Sleepless in Lawrenceville

I haven't ever had sleep problems, but one of the gals at work was talking about the potato before bedtime approach from Potatoes not Prozac. It's supposed to help with sleep among other things. Here's the online version that explains it better than I can. www.radiantrecovery.com/4r.htm I've also heard that calcium is supposed to help with sleep. Maybe that was why they used to suggest drinking warm milk.

Hi Beth, You have had a ton on your plate lately, and I'm no doctor, but from what you've said, I bet you're depressed. Sleeplessness is a symptom of depression. And as I'm sure you know, they feed off of each other. With all of the "crap" I went through the last 7 years (I don't know if you remember), I was officially diagnosed as depressed. I took Fluoxetine (generic Prozac) for about a year. It REALLY helped, and I slept. I just recently quit taking it, and I've had a couple of hard nights trying to go to sleep... that being said, I've been so sore from swimming that I discovered something new. If I take 4 Advil at bedtime, I'm out in about 15 min. The pain finally subsides enough to let me sleep. Different issue than depression, I realize, but it helps me sleep :) I know you don't want drugs, I didn't either, but the Fluoxetine made a huge improvement in my quality of life. I finally was rested enough to find my marbles again, and now I feel "normal" :thhbbb: whatever THAT is :) I'm also not so snappy with family either. BTW, I don't take Advil regularly (I'm afraid of the long term side effects), but once in awhile it really helps. I hope you feel better. At the very least, talk to your doctor about your very real symptoms. It could be "old lady" stuff, depression, or ??? One way to find out. :smooch: :smooch: (Take two of these and call me in 'da mornin')

Fort: I politely disagree. I have years of experience as a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator. I have seen the damage done by too quickly running for drugs. This include all levels of medical (nursing) and psychiatric care. Granted there have been advances but I have yet to see a sleep aid that didn't have side-effects that were worse. Our usual routine on receive a sub-acute care patient was to re-baseline the drugs. Most patients came with as low as 4 Rx to a high of 15-20. Each was to treat the side-effect of another. Bill: I can see you have a lot of experience and that gives you a unique perspective. BUT I don't take 4-20 Rx drugs simultaneously to counteract each other. :rofl: I would bet that most other posters are reasonably careful about their health too. (Could be wrong of course.) The only medication I am currently on is allergy meds because the spring does not agree with me and I like to breathe. I can't even take NSAIDs because I'm doing prolo. (Although I do agree with Karen that they make me a bit sleepy sometimes!) I've given up my steroids, cocaine, creatine, muscle relaxants, ritalin, adrenaline, valium, coritsone shots, etc. :rofl: I'm just left with caffeine and wine. Ah, it's a dull life. ALSO BUT I didn't say to "quickly run" to a sleep aid. Not a good idea. You should definitely "walk." Plus, I gave a lot of other suggestions and said that, when I had a whacking bad spell of this stuff, I used behavioral therapy to rejigger my body. But let me be clear that if you have a bad case of hormones/chemical stuff run amok (from various causes, including possibly certain nighttime activities), ain't no herbals teas or sailboating gonna get you to sleep.

Peter, I don't mind :) No, I'm just sore from lifting and swimming. In particular, my butt REALLY hurts from lifting! TMI, I know :p As far as I know, my strokes are efficient and I'm not doing them incorrectly. Luckily, I've never had shoulder problems... Last October I did have bicep tendonitis and took off 4 months- never did that either, but it's all better now :) Thanks for asking :)

After reading some of these posts - my take home message for myself is Just Say No. 'Course, who am I to talk. Got my surgery coming up and they will be pumping me full of drugs. Ick. Well, just enjoy that surgery high while you can ;) and kick butt at your next meet, oh fast one. :bow: I hope for your sake your hormones are always perfectly serene. :thhbbb: :thhbbb: Maybe you won't age because swimming is the fountain of youth? Oh Bill, I forgot, there may be some Dr quacks out there, but they are not at the Mayo Clinic or in my family. So I'll give you a :thhbbb: too.

Hi there. I'm in my late 20's and have had problems in this area for years. I have not read over the previous comments, so I apologize if my reply is repetitive. I have found absolutely no non-drug way of helping me get to sleep (well, other than reading a really boring book in bed). I have used Benadryl and Melatonin (not together) - and sometimes I don't even fall asleep after I've taken those! I have not used any other drugs to fall asleep. Oh, boo. You should probably read the comments to get the non-drug advice/ideas! I hope something works. No fun being tired. Personally, I don't like OTC stuff and I don't think it works very well. Maybe for a minor case. Tylenol PM and Benadryl also have a really draggy effect on me, much worse than ambien. I only take benadryl in an emergency when I have a allergy-induced hive attack. Otherwise, yucky. But that's just me.

Uhm, Karen? I remember well that you are a toughie like Fortress (most of the women posters are; just us males that are softies) but- this pain from swimming: is this something that arises from a particular workout? Or set? Or is it just good old residual pain from ignoring an injury until it stops you in your tracks? If I wanted to stir up a hornet's nest, I'd ask you if you think the pain comes from poor technique or overtraining, but I don't, so I won't.

If I wanted to stir up a hornet's nest, I'd ask you if you think the pain comes from poor technique or overtraining, but I don't, so I won't. Is is a shoulder pain??

Hi Beth - I hope you managed to get some sleep last night. There's been lots of good advice here. The only things I can add are: 1. Don't watch TV in bed (Leslie already mentioned don't read in bed). When you get in bed, lights out and go to sleep. 2. Try keeping a few nights of a sleep diary when you can't sleep. You are looking to total up how many actual hours you are getting. With me, I find that I start freaking out and thinking, "Oh my God! I'm going to DIE from lack of sleep." Duh, Carrie, obviously this made it harder to fall asleep. When I wrote down how much sleep I was getting and I realized I was actually getting 4-5 hours, some of the panic went away and I realized that I wasn't going to actually die (just be a bit groggy/cranky/unpleasant the next day). Like Kyra said, I find it helpful to avoid looking at the clock in general (when I'm not trying to calculate my total sleep hours). Anything that breaks up the panic/freak-out thoughts really helps me. I'll send lots of good thoughts your way!! Take care!

But let me be clear that if you have a bad case of hormones/chemical stuff run amok (from various causes, including possibly certain nighttime activities), ain't no herbals teas or sailboating gonna get you to sleep. Yup, that sleep walking will get you every time!