle of the night because you need to urinate. Sometimes, this whole process is a case of damned if you don't and damned if you do!
I don't recommend anything mentioned here, except speaking with your physician if you are having sleep problems. The best thing to do first is start with good sleep hygiene. Eliminate the caffeine,and get a good relaxing routine going before bed. If this doesn't help, before you put anything into your body, call your doc. He or she is the best person for giving guidance with this problem.
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