Avoid napping during the day. It can disturb the normal pattern of sleep and wakefulness.
Avoid stimulants such as caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol too close to bedtime. While alcohol is well known to speed the onset of sleep, it disrupts sleep in the second half as the body begins to metabolize the alcohol, causing arousal.
Exercise can promote good sleep. Vigorous exercise should be taken in the morning or late afternoon. A relaxing exercise, like yoga, can be done before bed to help initiate a restful nightâs sleep.
Food can be disruptive right before sleep. Stay away from large meals close to bedtime. Also dietary changes can cause sleep problems, if someone is struggling with a sleep problem, itâs not a good time to start experimenting with spicy dishes. And, remember, chocolate has caffeine.
Ensure adequate exposure to natural light. This is particularly important for older people who may not venture outside as frequently as children and adults. Light exposure helps maintain a healthy sleep-wake cycle.
Establish a regular relaxing bedtime routine. Try to avoid emotionally upsetting conversations and activities before trying to go to sleep. Donât dwell on, or bring your problems to bed.
Associate your bed with sleep. Itâs not a good idea to use your bed to watch TV, listen to the radio, or read.
Make sure that the sleep environment is pleasant and relaxing. The bed should be comfortable, the room should not be too hot or cold, or too bright.
Please let me know how that chamomile helps. I have tried valerian root tea and it helps some. I still wake 3 to 4 times at night. Since stopping ERT, Iâm back to not sleeping at night. Thanks for the info.
Thanks for this list, @Brian_BSC; insomnia is a problem for me. I find that a warm shower helps, since my muscles seem to be really tense at bedtime. I observe all the items in the list except for one: I read a little every night, and sometimes I read most of the nightâI hate staring at the ceiling in a dark room!
Just know that if you are allergic to ragweed, you might be allergic to camomile tea and capsules. When we got our Keurig machine, it came with a bunch of coffee and tea samples. Later on I had a memory that I really liked one of the sleepy time teas and bought some camomile tea. I went ape with allergies. When I googled my reaction, I found out that my ragweed allergy probably made me allergic to camomile tea. Weird but true:-)
Your blood sugars are good and consistent. Talk with your MD about trying AMBIEN (prescription). Will give you 8 hours of sleep, no hangover. I would maybe worry if you were worried about going low during the night, but if that is not a concern, talk with MD about trying ambien. It has been v effective for me (very occasionally).
If you want to go the OTC route, lots of people use benedryl.
(And of course good sleep hygiene, but when youâre dealing with insomnia, it just builds on itself and can get out of control so quickly â I hope you get some relief soon!) Best, Jessica
EDITED: I canât believe I wrote IMITREX above before â that is my medication for migraines!! I use AMBIEN occasionally for sleep issues. Hope that you have found relief and are doing well!
Yup, Iâm being offered Mirtazapine the 2nd time for bad anxiety but refuse to go down that route due the weight gain issue (I have issues with eating disorders too, so the weight gain would be very triggering and severely distressing for me).
It has gotten very out of control! My doctor just prescribed Clonazepam. I will be picking it up today. Hopefully that works a little! I do wear a CGM too. We will see what happens tonight. Thanks for your input.
My sleep tracker tells me I slept only 3 hrs. last night with .5 mg Clonazepam. I will up the dosage tonight to 1mg. Hopefully that will help. I will keep you updated. I appreciate your support!!
Clonazepam is a benzo so be careful about getting addicted & difficulties coming off. Iâm prescribed diazepam, another benzo, but only take it when anxiety is baaaaad. Because it makes me drowsy it helps with sleep too. I had horrendous problems coming off Nardil (phenelzine) for panic attacks, took me several years to reduce the dose by minuscule amounts every month or so, until I was down to nothing! Otherwise I was getting all the old symptoms back and worse. Anyway, just sayinâ be careful do hope it helps.
This problem is really messing up my days! I feel like Iâve tried every kind of alternative treatment first. Taking a Rx for sleeping was the last choice. My days are full and sleeping is imperative for me with 3 grandchildren to care for. Clonazepam is working, so far. I will keep that in mind about getting addicted. I also just started back on my ERT. Maybe that will help soon. Menopause is a big problem too! This too shall pass.
I have tried the valerian tea, but not the capsules. I will try those. The clonazepam made me too groggy. I took .5 at bedtime. It still made me feel like a zombie:scream:
do hope it helps.