Insomnia.......

[show 42]

One of my sons often works in the evenings and suffers now and then from insomnia. Does anyone have any suggestions.......maybe some type of self-help video or bio-feedback. He's tried over the counter meds such as "Simply Sleep", but they don't always do the trick. Any help would be great. Thanks! 42

 

[sk8m8]

hey 42, sorry to hear about the offspring's sleep loss.

there are two things I'd recommend.

1) though they took triptiphan off the market, there is a new formulation that you can get at nutrition shops. It has been tested and is safe and contains the same natural amino acid found in turkey and milk.

2) I've discovered that when I worked nights I had to be RIGOROUS about maintaining a schedule. It seems there's less of a tolerance for variance for folk on 3rd shift. Getting out of your routine will cause your adjusted biorythms to get all out of whack.

Hope this helped a little

your sk8m8, mark

 

[show 42]

Thanks Sk8m8.....that does help. He's worked nights for almost 5 years and it's really messed up his sleep schedule. I'll check out products at GNC tomorrow and see what I can come up with..........thanks again. 42

 

[Ladskater]

My husband has worked graveyard shift now for about twenty years and it has really taken a toll on his health. He as developed diabetes (type 2). One of the problems that can happen to shift workers. He often is sleep deprived and even on his days off never really adjusts. I try to get him to stick to a regular routine and regular meals, but it is difficult. Shift work is a killer. Hope your son is able to cope soon.

 

[show 42]

Thanks Lad.....He's the late shift manager for a restaurant so often he doesn't get home until 10 or 11 p.m. So that puts him in bed about three a.m. Hard to get up at the crack of dawn to do morning stuff with that schedule........42

 

[dlkksk8fan]

Show if your son gets home around 10pm or 11pm that still isn't too late to go to sleep at a earlier time then 3 am in the morning.

I like to drink a cup of chamomile tea and read before I go to bed. Those two things make me sleepy.

 

[show 42]

Hi dlk..........that's what I thought, but he said, "Mom, do you go to bed four hours after you get off work? " I get home at 4:00 p.m. Four hours later for me would be 8:00. That's the shank of the evening for me. I told him that he's got a point and that maybe he should look for a day job. He's had this job for three years and he loves it.............. :sheesh: 42

 

[Ptichka]

I try not to take any insomnia medication, but I do sometimes take an herbal pill - Valerian Root. It basically works by calming down one's nerves (great for panic situations as well).

 

[megsk8z]

I dislike drugs in general, having had enough of them in the 60's, but when I can't sleep I do one of 2 things:

I just stay up and do something with my time to take my mind off the fact that I'm NOT sleeping and then go to bed on time the next night. I just have to keep telling myself that losing one night's sleep isn't the end of the world. And wowzer, usually I sleep the next time I try.

If this happens to me more than 1 day in a row, then I take an Ambien. My doctor wrote me a prescription for them 6 months ago when I went into his office foaming at the mouth because I hadn't slept in 2 days. I got 10 of them and 6 months later, I still have most of them. I find them to be most helpful so long as I picture them as being in my house behind an "in case of emergency, break glass" kind of way.

Not sleeping stinks. I sympathize with anyone that has trouble with it.

 

[Dee4707]

I read a book on Self Hypnosis and one of the things I learned was to get comfortable and think or say over and over is sleep, sleep, sleep. I think it makes you focus on just one thing and it has helped quite a bit. I think it is comparable to counting sheep but when I do that I get silly and have the sheep falling all over the place and getting into fights.

The other thing I’ve tried is deep breathing. Breathing deeply through the nose and expel through the mouth. I think again it makes you focus on one thing.

Dee

 

[show 42]

I found a website that talked about deep breathing techniques, (I sometimes suffer from insomnia, gee I wonder if my son inherited the tendancy from me ? :sheesh: ). I have also found that a continual noise machine works for me (I have tinnitus, so I need continual background noise to block out the ear noise). My son uses fans in his bedroom, summer and winter. This works most of the time. On those bad nights, he usually stays up, has breakfast, business as usual, and then tries to take a nap before he heads for work at about 3 p.m. His apartment is in a pretty quiet neighborhood, luckily. 42