Any good natural remedies for a brain that won't switch off?

[EricL]

Hey all.

DW has been having a lot of trouble getting to sleep recently. Too much stuff going round her head from work at the moment and she is finding it difficult to sleep, even though she is physically tired.

We have tried Valarium form Boots, which she says makes her body relax but her brain still ticks away.

Don't worry about other relaxation techniques and such-like, i am interested in any natural rememdies that you have experience with.

Skullcap is one that has been mentioned to us.

Any experiences?

Cheers.

What works for me is counting backwards from 99. Sounds too simple to work, but it usually does. Not sure about natural remedies and suchlike. Hope your dw finds something that works. It's hell not being able to sleep, isn't it? [sympathy]

I was going to say counting too - I do it forwards though, backwards is too difficult

Another thing is trying to think of names of things - towns, countries, people, fruits, animals, anything - in strict alphabetical order.

Anything that drags your mind away from its whirl will do.

so eg

aaron
abelard
ac - too difficult
adam
aesop ()
af...
agnes
ahaaaaaaa
aidan
aj....
ak - hmmm -

I didn't say it was easy! But it makes you think of something with boundaries (OK as long as you don't get obsessed with finding the next one and have to get up and find a book with them all in!)

just out of interest is her sleep problem seasonal?

I get it really badly at this time of year and it is closely linkd to the shortening of the days.

I've been recommended chamomilla (from Boots in blue and white container) for me and DD if restless (and apparently it works on cats too!)

Lavender oil is supposed to help - try it in a warm bath before bed. You can also get a spray with lavender in it that you spray on your pillow.

But to be honest I think your DW really ought to tackle whatever it is that is keeping her brain ticking over.

Whenever I'm suffering from insomnia, it's always because there is just too much buzzing round that I know I have to remember - therefore the best solution is to have a pad to hand where you can write these things down.

Sympathy/empathy - it's a horrible thing to suffer from!

Yeah - i know the answer will be to teach her brain how to let these things go at night - that is our next step if all else fails. We will look at professional help cos i bet there are techniques that will empty her head. Her job means that the issue won't go away really.

Just wanting to try the natural drug path at the mo before we look at this. We have tried all the other relaxation techniques and they are great for getting her relaxed and content, but still fail to stop her mind ticking over when the lights go out.

The only things that seem to work at the mo is extreme tiredness after a few restless nights and a good stiff drink. We are both sensible enough to know that she can't drink every night though and don't do this for all the obvious reasons.

Might be an obvious question but does she drink caffeine in the daytime? Makes a big difference not riding the caffeine rollercoaster all day.

You can buy hypno cds for all sorts of problems on Ebay, my dh always falls asleep in his relaxation one!

The other thing of course is the job itself... Is it the kind of job that you can't leave at the door?

I have this too when in the throes of an all-consuming project...

Various things work for me at various times, including:

Exercise - being physically tired makes a huge difference. Even just a bit of walking can help.

Valerian and hops - but see if you can find a naturopath/herbalist as the Boots stuff isn't very potent.

Lavender baths, as someone else has said.

Writing down everything you need to think about; firstly before you leave work each day, and then at the end of the day before bed. Also writing a diary/random scrappy notes before bed helps me.

AGain, not really alternative therapies, but the thing that works best for me is downloading Radio 4 podcasts onto an MP3 player and listening to them through a pillow mike. You get some fantastically boring things which really help you doze off! I highly recommend 'In Business' 'Today in parliament' and 'Farming today'!

cannabis

BOOKS

go to library

get her some books that she might like (she will love you for doing this btw)

go to bed 30 minutes earlier and read them (her, not you)

works a treat

sorry, v unhelpful, i typed that in drily without much consideration that you may nto realise i was not being serious.

physical exercise is brilliant for this particularly running. chinese herbal medicine was also recommended to me but i never tried it in the end. Personally I ended up with regular counselling and antidepressants (old fashioned ones that really help you to sleep/knock you out) as it turned out my chronic insomnia was legacy of untreated PND. I hope this is not the case for your DW but do consider it. I was on them for 6 months and when I came off them I was basically sorted, still occasionally have trouble dropping off but essentially i now don't need to take anything to help me sleep which for me is an achievement.

oh yeah and one of the things my counsellor helped me to do was to develop a winding down routine (like for a baby ) so no working or emailing or TV for half an hour before sleep. No reading anything really exciting (this works now but at that time i would end up reading the whole damn book all night) but trashy magazine or non-fiction is ok. And to do the same things in the same order each night eg wash face clean teeth have a wee get into bed with chammomile tea (or whatever) read for ten mins then lights out. sounds obvious but you get the point hth