Question:
For the past three years I have beeen plagued by insomnia. I wake up
arounf three or four AM and can't get back to sleep. I'm 39, in good
health - mental and physical. Eat mostly vegetarian. The insomnia does
not seem to be diet related.
Any suggestions?
Answer:
Homeopathic Remedies:
coff., lyc., nux-v., rhus-t., sulph., all wake at 3 and 4 am. along with
about 30 others. Try a combination homeopathic remedy or see someone that
can help you pin point a remedy.
You should try to get some other sx. to narrow the field. Also, since
homeopathy is usually prescribed based on individualization you should try
to get some help on this. Some first aid type books have been listed
previously.
As far as I can tell, this seems to be a symptom of blood sugar going
down during the night. Try eating some protein right before you go
to bed. And make sure to get regular meals at regular hours including
a mid-afternoon snack. Avoid sugar (even, for example, in fruit that has
a lot of sugar in it like bananas) and caffeine.
For insomnia valerian root is often a help..it relaxes the body enough
for sleep; take about 10 drops. Also try ignatia imara; that'll fix it
for sure, especially if it's stress related. Take 5 pellets under the
tongue: zonk city, you'll see....
The most famous remedy for awaking at 3 and 4 am.... is nux. v. Since
ignatia and nux v. are quite close because of the strictnine.....I would
suggest trying the nux v. first. There is a big difference between
insomnia and awaking at 4 a.m.
There are at least 200 insomnia remedies. The beauty of homeopathy is
that there can be something specific to it.
I also have heard that valerian root must be absolutely fresh or there is
a possibility of side effects. One health food store that I know won't
sell it unless it is in tincture. Any feed back on this?
Good results have been obtained with a behavioural approach. The rules are as
follows:
1. No reading, working, watching television, or eating in the bedroom.
2. Don't stay in bed awake for more than 15 minutes; after this time get up and
leave the bedroom.
3. Adjust the time you spend in bed to be equal to the average amount of time
spent asleep in the previous week.
