Question:
'Cure' for Insomnia?
Answer:
That depends a lot on what causes the insomnia in the first place.
What first comes to my mind is a better mattress (I mean that)
and some sort of psychotherapy. Also it has helped myself to
be sure to use my body during the day (bicycling, swimming, whatever),
so I'm physically tired when I go to bed.
I'd say you need a cure pretty bad.
My suggestion is lay off the protein (meat, eggs, dairy) and vitamin pills
during the second half of the day. Having precursors to neurotransmitters,
etc. floating around in the bloodstream seems to excite the brain and
cause insomnia. I find that eating a large meal of meat shortly before
bedtime reliably results in a sleepless night.
I've always had 'mildly' insomnia--it takes me between one and two
hours to fall asleep. I have never taken sleeping pills or syrup because it
seems like it could become a terrible habit. Yet, sometimes it is important
that I get a good night's sleep (no, going to bed two hours earlier doesn't
help this, it just means I'll be awake for four hours instead of two.) I've
tried all the normal things, relaxing, reading, not worrying about falling
asleep (really!) and it doesn't seem to help.
I found a local pharmacy (I'm in Belgium) a supposedly completely
homeopathic (i.e., not a drug) sedative called Sedinal, containing (uh, this
is in French, but I think it's probably the same thing) crataegi oxyacanth,
ballotae foetid, passiflorae incarnat, and natural saccharin. Two questions:
1) Is there any way this can actually work? 2) Could this be addictive,
bad in the long run, etc.? I have trouble imagining that a favorable response
to both questions--how could something that actually works to put you to sleep
not have a bad side?
I've always had 'mildly' insomnia ... I found a local pharmacy (I'm in
Belgium) a supposedly completely homeopathic (i.e., not a drug) sedative
called Sedinal, containing (uh, this is in French, but I think it's
probably the same thing) crataegi oxyacanth, ballotae foetid, passiflorae
incarnat, and natural saccharin. Two questions: 1) Is there any way this
can actually work? 2) Could this be addictive, bad in the long run, etc.?
I have trouble imagining that a favorable response to both questions--how
could something that actually works to put you to sleep not have a bad side?
To answer your questions:
1) Try it and see. If this particular formula doesn't help you, try
another homeopathic combination for insomnia. There are several,
each with different formulations. I found that one homeopathic
combination medicine for insomnia helped me. Although seeing a
homeopathic doctor put an end to my insomnia for good.
2) Allopathic medicines work by modifying the biochemical mechanisms in
your body. Because all these mechanisms are interconnected,
allopathic medicines cause side effects to a greater or lesser
degree. No one really knows how homeopathic medicines work. But
because they do not modify your body's biochemistry, they do not
produce the kind of side effects allopathic medicines do.
Homeopathic medicines do sometimes cause side effects, but usually
only with repeated doses or high potencies. They are not addictive.
If you follow the directions on the label, you should not
experience any problems, and even if you do, discontinuing the
medicine will resolve the problem.
