I can’t sleep. Again. Not only does my unmedicated depression drive me batshit crazy, it keeps me awake while it’s dark. Come light of day, I could fall asleep at the drop of a hat.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrr. Seething hate.
Posted by Melissa on July 19th, 2006 under Melancholia
Ohhh, me too! Tylenol P.M. and Unisom and Benadryl.
Although, because of impending pregnancy (one hopes anyhoo) I have been trying to kill my reliance on Things That Knock Me Out. Which apparently means no sleep. Hate.
And oh! Thank you so much. You are too sweet. Your posting was wonderful today, thank you.
• yoga, esp. the breathing (which fixed my childhood insomnia right up and nowadays keeps me as calm and balanced as perimenopausally possible)?
• valerian root (six caps at bedtime with water or a cup of herbal tea; very relaxing, also keeps you -ahem- regular and gives you visionary dreams, completely legal, no unpleasant side effects)?
• general nutrition (eating breakfast and lunch, as you’ve discovered, but not from McD’s or Dunkin’ Donuts or the like)?
• not drinking any caffeinated beverage even one minute after noon (yes, that includes diet cola)?
• an evening walk, right around 7:00 (you can take the whole family)?
Two things I learned recently which may or may not have the slightest thing to do with any of this:
1. Pure, unadulterated chocolate does not contain caffeine. It contains something else called “theobromine.” (Read all about this here: http://www.xocoatl.org/caffeine.htm.) Unless what you’re eating has a very low cacao content, I would still be careful with it after 7:00 p.m. if I wanted to sleep through the night. A friend sent me a pound of organic raw cacao nibs as a present, and I eat them mixed with yogurt and honey in the morning only because of that one time I ate some for dinner and was up ALL night.
2. When you eat something sweet, your brain expects that your body is taking in sugar. The right amount of the right kinds of sugars is essential to the healthy function of your body, just like the right amount of the right kinds of fats. When you eat or drink something with an artificial sweetener in it, your brain keeps waiting for the sugar. When the sugar doesn’t actually come, your body begins to crave sugar. So, if you are mainlining diet soda all day, and find yourself craving carbs late in the day, starting in the afternoon and continuing well after dinner, this is going to mess with your whole metabolism (especially if said soda also contains caffeine). If you give in to those cravings, well, your body is going to want to do something with the energy you’ve taken in. The answer is to drink unsweetened beverages — water, or herbal teas and fruit juices with neither added sugars nor added fake sweeteners of any kind. No high fructose corn syrup. No sucralose (Splenda). No aspartame (Equal).
I don’t know if any of this is helpful, if we’ve talked about it before, or if I’m just being obnoxious. As usual, though, it’s meant to be helpful. You can smack me down if it’s just obnoxious.
Oh my dog, Sara you are not being obnoxious. In fact, thank you because I need all the help I can get and your help is always welcome.
You’ve mentioned the yoga breathing and sometimes that does help. I don’t drink diet cola at all, because I don’t like what’s in it (apartame, etc.)
Now, the rest of it, I need to do. I know I do better when I’m exercising and moving more than I do. Also, my nutrition isn’t usually coming from the fast food variety lately but I could eat more regularly, I have a stupid tendency to skip everything until dinner. I don’t feel hungry until later, but then I’m eating later so I don’t wake up hungry. It’s really helpful with keeping on the weight, too.
I’ve heard of valerian giving good results and I should try it.
The chocolate? I had no idea. I don’t doubt it, but I had no clue!
July 19th, 2006 at 8:19 am
I am a shameless supporter of Tylenol P.M.
July 19th, 2006 at 10:15 am
p.s. Have linked to you today AND voted for you on CHBM site.
July 19th, 2006 at 4:00 pm
Ohhh, me too! Tylenol P.M. and Unisom and Benadryl.
Although, because of impending pregnancy (one hopes anyhoo) I have been trying to kill my reliance on Things That Knock Me Out. Which apparently means no sleep. Hate.
And oh! Thank you so much. You are too sweet. Your posting was wonderful today, thank you.
July 20th, 2006 at 9:17 am
I can’t remember. Have we already discussed
• yoga, esp. the breathing (which fixed my childhood insomnia right up and nowadays keeps me as calm and balanced as perimenopausally possible)?
• valerian root (six caps at bedtime with water or a cup of herbal tea; very relaxing, also keeps you -ahem- regular and gives you visionary dreams, completely legal, no unpleasant side effects)?
• general nutrition (eating breakfast and lunch, as you’ve discovered, but not from McD’s or Dunkin’ Donuts or the like)?
• not drinking any caffeinated beverage even one minute after noon (yes, that includes diet cola)?
• an evening walk, right around 7:00 (you can take the whole family)?
Two things I learned recently which may or may not have the slightest thing to do with any of this:
1. Pure, unadulterated chocolate does not contain caffeine. It contains something else called “theobromine.” (Read all about this here: http://www.xocoatl.org/caffeine.htm.) Unless what you’re eating has a very low cacao content, I would still be careful with it after 7:00 p.m. if I wanted to sleep through the night. A friend sent me a pound of organic raw cacao nibs as a present, and I eat them mixed with yogurt and honey in the morning only because of that one time I ate some for dinner and was up ALL night.
2. When you eat something sweet, your brain expects that your body is taking in sugar. The right amount of the right kinds of sugars is essential to the healthy function of your body, just like the right amount of the right kinds of fats. When you eat or drink something with an artificial sweetener in it, your brain keeps waiting for the sugar. When the sugar doesn’t actually come, your body begins to crave sugar. So, if you are mainlining diet soda all day, and find yourself craving carbs late in the day, starting in the afternoon and continuing well after dinner, this is going to mess with your whole metabolism (especially if said soda also contains caffeine). If you give in to those cravings, well, your body is going to want to do something with the energy you’ve taken in. The answer is to drink unsweetened beverages — water, or herbal teas and fruit juices with neither added sugars nor added fake sweeteners of any kind. No high fructose corn syrup. No sucralose (Splenda). No aspartame (Equal).
I don’t know if any of this is helpful, if we’ve talked about it before, or if I’m just being obnoxious. As usual, though, it’s meant to be helpful. You can smack me down if it’s just obnoxious.
July 20th, 2006 at 12:40 pm
Oh my dog, Sara you are not being obnoxious. In fact, thank you because I need all the help I can get and your help is always welcome.
You’ve mentioned the yoga breathing and sometimes that does help. I don’t drink diet cola at all, because I don’t like what’s in it (apartame, etc.)
Now, the rest of it, I need to do. I know I do better when I’m exercising and moving more than I do. Also, my nutrition isn’t usually coming from the fast food variety lately but I could eat more regularly, I have a stupid tendency to skip everything until dinner. I don’t feel hungry until later, but then I’m eating later so I don’t wake up hungry. It’s really helpful with keeping on the weight, too.
I’ve heard of valerian giving good results and I should try it.
The chocolate? I had no idea. I don’t doubt it, but I had no clue!