Question:
I have tried trazodone, melatonin, hydroxyz pam to help me sleep. Rarely worked. Any ideas on natural remedies that can help me sleep?
Answer:
Firstly, always consult your main healthcare providers (doctor, psychiatrist etc.) for general or specific advice about your medication and how it is affecting you.
Trazodone is an antidepressant. Hydroxyzine pamoate is an antihistamine. But they are often prescribed for insomnia symptoms.
Trazodone works by balancing the levels of serotonin in the brain.
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps us to sleep as well as regulating our mood and appetite. You can also release more serotonin by taking simple exercise in the mornings or early afternoons. It doesn’t have to be strenuous exercise (walking, aerobics, cycling etc.) This helps to stabilise our moods. Plus we can eat foods which are a natural source of serotonin.
Physical relaxation techniques may also help if anxiety is a factor that is keeping you awake. Sometimes if we focus only on relaxing the physical body, the mind and emotions will naturally follow suit.
I’ll also refer you to an earlier blog post which outlines foods that contain natural sources of melatonin.
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Question:
I’ve been having problems sleeping for about 9 months now. I don’t have a particularly stressful lifestyle. I never drink coffee. I don’t exercise or work on my laptop late at night. I have a warm bath and read before bed. I think I’m following all the sleep hygiene recommendations but I still can’t sleep.
Answer:
You say you read before going to bed. What kind of books do you read? Reading can keep your mind mentally stimulated and make it difficult for your brainwaves to move into the alpha state of mind that induces sleep – especially if you’re reading a gripping thriller.
Instead of reading before going to bed, you may want to try listening to an audio book in the dark instead. That way, your eyes and brain aren’t engaged in quite the same way.
Or instead of listening to an audio book, try listening to slow classical music instead – like Mozart’s adagios, for example. A recent study showed that listening to classical music for 45 minutes each night before going to sleep helped insomnia sufferers to gradually increase their ability (week by week) to fall asleep more quickly and stay asleep for longer.
Register for the Free Online “Get More Sleep Seminar” Series for more holistic tips to beat insomnia
Question:
Previously I’ve been on a sleeping medication to help with my sleep as well as my mood swings. Recently my doctor has changed me to antidepressants for my moods plus a separate medication to help me sleep. This has given me really bad influenza type symptoms. I also feel very isolated. Sometimes I feel as if everyone is out to get me. I don’t know whether this is due to the medication or down to my anxiety. I experience extreme highs and lows. But other times I feel numb as if everything is pointless.
Answer:
1) Talk to your doctor and ask if it’s possible to try a different combination of medication.
2) Daily exercise such as a 30 minute walk or a bicycle ride (especially early in the morning) will help to boost the “feel good” chemicals in your brain in a natural way and help to stabilise the mood swings.
3) Keeping a daily log or journal where you record your moods, the type of food you eat each day and the specific thoughts that triggered off a particular mood may help you to monitor the causes of your mood swings, your anxiety and the feeling that things are pointless. What are the specific triggers or memories? After about a week or two, see if you can find any patterns between what you ate and thought and the moods that you experienced.
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Question:
I’ve only slept 13 hours in the past 4 weeks. I’ve had problems sleeping since I was eight but lately it’s gotten worse because I’m going through a difficult time. I’ve taken melatonin which only works for a couple of hours, then I wake up. I was prescribed ambien but this caused me to hallucinate which was pretty scary. I’ve tried strenuous exercise, herbal teas and changing what I eat. But nothing works.
Answer:
You say that you’re going through a difficult time at the moment. Is this stress related to dealing with other people, studying for exams or work?
Practising physical but gentle relaxation techniques in the afternoon or evenings will help to reduce your stress and also help your brain to secrete more melatonin naturally.
You say that melatonin supplements only work for you for a couple of hours. Have you also tried eating foods that are a natural source of melatonin such as:
- tomatoes
- cherries
- sweet corn
- walnuts
These foods all contain small amounts of melatonin.
Also, to increase your levels of melatonin naturally, you may want to avoid using equipment in the late evenings that delay the natural production of melatonin in your brain (such as laptops, PCs, mobiles etc.)
Strenuous exercise is not always helpful especially if you exercise in the late afternoon or evening. It raises your heart rate and your body temperature and these physiological changes will make it difficult for you to fall asleep.
However since you have been experiencing these problems since you were eight, you may want to explore what was going on in your life when you were eight and if it’s a situation that is still going on for you now. Often the solution to insomnia lies in the cause.
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Register for the Free “Get More Sleep Seminar” Series for more holistic tips to beat insomnia
I recently created a page (or lens) on Squidoo about the human body clock. Visit the page now if you’d like more information about how the body clock works and how it can help you to get more sleep.
http://www.squidoo.com/human-body-clock
Help for Insomnia, Q & A | Chantelle | 
March 18, 2011 11:15 am | 
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