[roxypox]

I don't know if this is the right place to write about this. I do have a thread in berivment on the subject of my dad's suicide on March 17 of this year... but I feel that if I ask this question in that thread I won't get an answer and I desperatly need some help to stabalize my sleeping rhythm...

I'm on sleep meds, but they don't work. I've tried sleepinal as well and it doesn't work.. is it dangerous to take 2 of those instead of 1?

I don't want to see a dr about stronger sleep meds though. Because of my childhood.. I don't want to take pills that can be adictive. So that is basically out of the question..

Does anyone have experience with meditation?

Do you think if that will work?

Anyway.. thanks for listening!

Roxy

[JudyKayTee]

Yes, I found meditation was helpful after my husband died, when I couldn't sleep. I found yoga to also be a big help.

I would recommend that you consult with a Physician - explain your concerns. There are a lot of medications out there that can help you without a danger of addiction.

And there's always the simple exercise until you are tired, warm milk at bedtime, that type of thing.

I'm sorry you're still suffering so much.

[roxypox]

Thank you! Its been though...

But I'm def going to ask my dr!

And I'm going to look into both Yoga and meditation, I think sleep for me has always been a hard thing. After writing my post I started thinking about it and I've always had issues with sleep. Ever since I was a kid... so no wonder its hard now.

[DrBill100]

What type of sleep medication were you prescribed and what have you taken (if anything additional)

Additionally, you can easily check with your pharmacist about non-prescription meds as well as information on your present med.

Sleepinal, doubling dosage doesn't seem advisable, based on FDA sheet.

[CarrotTalker]

Do you have a consistent time you wake up in the morning?
What type of day-time activities do you do (such as school, or work)?

I find when I had a more consistent time schedule, I sleep better.

[roxypox]

Thank you both for your advice! I'm originally european and took a non habit-forming sleep med. That my dr back home prescribed. I slept very well on them, but ran out last week. This was initially going to be a short time assistance to help me sleep. I can't remember tha name or the active ingrediant of that med. Though. And I'm kind of reluctant to go to a dr while I'm here, cause I have a crappy health insurance that doesn't cover prescriptions and I have very little funds left seeing as I'm going home in about 3 weeks.

I'm only doing school while being here. I try to get up at 10 am regardless... and when I do fall asleep I sleep very well (some uncomfortable dreams, but that's not unexpected seeing as that's usuall for me when I'm emotionally stressed.)

My main problem is falling a sleep. I am planing on doing something new tonight. If I can't fall asleep... I'm going to get out of bed go into the living room and do something else for a bit and than try again. (I've been advised to do this in the past and it kind of works.. )

Right now I have been taking sleepinal for a few days. But it doesn't really work.

CarrotTalker: I usually sleep better as well if my sleeping pattern is consistent. So maybe I should work really hard to keep a midnight-9 am sleep schecual? (9 hours is a little too much sleep... but its worth a shot! )

[DrBill100]

In relation to the one that worked, does melatonin ring a bell?

My reason for recommending that you speak with a pharmacist is that they deal with pharmaceuticals daily and I've found their information far superior to that of almost all MDs. And it's free.

Melatonin is an excellent agent for inducing sleep. It's a natural product, OTC and inexpensive. My only reservation would be to ensure it doesn't conflict with the Sleepinal.

[Fr_Chuck]

I found that a good routine, first no "action" shows or anything to get a person excited for the first hour before bedtime.

I often did a nice herbal tea during that hour. And for me prayer, others meditation often helps

[J_9]

Personally I LOVE Melatonin. Working nights it's hard to sleep when the sun is up. I take 15mg per day and have a very restful sleep.

[Gemini54]

Roxy, I'm so sorry about your dad, I hadn't read the other thread so I'm bit belated in my condolences - I can fully appreciate why you're not sleeping!

I have found Valerian to be good, and it's used extensively in Europe. You can even get Valerian tea bags. But, it can leave you with a slight fuzzy head feeling the next day.

Remember that you can order these sorts of things easily over the internet - as a sporadic sleeper I regularly use a herbal product called "Sleep Ezy" by Nature's Own. I take about 4.

Meditation does also help, if you go through the exercise of relaxing each body bit before sleep - there are some good CD's and you could put a relaxation/music track on your iPod.

[DrBill100]

Roxy,

Melatonin is available in the US as OTC but we are one of the few. In many countries it is by prescription or unavailable. I had forgotten that you were returning to Europe.

[roxypox]

Dr. Bill. I went down to my local CVS/Pharmacy yesterday and they had it. 3 mg. I waited for a while because I stopped taking the slepinal the day after I started this thread. Mostly because it wasn't working.

The pharmacy man told me to wait until Monday to be sure. But I kind of tried it yesterday... it worked! It actually worked and I actually slept for 12 hours (yes I am exhausted so it was nice to get some real sleep with out waking up every other hour.. and I had no unpleasant dreams. :)

[DrBill100]

You shouldn't have serious side effects with this item. So happy it worked for your insomnia. I can honestly tell you that I have never heard a negative report on this product. That is very, very unusual.

[J_9]

I'm so happy that this worked for you. I love it, I take 5mg daily. About the dreams... I have very vivid dreams on Melatonin, but they are enjoyable dreams, not at all bad. I actually look forward to going to sleep now. LOL