Insomnia

[Twilight Garden]

I'm not sure if this belongs in here or the 'Healthy Pagan' area. I have been having serious trouble with not being able to get to sleep. Once I do finally start to tire around 5am, I only sleep for two to three hours. I've tried meditating before I lay down. That just wakes me up when I come out of it. I tried doing "boring" things like browsing the internet, reading, word puzzles, etc. "Sleepytime Tea" doesn't do anything for me. This has been going on for weeks now.
Do you have any herbal suggestions?
Thanks:)

[skysteed]

MM,
I get periods where sleep just evades me, but I am exhausted.
If you are desperate enought you might wish to try "Gravol" brand name in Canada.
It's the pills you take for travel sickness.
It's safe, easy to find and works great for me. It is non addictive and helps your body to relax, actually the stomach where most of the days tensions tend to harbour ( at least for me).
I'm sure there are some herbal sleep aids out there, but unless you are very familiar with herbs and their possible side effects (natural herbs are still drugs) this is a safe alternative you might wish to try.
BB, and try and get some ZZZZZZ"s. :o

[Kaylara]

Velarian Root taken for a period of time can help you sleep. Also, things that relax you may help, like Chamomile.

Hope that this helps,
Kaylara

[Twilight Garden]

Do you know if Valerian Root can become toxic after a while. Can you take it for a short amount of time to just "become regular?"

My Mother mentioned that I probably have vertigo (an equilibrium imbalance) and that the travel sickness medicine may be good for me. Many people in my Father's family suffer this. I've always had trouble traveling, except when I'm the driver. Even then if it's stop and go. She said also that the vertigo may contribute to my sleeplessness. Have any of you ever heard anything of the sort? I can't imagine this being a factor.

[skysteed]

Found this description of Vertigo on the Net

Encyclopedia

vertigo [vûr'tigO]
Pronunciation Key

vertigo , sensations of moving in space or of objects moving about a person and the resultant difficulty in maintaining equilibrium. True vertigo, as distinguished from faintness, lightheadedness, and other forms of dizziness, occurs as a result of a disturbance of some part of the body's balancing mechanism, located in the inner ear (e.g., vestibule, semicircular canals, auditory nerves). Labyrinthitis, or infection and irritation of the middle and inner ear, is a common cause of vertigo. Elimination of infectious, toxic, or environmental factors underlying the disturbance is essential for permanent relief.

Depending on how long you have been suffering with insomnia it might be time to check in with a doctor. Your body might have a bug that is causing the side effect of insomnia.

The last time I had a major bout with sleeplessness it was spring time. I suffer every couple of years from Spring Fever, it lasts about 3 weeks and once the weather has stabalized Im back to normal, whatever normal is. :)

[Lavender]

Valerian can cause headaches or muscular spasms in prolonged use or large doses. You can use it safely once a day & no more that 2-3 weeks at a time.

Here is a recipe I made up for stress relief but I find it puts me to sleep like you wouldn't believe!

2 tsp chamomile
1 tsp elderflower
1 tsp hops
1 tsp valarian roots
3 tsp peppermint

Blend mix together & use 1 tsp per 1 cup boiling water. Steep 15 mins & strain. Add honey to taste if you like.

[Twilight Garden]

Thanks for the recipe. If I have everything, I may try it tonight. If not I may have to wait until I can make it to the market. So hopefully you won't be seeing me on here at four in the morning. :)

As soon as I'm married I WILL be going to the doctor about things. Until then I try to only go for emergencies. My grandfather takes a prescription strength OTC 'Travel Sickness II' & Valium for his Vertigo. And has since he was in his twenties. Unfortunately he started taking the Valium before as much was known about it. Now the doctors don't want to take him off it.

Thanks for your input.:)

[skysteed]

Pulled out an old book I had tucked away. There is a section on programing yourself to sleep.

Sounds simple and it is, it just takes a little practice.

Go to bed, close your eyes and SEE these colors in this order.

RED

ORANGE

YELLOW

GREEN

BLUE

VIOLET OR LILAC

When practicing, if you have trouble seeing a color, find something that color look at it, study it, close your eyes and SEE it.

The color doesn't have to be present for very long, as long as you really SEE that color. Llike a lightning flash, first it's there and then it's not.

Once you have the hang of it you will be out like a light before you get half way down the colors.

Glad I found this book, I'd forgotten the correct order of colors. No need for my travel pills anymore.

From what the book said, seeing the colors in this particular order put the mind in ALPHA state.

Nigh All. :o RED [/COLOR] ORANGE BLUE

[Twilight Garden]

That's actually one of my typical relaxations prior to meditation. Only I see the colors as crystals with numbers in them, 1-7. (I use seven colors.) Then after meditation I do the colors/crystals backwards and 7-1. It's pretty effective. Thanks for posting it. I'm glad someone else has heard this.

I'm to the point now with the insomnia that I just go with it. When my body and mind are exhausted, I'm sure I'll rest up and hopefully get back to sleeping six or seven hours. (I'm hoping for a full day of sleep in the near future.)

I got some sleep the other night when I took the Travel Sickness II. I'm just afraid that it could become addictive.

I'm working on the tea. Just having trouble getting to the girl I get hops from. How is it without the hops?

Thank you. You people are great. :)
*LunarMist

[skysteed]

The travel sickness pills are not chemicaly addictive.
Once you are back into regular sleep mode just stop using them. You shouldn't have to be weaned off.

[Emy]

Well, as for trouble sleeping you might also want to make sure you follow thease guidelines:

don't let your bedroom be anything but just that, don't eat there, try to do your reading elsewhere, let your bedroom be a room for sleep and rest (and romance of course ;) :D )

When you get sleepy, go to bed! If you don't you might not feel tired at all for hours, so try to go to bed when you get your sleep signals.

Also you might want to try to get a bit regular, that is if you can try to go to bed at almost the same time every night... however mind the sleepsignals. :)

As for colours, medicines, herbs etc I think you have gotten some excellent advices above :)

Blessings and good luck!

You might also want to try this site out ;) :D
http://go2.sleep.be

[Lavender]

You can definitely try the tea without the hops. Please feel free to play around with the amounts as well. That recipe is not written in stone. :D I have made that recipe for a friend who was allergic to chamomile. I replaced it with lavender & it worked really well for her.

[Twilight Garden]

Thanks!

[zhowlingwolf]

Besides whats already suggested, warm milk forms tryptophane
which will dilate blood vessels, slow down the cardiac output with
decreased oxygen demand, amongst other things. Also you might want to try creative visualization, for instance: while laying in bed I picture myself at the beach. I feel the warmth of the sun my toes gripping the sand. The smell of the salt water, with the sounds of the waves breaking gently on the shore. I see the foam rise and receed as the seagulls fly over the horizon.........
I also ask the God and Goddess for peace and sleep, so that I may function better physically mentally and spiritually: so that I may help others!
Blessed be!

[Lavender]

*bump* for FoxWitch.

[stormyray]

Bump.

Bumping this one up due to the fact that I havent slep well in over two weeks and thought this might help anyone else that are having the same problem. Any one else have more input?

[Pagecrd]

velarian root works well for me. i also use crushed chamomile togethr with it. velarian root has bad long term effects but does work. take it about an hour or two before you decide to sleep. happy dreaming!