Sleep Deprived

[mlbcheller]

I've never slept well and haven't really slept through the night in over 20 yrs. It is routine for me to take an over the counter sleep aid so I can at least get some rest. I'm unsure if I should stop taking the sleep aid during the W30 and suffer through the the month or if I should continue to take my slepping pill? Suggestions, input, advice.

Yes, I have tried EVERYTHING natural over the years and nothing had ever worked.

[Shelli]

Hi- So sorry to hear about your sleep or lack there of. I too have suffered from insomnia for a long time, fortunately not with the consistency or length that you have.

I hope some of the advanced members can help you... I will be tuning in to hear their opinions.

Peace and rest be with you!

[Megan Claydon]

mlbcheller, I would advise doing A whole 30 without the sleep aid. I understand going without can create an enormous amount of anxiety and stress, but you can't live you life dependent on sleep aids. Fixing your sleep takes dedication (just like changing your food choices). Getting sleep in order is not something that will correct itself quickly either. There could be numerous things effecting you so it going to take patience and dedication.

Personally, if it were me, I would do my first whole 30 with the sleeping pill, but doing everything in my power to improve sleep habits. Even repeat old things that didn't work before, make a routine and stick to it come hell or high water.Then I would follow up immediately with a second whole 30 without any sleep aid.

Get rid of technology (blue light) at least an hour before bed

Try supplementing with melatonin and natural calm (magnesium) before bed

Drink a relaxing tea

Read a book

Keep us updated and keep posting about progress.

[Krista Billows Rodriguez]

This month's real simple magazine had a great article about sleep hygiene, the author was a life long insomniac. I'm saving it...to try to fix my son's sleep, he was a terrible sleeper right from the womb. They might have the article on line. Good luck with this, not getting quality sleep is so debilitating.

[Michaela Elmore Cogswell]

I agree with Megan, at the bare minimum I'd get a week or two into the Whole 30, but probably best to get 30 days in with the sleep aid and then work on moving into dropping the sleep aid. Is it possible wean yourself gradually off it when the time comes? That might help with some of the anxiety of that change.

Best of luck!

[mlbcheller]

Thanks so much everyone for the input. I made it 3 days without using anything but had to by the 4th day. I will keep trying. One of my reasons for doing the W30 is my insomnia.

[Megan Claydon]

Hey that seems pretty good..I'm sure before long you will be able to go longer and longer in between needing the sleep aid

[CaseyD]

I had insomnia for years, depended on Ambien for 3 of those years and just came off almost a year of sleep aid after the insomnia suddenly returned last February. Throw the sleep aid away and don't look back. Seriously, get it out of the house. You have developed a dependency on it and now have to break that. You can't do that if it is in the house.

Do you practice good sleep hygiene? I had to learn this. Here is what I Have done:

Darkened my room. That was not easy as my bedroom is a sun room and all the walls are floor to ceiling windows. We now have foil along one side of this room and created removable covers for the rest of the windows. That also means cover all lights, no matter how small.

Set a reasonable bedtime and stuck with it. Until recently, I was going to bed allowing for 9 or 10 hours. That gave me room to wake up for an hour or two in the night.

I use white noise. That took a while to perfect as I am very sensitive to variations in the noise.

I actually moved my husband out of the bedroom because he was disturbing my sleep. We are both happier with this arrangement.

Experiment with what I eat or don't eat a couple hours before bedtime. Fruit at night I'd terrible for me, but sweet potato is great for example.

If I can't fall back asleep at night, I get up and read in low light. No computers or cell phones, just a book. After an hour or so I go back to sleep. I find it is better to make the night waking feel invited and not stress about not sleeping. I actually got to a point where I cherished this time. Now I sleep through the night, so I kind of miss it.

Turn off t.v., phone screen and computer at least an hour before bed. For a time you may want to just avoid this stuff after the sun goes down and step outside instead. That helps so much to get back to falling asleep on your own.

This seems like a crazy list, but breaking a habit on sleep aid is stressful and really requires new sleep habits. It is worth it though. My sleep aid was actually ruining my days more than I ever realized. Really, setting yourself up by eating clean and adopting good sleep hygeniene will make getting away from that stuff so much easier. I now can sleep a solid 8 hours every night, even of we were running around until 11 pm. I didn't think I'd ever stop waking up for hours in the night without sleep aid, but now I can.

[CaseyD]

Oh yes, and I don't use caffeine anymore at all.

[Lizitea]

This book really worked amazingly well for my husband

http://www.amazon.com/Good-Night-Insomnia-Gregg-Jacobs/dp/0805089586

[Lizitea]

This doctor -- the author of the above book -- is what worked well for my husband.

he has a five week program, for like 35 dollars, where he reviews your sleep and teaches new behavoirs

 

it worked !!! he had very bad insomnia and then never did again

 

http://www.cbtforinsomnia.com/