Birdy - thanks for the suggestion about seed cycling. Frustratingly, I have to be very careful with all seeds & nuts these days - for 2 reasons. 1) they are high in arginine which is thought to encourage flares of the cold sore virus & that plagues me & 2) I have recently been advised to reduce omega 6 fats (inflammatory) while suspected Sjogren's is under investigation. While flax seeds are said to be rich in omega 3, I believe pumpkin, sunflower & other seeds are high in omega 6.
Squeaker - like you, I rarely get up at night. Doing that, I've learnt, especially having to switch on a light, makes me even less likely to get back to sleep. If you are doing breathing exercises, counting, visualisations when you can't sleep you are doing all the right things. Breathing exercises vary so I don't know what type you've tried but I find CLKD's suggestion of controlled deep breathing - counting breaths in & out & pausing between can really help. BUT for me, I have to keep at it longer than you might imagine to reduce pulse rate & anxiety when these are raised. About 20 mins at a time seems to encourage the relaxation response to kick in - for me at least. You need to find the right rhythm for you - some exercises tell you to breathe in to 4 & out to 8, some in to 3 and out to 6 or whatever - some counts are simply not relaxing as they are too unnatural to your normal rhythm. Best to experiment to find a count that feels natural to you & this should then, gradually help you unwind.
I find visualisations can help me drift off - they may have to be very detailed for you to get immersed & forget yourself though! Take yourself on a journey - maybe a long walk somewhere you love and concentrate on every detail. What you can see, the sounds, how the breeze feels on your face, the ground beneath your feet, the weather, conversations with a companion . . . One I used to repeat in imagination was the journey from home to Greece on holiday. I'd start with packing - all the items that would go into my suitcase, remembering weighing the suitcase, carrying it down the stairs, the drive to the B&B near Gatwick, the evening at the B&B, the early start, checking in, boarding the plane, the flight, arrival, the journey to the villa & so on. As detailed as you can manage. Just make it a pleasant scenario you've found really relaxing in real life - FGS don't do my flight to Greece if you're afraid of flying!!
I find exercising too hard at any time of day is now also counter-productive to sleep - exhaustion seems to tax the body & counter-intuitively actually exacerbates insomnia for me. Exercising late in the evening is also a bad idea, as the raised body temp that results is not conducive to sleep. Also make sure your bedroom is cool & as dark as possible.
Someone - I think Birdy, mentioned the importance of complex carbs in the diet - I absolutely agree - poor blood sugar control alone can be a major disruptor of sleep & this condition, which has many horrible symptoms, becomes more common at menopause. Good quality, lean protein at each main meal, in addition to complex carbs, helps spread the glycaemic load, slowing digestion to prevent spikes & troughs in blood sugar. It's important to eat well in this way throughout the day as chronically poor sugar control can have an impact on sleep later. A small meal of complex carbs with a little protein just before bed (something like a bowl of no added sugar muesli or some oatcakes, both with a little high protein (Greek) natural yoghurt) can help get you through the night. Though some people sleep better on an empty stomach - maybe experiment to see what works for you. Maybe read up on hypogylcaemia or search for posts on it on here if you don't already know much about it.
I think the hardest thing to accept when we're worried about insomnia is that we have seemingly little control over it. We are so used to being in control of our lives before menopause muscles in that it can be overwhelming & panic-making to find suddenly normal has gone completely out of the window & nothing we do seems to begin to restore the way our bodies previously worked as adult women. Going with the flow in these circumstances can be very, very hard to do, but by day, distraction, diversion, concentrating on what we CAN do in life, building in time for enjoyment in whatever form does it for us & as many forms as possible - CAN gradually loosen the grip menopause has & that includes the worry of insomnia. Tell yourself this is a PHASE - it will pass, I may not be quite the same from now on as I was in fertile years, but I WILL cope, I WILL learn how to get through this. And believe me, you WILL come out the other end alive, all the stronger & wiser for it. Tell yourself if that idiot Wrensong can do it, anyone can!!
Wx
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Topic: Totally floored by insomnia help (Read 13768 times)