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Login Here Signup Here Signup using FacebookI've had a horrible case of insomnia for about 8 months now and its driving me crazy! Ive been told by holistic doctors that changing to a healthier diet like raw veganism could probably help relax me...but so far ive made little progress! Also when I detox I dont know if my body is really detoxing or if i have low energy from not enough calories or if the low energy is from lack of sleep or detox. Has anyone else had problems with insomnia, and if you have what have you done to fix it! ive tried so many things and im desperate and will do anything! I want to eat a raw food diet but like i said i dont know if the diet is making me weak or if its for other reasons! Thank you guys! : )
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i don't have much advice - i slept fine UNTIL going raw, and now i can't sleep for more than a few hours at a time (which is really inconvenient since i work a nine-to-five). some herbs/natural remedies helped me before i somehow gained some kind of immunity to them: melatonin, valerian, kavakava. those might work for you. have you tried not eating later at night or having a snack right before bed? for some people, digestion can keep them awake, but for others, low blood sugar can wake them up in the middle of the night.
hmm, what else have i tried... baths, dry brushing, meditation, chamomile tea...
i hope one of these helps you.
if anyone else has any other advice, i'd love to hear it, too. i'm exhausted all day and then wired all night starting at 6 p.m.
s
In my experience it takes time to adjust. When I went raw I felt yucky for at least a month detox wise. The first 2 weeks where the worst obviously. After that I felt pretty good. After I quit drinking coffee it took 2-4 weeks of sleeping as much as I wanted before my sleep schedule evened out. This may apply especially to you samesofsam. After I let my body even out I CHOSE to wake up at 5am and go to bed at about 10:30-11. It happened naturally when I let my cells heal and relax.
So you may be having issues with some adrenal fatigue or something. Rest is entirely worth it.
I'm back on the coffee now so I'm having the same issues. I really start feeling good at about 7pm. I would cut out the supplements if I where you, your body knows what it's doing if you would let it!
Good luck :)
i am well acquainted with insomnia. it pops up during stressful times of my life and sticks around long enough to keep my life stressful. i have recently given it the boot using these strategies:
making it a serious goal to get at least six hours a night (i should - and do now - get more, but at the time i had been lucky to get five hours for months. studies show that you can get away with six hours without harm, and it was a more realistic goal for me.) i made it a point to get into bed before midnight and set up a relaxation ritual beforehand. i fell asleep to old dvds or podcasts that i had heard before to keep my mind from wandering on an anxiety trip.
quitting coffee. i thought i needed it to function on so little sleep but it only made the problem worse. it really amps up anxiety and that is no good for sleep. i switched to black tea first, then green, now i drink white or herbal.
acupuncture. i told my acupuncturist that i was not sleeping. he modified my prickings somewhat. after the second session i slept like a log. it was like my mind caught up with my body and realized finally how exhausted i was. i slept ten hours each night for about a week after that. now i average about seven. it's so, so, so wonderful.
i've heard that melatonin is good too for recovering when no sleep has been gotten. it's not something you would want to take long term, but it could alleviate the immediate repercussions of no sleep. also, do not underestimate the power of aromatherapy for relaxation before bedtime. set the intention, the mood, and the mind could be enticed to follow. good luck.
When I have insomnia it's usually due to stress. I agree with Tangerina, the stress causes insomnia and the insomnia causes more stress.
I had finally reached the point of desperation when a friend told me about someone who does ionic foot baths and I'm amazed at how much it helped me. I tried googling it and could only find sites that explain what it is and who sells the machine. You may be able to find someone that does it locally by talking to someone at the health food store. You put your feet in water that is being charged with alternating negative and positive ions for about 25 minutes and supposedly it pulls out toxins. If you've found someone who does it right the water will turn black and gross. I always sleep like a baby afterward.
I second the quitting coffee and aromatherapy. I haven't tried acupuncture yet but my brother swears by it.
I hope you find something that works soon.
Deep relaxation exercises and some light activity in the early evening might help. Also, drink chamomile tea an hour before bed. Keep your diet alkaline as too much acid will keep you awake.
Raw Christmas
all very interesting responses. mine has been going on since i went raw in august, but in the past few days, it is starting to even out. i never drank coffee or non-herbal tea and rarely ate chocolate, but i think in my case it may be/have been stress about my job (not that it's a stressful job; i just stress about it for no reason).
some things i've done differently that have helped me in the past few days:
1. managed to do my first juice fast of two days early in the week.
2. drank a green lemonade around three hours before bed with nothing else after.
3. practiced progressive muscle relaxation.
4. entirely stopped listening to the album that was constantly playing at top volume in my head whenever i tried to sleep (this is sad because it was a good one).
5. got a colonic.
6. affirmed nightly that even if i didn't sleep, it was ok and i was not a failure as a person.
7. started using a netipot for my allergies.
that's a lot of stuff i've started doing this week, so i can't point to any one thing as the solution, but i hope this keeps up! my sleep is not at the pre-raw level yet, but it is definitely getting better. i am going to try acupuncture when i get back from holiday. thanks for all the advice!
s
A Few things that help me the most:
1. Shoulder stand in yoga-if you've never done this, you want to start small. Go on www.yogajournal.com for easier variations beginning with legs up on the wall pose with your hips UP on a couple of blankets. I do shoulder stand , followed by fish pose and then straight to bed. These poses calm the adrenals and focus there so they are specifically for insomnia--works like a charm 99% of the time.
2. Natural Calm-not raw. It is magnesium powder you make like a tea. i'm usually asleep in 20 min. Works 75% of the time.
3. DARKNESS: remove all light sources in the bedroom so you cannot even see your hand in front of your face. i put a small towel over the clock radio and close heavy drapes over the blinds. Also try to expose yourself to as much natural light as possible during the day.
I feel for you. i've been there and still am there, but now I have the tools that work for me. There's nothing better than a full sound sleep when you don't even wake to drink water!
Someone on here recommended epsom salt baths to me, and I've been doing them the past week. WOW! I have to try not to fall asleep in the bathtub, and yesterday, I actually DID fall asleep in the bathtub! I I'm amazed just how relaxing epsom salt baths are...I literally just want to curl up and sleep in my bathroom! Try it out, and see what you think! Epsom salt is also detoxifying (magnesium sulfate), so between dry-brushing and the baths, I think you'll feel really nice and sleepy afterwards.
That's a great idea about covering up the clock radio. When I get insomnia a big contributing factor is looking at the clock and then the stress about how much sleep I'm not getting.
I've also tried some homeopathic remedies which are supposed to repress reoccurring thoughts, another part of the problem.
What I also find helpful is trying my best to trick my mind into believing that I don't have to get up at a certain time or be anywhere at a certain time in the morning.
Also if I lie as still as possible at least I'm resting, but tossing and turning and getting frustrated about not being able to sleep is counterproductive to rest and will only make me more exhausted the next day.
Try breathing exercises while you are lying there.
Breath in slowly and then exhale, and use mental visualization and positive thoughts like you are healthy, and relaxed, and have lots of money, and are successful, and any goals that you have, well visualize they have come true.
Then tell yourself that you are relaxed and are falling asleep.
This helps, since you can't worry when everything in your mind is positive.
I also find i don't need as much sleep anymore. Remember that eating raw you can get by on 6 hrs sleep, and if you absolutely have to take a nap after work the next day for a 1/2 hour.
Good luck!!!
Put the Inside Knuckle (Where your Middle Finger Meets the Palm)of Your left Hand on your Right Nipple... (Or Vise Versa)... at the Tip of your Middle Finger (Slightly under the arm) There is a Acupressure Point... Message that pressure point for a minute or two... The Pain at that point should begin to intensify... to a Very painful point,,, after a few days the pain will begin to subside and your insomnia should go away... Be prepared to do it for a few days which can be a bery painful proposition.... make sure you do both sides....
also there is another one about a palms width above the nipple...
The Water is probably Fluoridated.... So Try Not To Poison yourself....
one thing i've noticed is that sometimes people think that having a clean diet is everything, or following a particular strain of a diet will fix all problems - and in a way, this is true, but there is no one cure-all. chances are, if you're experiencing insomnia (or other problems like this), it's not just your diet, it's probably a conglomeration of several different things... nor is everything always detox. that said, i'm sure it does affect it - but it's not everything. listen to your body, quiet yourself if you can, and try to feel yourself from the inside out. are you stressed about any particular issue, and if so, is it something you can fix?
i find myself particularly anxious, stressed, and unable to sleep after i have a lot of coffee and sugar; however it also happens when i am dreading something, even if it's a subconscious dread. one trick that i use is to bring it to my consciousness, write it down, journal or something. that's a big help. another thing you can do is try recording the dreams you have when you finally do fall asleep. this can shed a whole lot of light about what the real "problem" is. what i like to do is keep a dream journal by the bed - at first it's hard to remember them, but soon a whole flood of dreams come flying in and i remember up to 15 a night (who knew we had that many dreams!). then when you look back over a particular week or group of weeks, you start to see trends - worries manifest themselves in symbols. i started resting a lot more easily when i did the following things:
1. stopped eating after a certain time - not too close to bed-time. usually, a good time to stop eating (for me) is around 6:30 pm.
2. obviously, eating raw, vegan foods helped a great deal. however, stimulants (as durianrider said) such as cacao, etc. can keep people up, so don't try to eat those close to your bed time, if you do eat them. however, i don't know much about your particular diet, so i can't say much about this bit.
3. drinking enough water! this is a biggie. i mean obviously you don't want to be waking up in the middle of the night and having to pee, but during the day stay hydrated :) honestly most times that i find myself imbalanced or with a particular problem it's really just that i wasn't drinking enough water. and i have some water and it somehow mysteriously heals, haha.
4. chamomile tea can help, if you're into drinking tea. sleepy time tea for kids is good, too.
5. journaling and keeping a dream journal - these were biiig helpers. also, making sure you got everything done that you need to do! sometimes these little things stay in my mind and i know i should be doing them, but it's all about inertia. "an object at rest tends to stay at rest..." well if you've found yourself at rest too much and avoiding things that you need to do, BECOME that outside force and get yourself moving. :) this is so important. i used to worry into the night... worrying isn't relevant when you've got nothing to truly worry you.
i hope this helps! best of luck.
P.S. - i read those ionic foot baths were a hoax! apparently someone ran them without feet in them, and the water still changed colors. :/
You can read or hear anything, everyone has an opinion about something and it's healthy to be skeptical. The first time I had an ionic foot bath it was a hoax and I had no interest in trying it again. Later a friend talked me into trying it where she had it done and it was great, I truly felt a difference. The water changes color slightly depending on the mineral content and contaminants already in the water even if no one has their feet in it, however if done right the water is really gross when it is finished and there's no way that all came from just the water. It is a matter common sense to find someone reputable. The lady I go to uses Aqua Chi. Hope that helps.
Hi, scrapperjoe,
...sorry to hear about the sleep problems. I have often suffered from insomnia during stressful times in my life, like a rough job or family illness. The thing that helps me the most is getting plenty of exercise. If I get an hour in in the morning and then something low key like a 1/2 hour walk around 6 pm, I find it a lot easier to get some sleep. It sometimes takes a week or so of a really consistent schedule of that before the sleep kicks in, but that's the only thing that works consistently for me that doesn't require some kind of medication.
wishing you the best,
-osoniye
2plus2, that's interesting! i'm sorry, i didn't mean to be abrasive / i hope i didn't come off that way. it is definitely good to be skeptical but if they do work sometimes then that makes sense too, depending on who's doing it. i probably should have looked into it more! i just thought that it'd be good if i wrote that as a side note, because it is something i'd heard and... well, these days one never knows, because some people are just selling snake oil as natural cures, or what have you, the "bad men" :), and its hard to tell who's who any more.
marta, I agree it's hard find anyone you can really trust and no you weren't abrasive. There are so many out there ready to take advantage of someone desperately looking for a cure. One of the things that's really nice about this site is that we can learn from each other, the successes and the mistakes.
My stressful job gives me bouts of insomnia plus I think I inherited it from my dad. He had it really bad. I don