[acb-hsp] Sleep

[J.Rayl]

Hi.  I have studied natural remedies for years.  As many of you know, I am 
not into conventional medicines although I have studied them extensively as 
well--now completing ten hours of psychopharmacotherapy as well.
I have never taken the number of conventional sleep aides that many of my 
clients have, having watched their horror stories and addictions to all of 
the anxieolytics including Klonopin, Xanax, Ativan and others in that 
family--and I don't wish to be one of the many.  If they're not doing that, 
they're destroying their liver and kidneys with Tylenol and other stuff and 
alcohol.  No, sorry, not me.
I've been prescribed, as I"m sure one can imagine, any number, given my DX 
of Bipolar, and have refused all of them after taking it for a period of 
time only to find it either makes any symptoms I had worse, does nothing at 
all or I develop side effects I never had to begin with and they want to 
prescribe yet another drug.
I developed my incessant, and persistent, sleep disorder shortly after 
losing my eyes when I was 11.5 month old.  So between that and Bipolar / 
ADHD, I have learned to just "deal".  There are, literally, days, well 
nights <LOL> that I go without sleep only to sleep days when I can.  I've 
learned to take cat naps, do what I can.  Nevertheless, I've gotten degrees, 
worked and have been quite functional.  So, its obviously possible.
I've found that fighting sleep is not going to work.  I can put my body into 
a deep relaxation and sometimes achieve actual sleep, sometimes not, but at 
least I achieve a restful state which gets me through the next period of 
whatever I need to do.

To your question of calcium-magnesium and sleep?  Yes.  This supplement can, 
indeed, be very helpful for those who are deficient.  First, however, you 
need to determine that you are, in fact, deficient in those minerals--and 
you probably are to some extent, especially magnesium because its not an 
easy one to get and most of us do not.  But people who have problems with 
thinning nails, or nails that break and chip, hair that is thinning and 
breaks, skin problems, bones that break or just aren't strong, muscle 
cramping or stiffness--you are deficient in calcium and magnesium.
And, you also need vitamin D (dog).
The reason for this is that one will not work without the other.  In other 
words, its not going to work just to take magnesium, or vitamin D or 
Calcium.  You've got to get them all, and get them all in correct amounts. 
And to do that, you'll need to get it from a quality health food store or 
nutritionist.  Then, you've got to expose yourself--like your skin, to real 
natural sunlight or a tanning bed for at least a significant period of the 
day.  Otherwise, you're taking in the supplements, digesting it and peeing 
it right out--because they are water solubles.

Hope that helps.
Jessie Rayl
thedogmom63 at frontier.com
www.facebook.com/Eaglewings10
www.pathtogrowth.org

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Osmond Kwan" <osmond81 at gmail.com>
To: "Discussion list for ACB human service professionals" <acb-hsp at acb.org>
Sent: Sunday, August 26, 2012 8:58 PM
Subject: Re: [acb-hsp] Sleep


Hi Carmella,

I was debating on whether or not to reply to you off list but at the
same time recognize that there are possibly others who wrestle with
insomnia as it is a problem that impacts an estimated one out of three
Americans.

In my clinical mental health internship, there were two clients in my
CBT groups who fell asleep a few minutes into the class and it would
happen quite regularly. I had never known how pervasive insomnia is
until now.

I had good sleep most of my life up until about 3 or four years ago. I
almost always got eight to ten hours and woke up late morning as a
college student. All of a sudden I struggle going to sleep, then
waking up two or three times in the middle of the night and struggling
to go back to sleep. I haven’t felt rested in years.

I just began looking at melatonin and wasn’t sure about its side
effects and long term use. I too am interested in a natural remedy. I
was looking at vitamins and just last night randomly was looking for
an organic form of calcium and the product reviews say that it helps
with sleep. A google search with the words insomnia and calcium brings
up articles on the use of calcium for insomnia and a product called
sleep mineral. I too have read several books on insomnia which include
medical and herbal products. I have never heard of calcium and
magnesium as a sleep aid.

I have not personally tried using this specific product or calcium as
a sleep aid. I was wondering if anyone has tried using calcium for
their insomnia.

I apologize if this is off topic for the list and welcome any
suggestion as to where this discussion can be better fitted.

Thanks,
Osmond





On 8/26/12, Sharon <mt281820 at comcast.net> wrote:
> I've found naturalhypnosis.com Insomnia mp3 quite helpful.
>
> Sharon
>
>
>
>   _____
>
> From: acb-hsp-bounces at acb.org [mailto:acb-hsp-bounces at acb.org] On Behalf 
> Of
> Carmella D Broome
> Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2012 12:02 AM
> To: acb-hsp at acb.org
> Subject: [acb-hsp] Sleep
>
>
>
> I've struggled with insomnia for years. I can vividly remember having
> problems with it since elementary school. I do have light perception and
> have to wear sunglasses outdoors when the sun is out due to    light
> sensitivity so its not like I have no awareness of day vs night due to 
> lack
> of ability to discern light.  I'd like tohave a sleep study done at some
> point, although  a lot of people  say they feel those are a waste of time.
> I know it couldn't hurt, though, and maybe they'd  come up with something.
> I
> know that anxiety and depression due fun things to sleep, too, and I have
> problems with both.
>
>
>
> I know my sleep habits aren't good.  As in, I  don't  keep a great 
> routine,
> go to sleep with the TV on, don't get enough exercise, and so on.  I've
> taken OTC, herbal, and prescription meds  for years.
>
>
>
> OTC stuff has little to no impact on me now because I took it so often
> during college. It might work  for one night once in a great while, but
> that's about it.  That includes Tylenol PM,Benodryl, and Ni-quyl. OTC 
> stuff
> is okay for occasional short term use,  a few days maybe.  That's what's
> recommended on the  labels, too.  I definitely  overused them when I was
> younger. They're not recommended for long-term use and  lots of them
> contain
> antihystamines or other agents, such as pain relievers and are being taken
> just for sleep when there's more in them than that.
>
>
>
> I have taken mellatonin. It helped for a while, but  my Dad got me
> concerned
> about  lack of long-term studies and lack of  FDA regulation.   I also 
> read
> that  mellatonin could contribute to depression, which I've dealt with on 
> a
> clinical level, so I stopped taking it.
>
>
>
> I took it for a while (as in several weeks at least) before I  felt like 
> it
> was helping me at all. I found that it  helped promote more natural sleep.
> As in,  if I   was relaxing and  being still  and reading or other  wind
> down before sleep behaviors, I would start to feel  sleepy naturally. It
> didn't feel like a drugged sleep and  I didn't feel sleepy the next day. I
> did find that I would wake up in the   middle of the night still, so I
> would
> take  another one right before going to sleep to  delay that. I did find
> that I had  some vivid dreams while taking it. That may have been because 
> I
> was getting deeper sleep but it was kind of weird. I had a lot of night
> sweats when I was taking it. I don't  know if that was the mellatonin or
> for
> other reasons, but at the time, I felt it was the mellatonin.
>
>
>
> I've also tried that flower  essence   spray on your tongue stuff. I think
> its called Rescue Remedy.  It was  supposed to help anxiety and sleep.  No
> results of any kind. No side effects that I know of either.  Nothing. 
> I've
> done the camamille and Sleepy Time teas. They're  relaxing in that 
> drinking
> hot tea sort of way, but that's about it. I tried some other herbal thing
> that was supposed to be  a combination of sleep promoting natural
> ingredients.  I want to say it was called Sleep MD, but I'm not positive
> about that.  It was these big pills like vitamins. They smelled and tasted
> funny and  I didn't find that they helped me sleep.
>
>
>
> I've taken the older meds like Trazedone and  another similar old med.  No
> results.  I tried Vistoril, which I think is sort of similar to Benodryl.
> No  help there either. I took ambien. It  gave me  vivid psychadelic type
> hallucinations.  Totaly trippy and entertaining, but it didn't help me
> sleep. I take Lunesta now.  It does okay.  Some nights better than others.
> I haven't tried any other newer prescription  stuff.
>
>
>
> I know one of my problems is that I often fight sleep.  I don't know if 
> its
> a control thing or what, but my brain   doesn't like to shut off and let 
> me
> relax.   I've gotten to where, for something beyond a nap, I have to
> almost
> feel  unable to stay awake I'm so drowsy.  I have to take something that
> will pretty muchh "knock me out." I know that's not natural  nor is it
> healthy.
>
>
>
> I know a fair number of my clients use alcohol to help them sleep.  We all
> know why that's generally a bad idea. Personally, it makes me more
> restless.
> Others use  Xanax or adavan on a regular basis for sleep.  With any of
> those, addiction issues can be a concern.
>
>
>
> I  think breathing and relaxation exercises can be of some help. I also
> have heard of an  ap for the IPhone for insomnia that varies the   script
> and  music or  relaxing sounds so the  user doesn't  get bored or able to
> predict what's coming next.  Its supposedly able to tap into brain  waves
> to
> get to the ones that help promote sleep.  I haven't used it so I don't 
> know
> if its helpful or not.
>
>
>
> I wrote a paper on insomnia in college and did a presentation on it that
> was
> basically an update on that paper last year at a lunch and learn CEU thing
> for other  MH professionals.   I read an interesting book on the subject a
> little while back called "Wide Awake."  I downloaded it from BookShare. It
> was a journalist's memoir of  trying  to findhelp for her own insomnia. 
> She
> investigated some related sleep stuff, as well, went to conferences,
> talked
> to experts, interviewed other people with sleep issues, and so on. It was
> interesting and informative, too.  Pretty sure I posted  info from both on
> my blog
>
> http://CounselorCarmella.WordPress.com
>
>
>
> Carmella Broome EdS LPC LMFT
> Crossroads Counseling Center, Lexington SC
> http://CounselorCarmella.WordPress.com
> Author of Carmella's Quest:  Taking On College Sight Unseen (Red Letter
> Press 2009)
> http://CarmellasQuest.LiveJournal.com
>
>
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