The inner nets can be used for good things too.
And no, I'm not about to hit people up for money so don't click onto Dooce just yet, that woman get's plenty of hits per day...sit with me a spell and engage me with your collective wisdom.
My daughter has been having trouble with insomnia lately. She is also not a fan of taking meds although I believe she's agreed to take a multi-vitamin since she doesn't drink milk and even though it would be a wonderful world if we could all eat enough ice cream to get our calcium, let's get real.
As usual, it's one thing to hear her talk about insomnia. It's another to see how she feels.
This is her...on no sleep. (This was also me about four months ago except I would have never looked that good in a dress).
She's working on taking more calcium but I know there are other ideas out there that might help her sleep. Ideas to relax the mind and the body.
Bueller? Bueller?
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9 comments:
I have used "progressive relaxation" in the past with success. You go through the body top to bottom or bottom to top, either way. Tense a muscle area for about 3 seconds and then relax it. Listening to soft, soothing music during this also helps. Incorporate this with deep breaths. Hope this helps.
GNC carries a supplement called Melatonin - it comes in a flavored pill that dissolves under the tongue. My Teen used to take ADD meds and they made it difficult for him to get to sleep. The Melatonin helped with no side-effects.
When I had trouble sleeping after my mother died, it helped to snuggle in bed with a hot-water bottle while listening to an inexpensive sound machine I found at Walgreens. Listening to crickets chirping, a rainshower, a heartbeat, crashing waves, or a bubbling brook helped sooth me enough to fall asleep.
This is exactly what I went through for years after being molested. I found a therapist that gave me the greatest idea. It sounds so dumb, but for me it works better than any drug out there. Simply place a picture of a stop sign in your head. After that is all you can see in your mind replace it with something you want or desire or dream of. BUT, make sure it is pleasant, not thoughts of revenge or anger etc. Making this fast as we are off the court again. But I hope this helps.
Tabatha
I didn't draw this, but yes. That is me.
I agree with the suggestion of progressive relaxation. I did it as part of cognitive behavioural therapy for my anxiety, and it did help me to sleep. (Of course, I'm on antidepressants, too.)
Second the melatonin and body relaxation, can sometimes work wonders. Also, not reading in bed before sleeping amazingly cured my "lie there awake for an hour, then wake up at three for the fuck of it". And if you can't sleep, don't lie there for hours letting your brain spin, get up, do something relaxing, then try again later. If you stay awake in bed staring at the ceiling all night, your body gets used to staying awake in bed all night...
Total folk medicine/bad memory here, but I read somewhere (don't remember where) that not falling asleep at the start is anxiety and waking up in middle of night is depression (even though tossing and turning feels like anxiety.) So calming stuff at bedtime but more imaging-control in wee hours. I'm sure there's a technical word for "thinking constructive thoughts and not following endless list of things to do, etc." to go back to sleep, but also don't remember that.
Russians use valerian (for sleep, don't know if to get to sleep or to not wake up.)
Not being able to sleep is a difficult thing. The melatonin before bed worked for me, but sometimes it's TOO powerful, and messed up my natural sleep patterns (as weird as they are). Check out
this article from CNN. There is some very good advice there.
I'm also checking into the blue-light blocking glasses and lightbulbs mentioned in the arty. I have no experience with them currently though.
The relaxation techniques other commenters have left are also on the money. Simply focusing on my breathing is usually enough to quiet my mind.
Not being able to sleep effectively is frustrating. I wish her success in solving the issue.
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