Natural sleep remedy?
08 Dec 2009
I am a very bad sleeper. I’m always waking up, going to the bathroom, tossing and turning, and I rarely get a full night’s sleep.
I’m getting a little tired of spending money on pills that don’t seem to work.
Does anyone have any suggestions for a natural remedy, or some other effective method that would help me sleep better?
Thank you!
Edit - I’d also like to add that I invested in a very nice mattress, new pillows, and that doesn’t seem to help.
You don’t say why you can’t sleep, but for most people it’s because they can’t switch off, and stop thoughts racing around inside their head. If that’s the case, I have a couple of remedies that might sound a bit silly, but they work a treat for me.
The first is the thought chest. You imagine a big chest (no, not that kind 
- like a pirate’s chest). You grab all the thoughts that are racing about in your head (I imagine them as bits of paper flying around) and you stuff them into the chest, slam the lid shut with a satisfying thud and lock it. OK, now you can think any other thoughts except the ones you have put into the chest.
It takes a bit of mental discipline, but it’s surprisingly easy. If any of those thoughts creep out, grab them and stuff them back in there.
The second one works for worries about work and finances that keep a lot of us awake. You imagine work, or your bank account, or whatever, is a computer game, and you have hit the pause button. There is a big red PAUSE on the screen. Nothing is happening, and nothing is going to happen, so you can walk away and leave it until the morning.
It also helps to ask yourself - Is my bank manager / boss / accountant / teacher lying awake planning what they are going to say to me tomorrow? No, they are not, they are sleeping soundly, so that’s what I’m going to do!
I also find hot chocolate with a considerable amount of rum works quite well, and it goes quite well with the pirate’s chest!
3 Responses
2009 Dec 08
There are certain foods which improve our sleep. These foods are rich in trytophan. Tryptophan is the amino acid that the body uses to make serotonin, the neurotransmitter that slows down nerve traffic and lulls us into restful sleep. Eating carbohydrates rich in trytophan makes this calming amino acid more available to brain.
Foods containing trytophan that aid sleep are
. Milk
. Cheese
. Curd
. Potato
. Wheat
. Seafood
. Beans
. Sesame seeds
. Oatmeal
. Apricots
. Bananas
Tip: Avoid eating junk food and highly refined food at night because fibre-rich food increases serotonin availability, but processed carbs over stimulates insulin, which leads to disturbed sleep.
Other Bed time snacks can include:
. Whole grain cereal with milk
. Ice-cream
. Seasame seeds
. Oatmeal or rasin cookies
Tip: Lighter meals are more likely to give you a good night’s sleep.
References :
http://www.soundsleeping.com/2005/10/foods-that-aid-sleep.html
2009 Dec 08
Maby you have insomnia. Its pretty common i believe. Go to your doctor, i know people who have this, went to their doctor, he prescribed Ambein I believe. I have this problem, unisom works well for me.
References :
2009 Dec 08
You don’t say why you can’t sleep, but for most people it’s because they can’t switch off, and stop thoughts racing around inside their head. If that’s the case, I have a couple of remedies that might sound a bit silly, but they work a treat for me.
The first is the thought chest. You imagine a big chest (no, not that kind
- like a pirate’s chest). You grab all the thoughts that are racing about in your head (I imagine them as bits of paper flying around) and you stuff them into the chest, slam the lid shut with a satisfying thud and lock it. OK, now you can think any other thoughts except the ones you have put into the chest.
It takes a bit of mental discipline, but it’s surprisingly easy. If any of those thoughts creep out, grab them and stuff them back in there.
The second one works for worries about work and finances that keep a lot of us awake. You imagine work, or your bank account, or whatever, is a computer game, and you have hit the pause button. There is a big red PAUSE on the screen. Nothing is happening, and nothing is going to happen, so you can walk away and leave it until the morning.
It also helps to ask yourself - Is my bank manager / boss / accountant / teacher lying awake planning what they are going to say to me tomorrow? No, they are not, they are sleeping soundly, so that’s what I’m going to do!
I also find hot chocolate with a considerable amount of rum works quite well, and it goes quite well with the pirate’s chest!
References :