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Re: Trouble sleeping - please help » sb417

Posted by KaraS on September 10, 2004, at 17:06:11

In reply to Re: Trouble sleeping - please help » KaraS, posted by sb417 on September 10, 2004, at 1:37:13

Hi sb,

> Do you have trouble falling asleep? Or are you able to fall asleep easily but you can't stay asleep? Also, you mentioned that you got sick from Trazodone and Neurontin. Can you elaborate? In what way were you sick on those meds?

Both trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. Trazodone made me feel nauseous and it didn't go away even after a couple of months. Neurontin I only took once or twice and I just remember that I felt awful the next day. Maybe it's worth trying a smaller dosage. I wish I remembered how much of each I had taken but it was a long time ago.


> I also have a lot of sleep difficulties. I don't have trouble falling asleep, but I have a phase shift (delayed sleep phase syndrome), and lately I have some trouble staying asleep (probably hormonal). I have definitely not overcome my sleep problems, but the following things seem to help:

Delayed sleep phase syndrome - is that when you keep going to bed later and later because your natural clock is much longer than the normal 24 hours? What is diurnal variation and how does that fit into sleep issues? I like to stay up really late. It's the only time when I feel semi alive and have any energy and motivation so I always end up going to bed later and later. I wonder if that is actually what you're calling delayed shift?


> 1) Getting regular exercise fairly early in the day. It doesn't have to be first thing in the morning, but I think it helps to exercise before noon or 2 p.m. I've read that exercise suppresses melatonin for about 12 hours or so, so if you exercise too late, it might keep you up. Of course, I know many people who exercise after work and have no trouble falling asleep, so that is highly variable. For me, however, I find it's best to exercise between 30-40 minutes per day, no later than about 12-2 pm.

These days I'm so exhausted and out of it until later in the day. There's no way I can make myself move in the morning. I know it would be great for me so maybe once I start to feel better... I can do it.


> 2) Use the bright lights early in the morning.

I just got out the light box again and am going to get the light every morning.

> 3) Eat higher protein meals earlier in the day, and higher carbohydrate meals later in the day. I try to have a bedtime snack with carbohydrate and either milk or yogurt. I take my magnesium glycinate or magnesium citrate right before bed, too. If I'm feeling really "wired," I try to make sure I have a high carbohydrate dinner like pasta or pizza. That turns me into a slug, and I tend to sleep better when I'm a carbohydrate-laden slug. When I'm premenstrual, I allow myself some extra sweets, and the sweets seem to help me sleep better also.

I've been taking a high carb snack before bed but think it's probably good advice to have my dinner be high carbs as well. (Sugar gives me blood sugar problems so tends to disrupt my sleep.)


> 4) Take B vitamins during the day, but not too close to bedtime. I imagine a lot of people will disagree with me on this point, but I find that B vitamins too close to bedtime tend to wake me up, although a tiny chip of Vitamin B6 along with the magnesium can relax me.

Yeah, the Bs have to come earlier in the day. I find the same holds for the Multi. If I take the multi in the evening I can really feel the difference.


> 5) This next point is probably the most difficult. You have to be compulsive and rigid about bedtime and awake time. You have to set a schedule and be very strict. I think the idea is that if you're on a regular schedule and you force yourself to go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time, eventually you'll get tired enough to go to bed at the right time. I gather that you're still not on a regular routine as far as school or a job, so this can be difficult to put into practice, but it's worth a try.

I know. I've read this often enough but haven't been able to discipline myself. I think now that I'm so miserable and exhausted that I just might have what it takes to make that effort, though.


> 6)Is it possible that some of the supplements you're taking might be causing you to have difficulty sleeping?

I'm not really taking that much now and I pretty much know what's stimulating and what isn't so I don't think that's an issue.


> 7) Unfortunately, I have found that both late-night TV and late-night computer use (which I'm doing now) tend to be too stimulating. I think the lights from the TV and the computer can further suppress melatonin and wreak more havoc with the circadian rhythms. When I'm away from home and without my computer, I tend to go to bed much earlier.

Late night computer could be keeping me up as well. I'll try a cutoff time. In fact, for experiment's sake, I'll try not logging on or turning the tv on for a few nights.


> There are some other things I'll probably think of later, but I think item #5 is probably the most important one and the most difficult one to put into practice. I put up a lot of resistance to being rigid about bedtime and morning alarm time, but when I am strict about it, it really does seem to work. By the way, I posted on PB Books to you about two biographies that might interest you. These two are in addition to the Kitty Kelly book.

Thanks for your input. I'll check out the books.

Kara


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