Insomnia

[tater03]

Does anyone happen to know of alternative things for insomnia? I have a friend that suffers from this and don't know of anything. thanks.

[Lyndsey]

Valerian doesn't smell great, but I know people who take this herbal supplement to help them sleep. I know a nutritionist who takes melatonin when she has to cross time zones. I have taken it from time to time as well and while it doesn't prevent me from waking during the night, it does help me get right back to sleep. I don't know of any contraindications, but you should check, of course.

[MrsH]

I have heard that what you eat is important too. A diet with lots of red meat make it worse and a diet which consist of mostly fruit and veggies make it better.

[SageMother]

Has she evaulated her stress level? Sometimes something needs to be changed with events during waking hours so that sleep comes easier!

Sometimes, my alternative sleep remedy is to simply stop feeding a dailylight monster!

[tater03]

Thank you, I will pass on these suggestions to her. She is going to go to her doctor about this but she just needed some suggestions that might work that she could run by him to see what he thinks. Thanks again.

[ammulu]

Diet would play a major role for people suffering with this problem. My grandma used to say that having a glass of warm milk at night would really be of great help. I do have warm milk daily night and it is being of good help. I think over stress would also cause difficulty in sleeping for some, I cannot usually sleep if I am over stressed though I am tired and wish to hit the bed immediately.

[tater03]

You're so right that stress can play a part in insomnia. I personally have heard that warm milk is supposed to help but I just don't care for warm milk. Just not really a big fan of milk in general.

[Jewel]

I'm not a milk fan either - cold or warm. That's one thing that I won't try, unfortunately.

[emsy99]

Lavender oil on the pillow is supposed to help, or you can get those lavender wheat things that you heat up (mine is in shape of a hot water bottle with a furry cover!), which should have the same effect.

[katharina]

Originally Posted by emsy99

Lavender oil on the pillow is supposed to help, or you can get those lavender wheat things that you heat up (mine is in shape of a hot water bottle with a furry cover!), which should have the same effect.

Ah now, lavender oil on the pillow sounds a lot nicer than warm milk for sure. I've been wanting to check more into various kinds of aromatherapy, so I've tried a few things to help with sleeping. It's fun to experiment.

Whoever mentioned the smell of valerian, boy you're not kidding... I used that for a little while years ago and I still remember the stench!