My Own Suggestion Isn't Working

[Schnauzers 5]

Welll, the raw almond butter does not help me get to sleep or stay asleep. Neither does the melatonin. I hope I can have a better night tonight. Problem is, I get so sleepy around five Pm I have to take a nap. I fought it yesterday but was still up late, felt sleepy but not able to get to sleep right away or stay asleep. this is not usually a problem for me. I am all off schedule I guess. Any suggestions on how to get my 7 straight hrs? I know one thing, I can't eat sodium high foods or cheese like pesto;Messes my system up. Makes my B/P high on top too. I am not on any prescription drugs and want to keep it that way. Someone said for every 5, you will double that in a few yrs. Her 80 yr old mother is on 25 meds! and a zombie.

[Shastzi]

Have you tried Tai-Chi? (not the so called 'religion', but the mental discipline)

[jdireton]

Schnauzers/Beauty,

Been a while!

Go back to the basics of Sleep Hygiene. That nap in the evening can really mess with your body clock. Sometimes when I "accidentally" nap it can take me days to get back to my schedule.

The basics:
- Go to bed the same time each day.
- When you go to bed, go to bed. Don't watch TV, listen to the radio, read, or any other activity. Train yourself that the bed is for sleep.
- No food, coffee, soda, or basically anything but water for at least a couple hours before bed.
- Keep your pets out of the bedroom, particularly if they like to play.
- If you don't go to sleep in an hour, get up for a half hour and go someplace else and relax. Then return to bed again to sleep.

Google Sleep Hygiene and you'll find a whole bunch more. From speaking with others and my own personal glitches, I think western habits can mess up our sleep patterns daily. Then we take pills to overcome bad habits. As you say, not a good cycle.

[aehjr]

Schnauzer - One of my doctors (not my pulmonologist) and I were discussing our CPAP usage and he recommended benadryl as a sleep aid. I tried it and it works well for those nights I cannot get my brain to "turn off." The benadryl also helps with my allergies.

That being said, my pulmonologist told me "we don't recommend the use of benadryl as an off-label sleep aid. I know lots of people use it but we don't recommend it." His position was that it could increase the incidence of apnea events, much like alcohol consumption.

[PaulaO2]

Benedryl is the sleep ingredient in many of the OTC pain reliever sleep things. Like Tylenol PM and the like.

[Shastzi]

If I try to read in bed, my book keeps hitting me in the face to get attention anyway.

[DocWils]

Benedryl is not recommended - a lot of people have bad reactions to it on CPAP, especially when it has nothing to fight against (your cold, I mean). I would advise caution when using it off label. Since it can, if the airways are clear, actually increase pulmonary resistance, it could actually make your SA worse when taken.

The best thing is a cup of warm milk before bed - it is the only thing proven safe and effective, but if you are affected by milk products, then even there you are out of luck - I suppose a hot toddy could replace warm milk, but either way, what you are looking for is something that allows you the time to relax and let the beginning phase of sleep start to creep over you. TV and Compi are out - no blue light, and reading is said not to work (it does for me, but I read boring medical stuff at night, so that would put an elephant to sleep).

What I am missing here is if with all this your actual compliance data has changed - are you experiencing a higher incidence of OSA or CA in the night? And of course, if you ARE taking naps, that will mess you right up.

If you are a bloke, sex, specifically the orgasm, will aid sleep (and if you are alone, a visit to Mrs. Hand and her Five Lovely Daughters will put you right to sleep) but the effect is often reported as the opposite for women, so you are out of luck there. Mileage may vary for both sexes.

I find guided Imagery to be the best method - get horizontal in your darkened room (and wear a nightmask if you can), and imagine yourself on a long, sandy beach, awash in the warm,gentle sun. Walk along the beach, feeling the warm sand beneath your bare feet, the quiet sounds of the waves and the seagulls stealing over you in a peaceful embrace of sound, the wind gently caressing you. Let the feeling of light and warmth invade you, conquer you, the well being of it all waft you along the sand, almost lifted and caressed by the whole thing. As you walk onward, feel how happy you are here, and content ........
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[Dawei]

Schnauzers 5--Forgive me for digressing from the topic, but your "babies" look great. Although the most we've had at one time was three schnauzers, two of which were rescues. Right now, it's only Sophy who's now 14 but going strong. (Forgive me fellow board members, but it's true that schnauzers are quite special
Meanwhile, I turn you back to the original program.

[Schnauzers 5]

Cute, Dawei. Although I have a TV in my bedroom, I never watch it. I do know sleep hygiene and even get emails about it from DME. I will get back on track. I figured out something, Here in AZ it is already HOT and I am holding out on turning on the A/C. I wake because I am hot. Time for the fans and ceiling fan and less covers, me thinks. It is always harder to sleep in AZ hot weather. When I was freezing in Nov and even wore sweatshirt and pants to bed one night, I slept better once I warmed up, but still cold out of bed, I think it is the room temp that is the problem .....and the naps. Tea might work too. BTW the e, r,t on my computer key board are missing ( worn off ) and I have trouble remembering to hit the right letters. My rs can often be ts by mistake and vice versa. I try to catch the mistakes. I am not the best typist, like most of you who don't need to look.