Help, I can't sleep.

Ok, I work all day, so I am pretty tuckered out when I get home I say around 5pm, we make dinner, clean up the kitchen, hang out with the kids and read books until they go to bed around 8pm, I then hang out with the hubby for a bit, and then I go read my book until about 9:40pm.  I do not drink caffeine at all during the day, so that is not it. I go to bed no later then 10:00pm, and at 12-1am I am still rolling around in my bed, and I get up at 6:45am.  I am one of those people who needs 8-9 hours to not have a headache in the morning.  I don't want to take a Tylenol PM every night, but my body can't do many more short sleep nights.  Do any of you have trouble falling asleep, what do you do?  My kids go to bed better then I do, whats up?

I do a variety of things depending on how bad and it's usually trial and error.  Hot baths with bath salts help the muscles relax and really help me get sleepy.  I do either a guided meditation or play certain music that calms me and makes me sleepy.  And finally, I heard this from the guy who runs the Integrative Nutrition program in NY - I tried it and wow, I was surprised.  I put either a ho****er bottle or heating pad on low over my stomach.  Apparently it's soothing for humans to have warmth in that area (who knew?!) but man it always does the trick if everything else is a bust.  Good luck!

I have tried the hot bath, but my hair gets wet and I can't blow dry it (kids in bed) and I can't sleep with wet hair.  I wish I could meditate, I cant seem to calm down enough, I play ocean sounds in the room, and I really enjoy that,  Heat, that is a great idea I will try that next. Thanks!!

YOu can take valerian root, an over the counter herbal supplement - works great for me! OR benadryl. Benadryl is the ingredient in Tylenol PM that makes you sleepy.

You can also try changing the temperature in your bedroom - cooler is better. I do some yoga breathing exercises too before laying down to sleep that help to calm and relax.

Hope that this helps!

Liz

I will be stopping at the store on my way home!!!  I hate to take the Benadryl and Tylenol PM too much I don't want to not be able to sleep w/o it.  I sleep with the window cracked, hehe I love husband hates it.  Breathing exercises, I will try the too, along with the heat.  I am getting tired just talking about it .

So 2 questions....

1.  How much B-12 are you taking?  Taking too much (or should I say, having too high of a B-12 blood level) can disturb your sleep.  Might be worth having that checked (simple blood test) and if you're taking, say, 5000 mcg daily, which some of us do, cut it back to 2500 and see what happens.  
2.  Did this start right after surgery?  And do you have sleep apnea?  You may need an adjustment to your CPAP machine settings.  Right after surgery, I suddenly started getting horrible dry mouth that would wake me up several times a night, even with the humidifier turned up in my CPAP machine.  It was uncomfortable... eventually got the machine adjusted, and then weaned off of it, but apnea changes are pretty common as you're losing weight so that could be affecting your sleep.

Otherwise, take 1 - 2 benadryl (get the generic - anything that is basically diphenhydramine - MUCH cheaper and the exact same thing) at night... or melatonin... or valerian as Liz said...  All are very gentle and non-habit-forming.

Karen

No sugery yet 20 days and counting. No B12 yet either.

My sleep study was negative, and I do not use a CPAP, I know problem chid, right.

I think I am going to stop at the store on the way home and try Liz's suggestion of Valerian.

Thanks for the help

Haha - ok - forgot your status re surgery!

So 20 days out, I know I was feeling more than a little anxiety about the impending surgery, so maybe that's what's going on.  In that case, any of the sleep aids should help nicely...

Good luck!
Karen