Aa
Insomnia
I have had intractable insomnia all my life, from early childhood. It is so severe now that I think it is life threatening, causing other severe health issues. I've been to sleep clinics and they are astonished by how little sleep I get. I've tried countless pharmaceuticals to no avail. My sleep hygiene is right. I do visualization and meditation....nothing is getting me to sleep. I welcome any and all suggestions...someone please help.
Thank you so much for your response. It is the evening of July 16 and I only received this notification today. I will buy iodine tomorrow and embark on the protocol you have presented.
20mg. of Ambien doesn't get me to sleep, and I've tried every neurological pharmaceutical on the market to no avail. I've been taking Xyrem for the last 1 & 1/2 years, and I only get a tiny bit of sleep with that.
I too know that this is physical and not psychological...I would lay awake all night as a toddler, and have had only minimal sleep during my entire life...I'm very excited by the information you've presented and can't wait to begin with it.
Thank you!
20mg. of Ambien doesn't get me to sleep, and I've tried every neurological pharmaceutical on the market to no avail. I've been taking Xyrem for the last 1 & 1/2 years, and I only get a tiny bit of sleep with that.
I too know that this is physical and not psychological...I would lay awake all night as a toddler, and have had only minimal sleep during my entire life...I'm very excited by the information you've presented and can't wait to begin with it.
Thank you!
I have not read the first reply because I wanted to answer you immediately. I suffered intractable insomnia for 30 years. It progressed to the point where it was life threatening, so I understand you completely. I felt the cause was physical, not psychological.
I accidental breakthrough saved my life. I developed an enormous craving for clams. My husband even learned how to open them. And I didn't even care if they came from polluted waters. I noticed that I occasionally slept for a couple of hours straight. The answer, or at least part of it, had to do with clams - IODINE. I immediately bought 5% Lugol's solution (potassium iodide) and took one drop each day from Monday to Friday (five drops in all). Slowly, very slowly, I regained my ability to sleep. But there were still deficits.
At some point I had my adrenals tested. I had cortisol that rose, rather than fell, during the day. I started on 2 grams of melatonin just before bedtime. I also started taking ashwagandha which tends to normalize cortisol. Note that before I took the iodine, the melatonin was ineffective.
The adrenal dysfunction sometimes led to panic attacks. For those I was given the lowest dosage of Xanax which I only took to ward off an attack.
I hope I am helping you. If you have any questions, ask away.
I accidental breakthrough saved my life. I developed an enormous craving for clams. My husband even learned how to open them. And I didn't even care if they came from polluted waters. I noticed that I occasionally slept for a couple of hours straight. The answer, or at least part of it, had to do with clams - IODINE. I immediately bought 5% Lugol's solution (potassium iodide) and took one drop each day from Monday to Friday (five drops in all). Slowly, very slowly, I regained my ability to sleep. But there were still deficits.
At some point I had my adrenals tested. I had cortisol that rose, rather than fell, during the day. I started on 2 grams of melatonin just before bedtime. I also started taking ashwagandha which tends to normalize cortisol. Note that before I took the iodine, the melatonin was ineffective.
The adrenal dysfunction sometimes led to panic attacks. For those I was given the lowest dosage of Xanax which I only took to ward off an attack.
I hope I am helping you. If you have any questions, ask away.
Hi! I am also a chronic insomniac and I totally understand how you feel. I still have sleep issues myself, hence my post to you at 2am.. lol, but maybe I will have some ideas you haven't tried. I usually take some sort of med to sleep but I am out right now.
When you try to sleep is it that your brain just keeps chattering? Not worry, just random thought topics? How do they get the paint lines on the road to stick and not chip off? Dumb stuff like that. I used to have that soooo badly, but I got put on medication for ADD. NOW, I am not normal, but for me, it chilled my brain out. I still had trouble sleeping, but the endless chatter was much less.
Not that I would EVER normally recommend this, but I was put on Remeron (anti-depressant if I remember correctly) and I was knocked down for 17 hours straight. I could not walk a straight line when I woke up, but I SLEPT. When you never sleep, it can be worth it.
Ok, non-med ideas!
I listen to crickets and thunderstorm sounds at night. There is a KILLER app on iPhone called AIO - All In One Sleepmaker. They have the best and most realistic nature sounds I have ever heard besides the real deal. I have ringing in my ears and it helps drown it out.
I also had a hypnosis cd that worked sometimes. The one I had was tailored for someone else (basically the recording had another person's name on it). It goes through the relaxing phases of relaxing your toes, feet, ankles, calves, knees, etc... You spend so much focus on relaxing along with the cadence of her speech and it helped quite a bit.
(I have to constantly switch up what I try to do, some things work a few times and some things work better)
Music that? has/is made of? THETA waves. Theta waves are the waves you have in the first onset of sleep. On Grooveshark (free music streaming website) songs listed as Theta wave songs. It helped a lot after I had my daughter. I found you a link to Theta wave music on You tube...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0psMPc9PQ8
or just type :Sleep Guaranteed! Piano with Pure Theta Waves" into You Tube.
LOL, the link looks so sketchy??!! I have not listened to this before, but I did a quick Google search and this popped up promising sleep.
Massage before bed. I know, yeah right, but if you are desperate and not broke it will work. IF you get someone who knows what they are doing. I had a massage once and came out feeling drunk b/c i was so relaxed. If you go to a trusted massage service, they often offer in home appointments (at least here) and that would be perfect. Ask the shop which massage therapist is able to give the most RELAXING massages. Some people are WAY better than others. But you should look half buzzed when you leave. LOL :)
Oh! Make your bed the MOST COMFORTABLE place on earth. TemperPedic beds are fab, but I can't afford one. I bought an awesome 4inch memory foam mattress topper, Big fluffy down comforter. The best pillows.
Lots of "hard labor" in the early part of the day. But that is hard to get into when you are already exhausted from lack of sleep.
Another idea that my dad does and works AMAZINGLY for him. He listens to podcasts on iTunes. He finds the most boring stuff he can find, pops in his super squishy comfy memory foam like earphones (Phillips brand - they are COZY). They have great stuff out there. Podcasts for coal mining in PA or financial review stuff. I had a great book by William Bushong on Radiation Physics. At night I would study laying on my back holding up that heavy book. Fell dead asleep 3 times, Each time I dropped a book on my face. But it was uncanny how it just knocked me out.
On a different note, Google your issue. My insomnia has no cure? Something like that. Change the words and such and you will find odd random info.
If you want write me back and tell me what you have tried. Have you ever tried Xanax? Or just Ambien and Lunesta like meds?
I feel your pain. When I was pregnant I would be stuck awake for up to 48 hours STRAIGHT. It was awful. I was so ill I wanted to scream.
I send you the best wishes and I hope you get relief soon!
When you try to sleep is it that your brain just keeps chattering? Not worry, just random thought topics? How do they get the paint lines on the road to stick and not chip off? Dumb stuff like that. I used to have that soooo badly, but I got put on medication for ADD. NOW, I am not normal, but for me, it chilled my brain out. I still had trouble sleeping, but the endless chatter was much less.
Not that I would EVER normally recommend this, but I was put on Remeron (anti-depressant if I remember correctly) and I was knocked down for 17 hours straight. I could not walk a straight line when I woke up, but I SLEPT. When you never sleep, it can be worth it.
Ok, non-med ideas!
I listen to crickets and thunderstorm sounds at night. There is a KILLER app on iPhone called AIO - All In One Sleepmaker. They have the best and most realistic nature sounds I have ever heard besides the real deal. I have ringing in my ears and it helps drown it out.
I also had a hypnosis cd that worked sometimes. The one I had was tailored for someone else (basically the recording had another person's name on it). It goes through the relaxing phases of relaxing your toes, feet, ankles, calves, knees, etc... You spend so much focus on relaxing along with the cadence of her speech and it helped quite a bit.
(I have to constantly switch up what I try to do, some things work a few times and some things work better)
Music that? has/is made of? THETA waves. Theta waves are the waves you have in the first onset of sleep. On Grooveshark (free music streaming website) songs listed as Theta wave songs. It helped a lot after I had my daughter. I found you a link to Theta wave music on You tube...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0psMPc9PQ8
or just type :Sleep Guaranteed! Piano with Pure Theta Waves" into You Tube.
LOL, the link looks so sketchy??!! I have not listened to this before, but I did a quick Google search and this popped up promising sleep.
Massage before bed. I know, yeah right, but if you are desperate and not broke it will work. IF you get someone who knows what they are doing. I had a massage once and came out feeling drunk b/c i was so relaxed. If you go to a trusted massage service, they often offer in home appointments (at least here) and that would be perfect. Ask the shop which massage therapist is able to give the most RELAXING massages. Some people are WAY better than others. But you should look half buzzed when you leave. LOL :)
Oh! Make your bed the MOST COMFORTABLE place on earth. TemperPedic beds are fab, but I can't afford one. I bought an awesome 4inch memory foam mattress topper, Big fluffy down comforter. The best pillows.
Lots of "hard labor" in the early part of the day. But that is hard to get into when you are already exhausted from lack of sleep.
Another idea that my dad does and works AMAZINGLY for him. He listens to podcasts on iTunes. He finds the most boring stuff he can find, pops in his super squishy comfy memory foam like earphones (Phillips brand - they are COZY). They have great stuff out there. Podcasts for coal mining in PA or financial review stuff. I had a great book by William Bushong on Radiation Physics. At night I would study laying on my back holding up that heavy book. Fell dead asleep 3 times, Each time I dropped a book on my face. But it was uncanny how it just knocked me out.
On a different note, Google your issue. My insomnia has no cure? Something like that. Change the words and such and you will find odd random info.
If you want write me back and tell me what you have tried. Have you ever tried Xanax? Or just Ambien and Lunesta like meds?
I feel your pain. When I was pregnant I would be stuck awake for up to 48 hours STRAIGHT. It was awful. I was so ill I wanted to scream.
I send you the best wishes and I hope you get relief soon!
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