Insomnia

BACKGROUND

Sleep disorders affect about 70 million Americans. If you have trouble falling asleep, it is often due to too much stress or chronic exhaustion (it takes energy for your sleep center to work) or can also occur from taking coffee/caffeine later in the day. If you have exhaustion and/or widespread achiness along with insomnia lasting over 3 months, and it does not go away with vacation, see Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

The average night’s sleep in the U.S. was 9 hours a night until 100 years ago. With light bulbs, TV, computers, etc, we are now a sleep deprived society at an average of about 6.5 hours a night (8 is optimal on average, but the best amount is the amount that feels the best to you). Inadequate sleep causes fatigue, pain, weight gain, premature aging and a host of other ills.

TREATMENT

Natural remedies and proper sleep hygiene will take care of day to day insomnia. When severe, some medications can be helpful and others harmful.

For those with CFS and fibromyalgia, which represents a severe sleep disorder, it is not uncommon to sometimes need to take even 6-8 different products simultaneously to get 8 hours of sleep at night until the sleep center recovers.

General Advice

•	Do not consume alcohol near bedtime or caffeine after 4:00 pm.
•	Do not use your bed for problem solving or doing work.
•	Take a hot bath before bed.
•	Keep your bedroom cool.
•	If your partner snores, consider a separate bedroom.

Recommended Supplements

Herbal sleep aids

For regular insomnia, herbal sleep supplements are usually enough to get you sleeping. Natural ingredients that can help sleep include theanine, Jamaican Dogwood, wild lettuce, valerian, passionflower, and hops.

Calcium

Calcium 500 mg taken at bedtime.

Magnesium

Magnesium 200 mg taken at bedtime.

Melatonin

Melatonin 3/10-1 mg taken at bedtime.

Sleep Medications

Ambien, Desyrel, and Neurontin

Avoid Valium related sleep aids, which are addictive and worsen sleep quality (Klonopin and Xanax are addictive, but are useful in some settings). Ambien, Desyrel, and Neurontin are helpful medications for sleep if natural aids don’t work.