Insomnia – Sleep better with Homeopathy

DO YOU SUFFER FROM INSOMNIA?

According to the Mayo Clinic, insomnia is a disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep, hard to stay asleep or both. With insomnia, one usually awakens feeling unrefreshed, which takes a toll on your ability to function during the day. In the long term, it takes a toll on health, work performance and quality of life.

Many adults experience insomnia at some point during their lifetime. Someone with chronic insomnia will experience poor sleep at least 3 times week continually over the period of a month. This is from a presentation given at Holistic Mom’s meeting Oct. 7, 2013, Pleasant Hill, CA.

WHAT PREVENTS RESTFUL SLEEP?

  • Persistent stress,
  • Depression,
  • Stimulants such as caffeine, alcohol, salt, and sugar,
  • Side effects of medication.
  • Keeping erratic hours; and
  • Hormonal Changes.

HOW MUCH SLEEP YOU REALLY NEED?

Sleep is especially important for children as it directly impacts mental and physical development. Most adults need 7.5 hours sleep. The National Sleep Foundation recommends different amount of sleep depending on age.

AGE RANGE AMOUNT OF SLEEP
Newborns (0 – 2 months) 12 to 18 hours sleep
Infants (3 – 11 months) 14 to 15 hours sleep
Toddlers (1 – 3 years) 12 to  14 hours sleep
Preschoolers (3 – 5 years) 11 to 13 hours sleep
School-age children (5 – 10 years) 10 to 11 hours sleep
Teens (10 – 17) 8.5 to 9.25 hours sleep
Adults 7 to 9 hours sleep

YOU CAN’T CATCH UP ON SLEEP

Getting extra sleep to overcome sleep deprivation may seem like the right thing to do, but a recent Harvard Medical School study found that it’s not that easy.

SHORT SLEEP DURATION CAN CAUSE PROBLEMS

  • Increased risk of motor vehicle accidents.
  • Increased body mass index – a greater likelihood of obesity due to an increased appetite caused by sleep deprivation.
  • Increased risk of diabetes and heart problems.
  • Increased risk for psychiatric conditions including depression and substance abuse.
  • Decreased ability to pay attention, react to signals or remember new information.

CHANGES THAT CAN HELP

Sometimes simple dietary and lifestyle changes can help a person achieve better sleep. It is best to try one change at a time and give it two to three weeks before trying another.

Suggestions for Dietary Changes

  • Avoid sugar or salted snacks before bed. Sugar and salt are both stimulants. If you need to have a snack before dinner have a high protein snack with a piece of fruit. The sugar of the fruit and protein provide balance.
  • Avoid caffeine completely including black tea.
  • Avoid alcohol. A glass of wine before bed might help you fall asleep but it can cause early-morning waking and can trigger hot flashes in a perimenopausal and menopausal woman.

Some Simple Life Style Changes To Try

  • Create a rhythm to your life. A routine to wind down at the end of the day can help us relax and be more receptive to sleep.
  • Take a warm Epson salt bath at night. Not only it will it help relax you, it will help pull toxins out of your body. Even a foot bath will do.
  • Engage in relaxing activity before sleep meditation or CDs.
  • Be in bed before 11 pm. One’s natural biorhythms can be interrupted by staying up late at night making if more difficult to fall asleep. I often have client’s whose natural hormonal activity is disrupted making sleep difficult. Such disruptions include adrenal fatigue, low thyroid, reversed cortisol or serotonin cycles. Self-care paying attention to diet, exercise, and relaxation can help keep these disturbances from ever happening in the first place.
  • Lying in bed worrying or thinking of things you need to accomplish will get you know where. Make a list of all the things you think about before you go to bed. Remind yourself that you will not forget and trust that will know how to deal with them in the morning. Having a list will help you know that you won’t forget. If you remember something that didn’t make it on the list, dismiss it. It probably wasn’t that important after all.
  • Experiment with white noise and natural noise devices.
  • Sleep in complete darkness. But get enough natural sunlight during the day.
  • EMFs can disturb sleep. Remove cell phones phone and other electronics from your room. Anything with a lit LED can be emitting EMFS. Are cell phones safe?
  • Sit and do nothing for 15 minutes a day no reading, watching TV, phone, thinking, etc. It is simple, just sit in your favorite chair. It takes self-discipline to do nothing for 15 minutes, you may have to work up in smaller intervals. When the time is up, check out how you feel. Do you feel the same as when you started? What a treat to allow yourself the luxury of doing nothing!
  • Sometimes certain flower essences can help one sleep. One available at most health food stores is called Rescue Sleep by Bach Flower.

MODEL GOOD HABITS TO CHILDREN

Relaxation game, this can be a game you can do with your children lie in bed and bring awareness to different parts of your body and let the tension go. Start with your toes, feet, ankles, calves, knees, etc. Take a deep breath into the area you are focusing on and when you release feel all the tension drain.

WHEN TO SEE A HOMEOPATH FOR HELP OVERCOMING INSOMNIA

    1. If lifestyle changes don’t help.
    2. If you have had sleep issues for a long time and/or are taking sleeping pills. This is considered a chronic health problem.
    3. If you have chronic insomnia.
    4. If you cannot implement lifestyle changes due to lack of energy, poor mood, feeling overwhelmed, high stress, etc.

HOMEOPATHY MAY BE FOR YOU

Insomnia may just be the tip of the iceberg of deeper issues. There could be deep imbalances in your body that make you experience insomnia or other symptoms.

Right remedy homeopathy can gradually lift these issues and start to sleep and feel better.

Homeopathy uses homeopathic remedies that are made from minute doses of natural substances which have been diluted and succussed (succussed = rapidly shaken with a jolt at the end of each shake). When choosing a homeopathic remedy, the symptom picture of that remedy should match the totality of a person’s symptoms. This is called the “Law of Similars.” Homeopathy works by eliciting the body’s own natural healing response.

HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES YOU CAN TRY

There are several combination homeopathic remedies that may be available at some grocery and natural health food stores such as Calms Forte from Hyland’s, Tissue A from Luyties. Maybe useful short term but do not get to the root of the problem.

There are also some single remedies that may be useful. Choose the one that has the symptoms that are the closest match.

Coffea Cruda, a homeopathic remedy made from coffee, and help a person if sleep is prevented from many spinning thoughts. Think of a study staying up all night drinking coffee to study, and then has trouble going to sleep.

Nux Vomica, a homeopathic remedy made from a plant called the poison-nut. Symptoms are a loss of sleep due to thoughts about what you have to do. Also may benefit if you are a light sleeper, sensitive to noise, and wakes up at 3-4 am. A person needing this remedy tends to be irritable and impatient, competitive. Can also help if a person has insomnia after abuse of sleeping pills or alcohol. Someone needing this remedy may also have constipation.

Ignatia amara (St. Ignatius’s bean) helps insomnia due to grief or resentment over the loss of a loved one. The person needing Ignatia may be heard sighing, sobbing, or just have a changeable mood. They may or may not cry.

Stamonium, or Datura, is for insomnia due to intense nervous excitement, restless sleep with mental disturbances. The common remedy used to relieve night terrors.

HOW TO TAKE A REMEDY

Homeopathy is safe for children, infants, and adults. For self-care, I think it is best to use any of the following potencies 30X, 12C, 6C, or 30C. Take one pellet before bed. If you wake up you can take another. If in 3 days the remedy has not helped, STOP. It is not the right remedy. Taking more of the wrong remedy will not help.

TAKING AND CARING FOR HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES

Put the pellet under your tongue and let it dissolve on its own. It is best to refrain from eating, drinking – even water, brushing teeth or otherwise adding flavors to your mouth for at least 15 minutes before and after taking a homeopathic remedy. Do not touch the pellets with your fingers. Store unused remedies in their original container with the lid tightly closed and put them in a cool, dark location. A kitchen cupboard is good.

WHEN TO SEE HELP OF A PROFESSIONAL?

When you have tried everything and still not getting the sleep you need. Contact me. I can help you get a good night’s sleep.

SOURCES

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER)
National Sleep Foundation
TheStopSnoringExerciseProgram.com

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Myra Nissen, CCH

Copyright © 2013 –, Myra Nissen.
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This article was brought to you by Myra Nissen, CCH, RSHom(NA), Board Certified Classical Homeopath. Myra teaches women how to recognize their body’s unique needs and cues and uses Homeopathy to help empower women to take control of their bodies, health and well-being. Find out more, visit her blog www.myranissen.com/blog.

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