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Getbig Bodybuilding Boards => Nutrition, Products & Supplements Info => Topic started by: Louie N on April 15, 2009, 09:46:26 AM
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Since I started training hard again after shoulder surgery and rehab, although i am beat down from my workouts I cant seem to sleep solid for more than 2-4hrs at a time. Not sure if its because i have the stres of running a business and a family to support, but something keeps me from sleep. i have tried every OTC sleep aid outthere and the eith do not work or make you feel horrible the rest of the day when you do wake up. Ambien helps me to sleep, but the after affects suck, everything is hazy. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated, especially if anyone knows of something herbal or natural.
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Melatonin works for me. Some people claim a hangover but as long as I can sleep for six hours straight, I feel great the next day.
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6 Natural Tips for Deep Sleep
Apr 07, 2009
Would you like to sleep like a baby without taking drugs? Americans spend upwards of 3 billion dollars a year on sleep medications, but to avoid the side effects, there are a number of natural remedies you can try first. Read on to learn some of the ways to get a good quality night's sleep.
1. Relaxing Rituals to Rest Easy
In Chinese Medicine, nighttime is yin time—or, simply, when the body takes care of itself instead of your desires. Proper sleep is required for your body to repair itself and regenerate. To reach deep, restful sleep, your spirit and heart must be calm. Excessive worry, anxiety, and depression can all disturb the spirit and activate the mind—making it near impossible to fall asleep and stay asleep. Rituals to sooth your spirit and induce a sleep response before bed include soaking your feet in Epson salts for 15 minutes, writing all of your thoughts in a journal to get them out of your head, and practicing relaxation before bed, like the Stress Release meditation below.
2. When Food Disturbs Sleep
When you eat late, you wake up tired. Your body will be busy digesting your dinner while you are trying to sleep, so you won't feel rested in the morning. Do not eat anything for at least three hours before bedtime. Also, cut back on eating bacon, cheese, chocolate, ham, potatoes, tomatoes, and sausage, especially before bed. These foods contain tyramine, which inhibits neurochemicals like norepinephrine and can cause insomnia. And, of course if you have sleep problems, caffeine should be cut out.
Eat for sleep! Try eating more grains at dinner; carbohydrates tend to make people sleepy. Another snooze snack is a warm cup of milk; because milk is rich in the amino acid tryptophan, it can sometimes aid in deep sleep. Mix in natural vanilla flavoring for a soothing snack. Or if you prefer, eat 1 cup of natural yogurt an hour before bedtime.
3. A Peaceful Place for Sleep
Your sleeping environment makes a huge difference to the quality of your sleep. Do everything you can to create a quiet and cozy atmosphere. Ideally, your bedroom should be located in the quietest area of your home. Keep the décor minimal. Lighting should be dim and any music that is played should be soothing. Research has found that lavender, vanilla, and green apple are among the best scents to help lower anxiety and induce sleep, making these smells a good choice for a scented candle or heated essential oil. Try to limit your pets to outside of the bedroom because their movements will keep with your body from fully relaxing into deep R. E. M. sleep. As much as possible, your bedroom should be only for sleep.
4. Exercise Enables Sleep
People with regular exercise routines often sleep better and have fewer incidents of insomnia than those don't get regular physical activity. Exercise promotes sleep and improves sleep quality by altering brain chemistry. Exercising moderately for 20 to 30 minutes three times a day, combined with meditation or tai chi in the evening, will not only help you fall and stay asleep, but will also increase the amount of time you spend in R.E.M. sleep. In fact, for some people, exercise alone is enough to overcome sleep problems. Exercise in the morning or afternoon, but do not exercise for at least two hours before bed.
5. Herbs to Sleep Tight
A calming tea before bedtime can ensure a good night's sleep. Drink valerian or passionflower (or passiflora) tea before bedtime every night for one month. Simply steep 1 to 2 tablespoons of the dried herbs in one cup of hot water and drink just before bed. Or look for one with the traditional Chinese herbs zizyphus or jujube seed, bamboo shavings, and oyster shell, which soothe the mind and spirit.
You might also try Calm-Fort/Sleep formula with useful herbs like lily bulbs, polygala and turmeric that help manage stress and calm the spirit while relieving restlessness and insomnia.
6. A Sleep-Friendly Meditation
I had one patient with insomnia who also felt anxious and even a little depressed. In addition to acupuncture and herbal therapies, I decided to teach her a stress release meditation that she could do before bedtime to help with her anxiety. I am happy to report that she is now sleeping like a baby.
Try this Stress Release meditation, which works for the majority of my patients who have sleeping problems:
Sit comfortably or lie down on your back. Slow your respiration to deep, abdominal breathing. Utter the word "calm" in your mind with every exhalation. Focus on relaxing each area of your body in sequence, from the top of your head to your toes. Starting with the top of your head, inhale and then exhale while visualizing your scalp muscles relaxing. Say "calm" in your mind. Repeat this with each body part as you move down through all body parts, front, back, and sides, in succession: your face, throat, chest, arms, stomach, abdomen, thighs, knees, legs, ankles, until finally you reach your feet. When you've relaxed your feet, visualize all the tension in your body leaving through your toes as dark smoke. Practice this for at least 15 minutes before bedtime.
http://health.yahoo.com/experts/drmao/17735/6-natural-tips-for-deep-sleep/
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sounds like you might be overtraining maybe pulling back a little would be the best idea all around, better results, better sleep if that is the case.
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I agree with Melatonin..but if needs be, ask your doctor for Trazadone (sp?) it works really well for me. I've also taken Melatonin (careful, over 4g and it may give you nightmares / vivid dreams) with "Sleepy / night time Tea" type drinks. You can find it in the Tea / Coffee isle. All natural, and works well.
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Chronic insomnia is best approached by behavior modification and natural therapies before turning to prescription drugs. The following lifestyle changes may relieve insomnia:
Avoid caffeine at least six hours before bedtime.
Avoid alcohol or smoking for two hours before bedtime.
Get regular exercise, but do not exercise within three hours of bedtime.
Establish regular bedtime and waking hours.
Do not work in the bedroom.
Consider using white-noise generators or relaxing music to “turn off” your mind.
If sleep is disrupted by another condition, such as restless legs syndrome, painful arthritis, or carpal tunnel syndrome, it may be helpful to seek treatment for that condition. In addition, the following herbs and supplements have been shown to help induce sleep:
Valerian—300 to 600 milligrams (mg) valerian root 30 minutes to two hours before bedtime. If taking liquid valerian, take 30 to 40 drops of extract in a small amount of warm water within the hour before bedtime. Long-term valerian therapy is not recommended. Valerian is sometimes used with lemon balm.
Melatonin—300 micrograms (mcg) to 10 mg about 30 minutes before bedtime. Sometimes lower doses work better than higher doses.
GABA—350 to 700 mg before bedtime (taken sublingually)
L-tryptophan—1500 to 2000 mg before bedtime
If natural sleep remedies do not restore refreshing sleep, pharmaceutical drugs are available, including Klonopin®, Ambien®, Lunesta®, and many others. These drugs must be prescribed by a physician.
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Also..if you find that none of this works for you. Ask your doctor to refer you to a Sleep Study Center so that they can test you for sleep apnea.
Here is some info -http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/slpst/slpst_whatis.html (http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/slpst/slpst_whatis.html)
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thanks for all the replies, i have used gabba in the past, but now when i do its as if i have become immune to it.
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I agree with Melatonin..but if needs be, ask your doctor for Trazadone (sp?) it works really well for me. I've also taken Melatonin (careful, over 4g and it may give you nightmares / vivid dreams) with "Sleepy / night time Tea" type drinks. You can find it in the Tea / Coffee isle. All natural, and works well.
4 grams?
you mean milligrams, i hope you dont take that much melatonin.
Mrm relax all with some melatonin is great.
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Per loco:
Valerian root, ginger tea, and Calms Forte from GNC work best for most people I know.
And while I’ve never used it for this specific purpose, Benadryl knocks me out pretty well.
Also, make sure your room is dark – the darker the better.
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read a book at night in bed, sends me asleep with in 10 mins.
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4 grams?
you mean milligrams, i hope you dont take that much melatonin.
Mrm relax all with some melatonin is great.
yep sorry...milligrams
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Since I started training hard again after shoulder surgery and rehab, although i am beat down from my workouts I cant seem to sleep solid for more than 2-4hrs at a time. Not sure if its because i have the stres of running a business and a family to support, but something keeps me from sleep. i have tried every OTC sleep aid outthere and the eith do not work or make you feel horrible the rest of the day when you do wake up. Ambien helps me to sleep, but the after affects suck, everything is hazy. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated, especially if anyone knows of something herbal or natural.
I just started using "Z-force" by dymatize, 4 caps about 15-20 minutes before bed and it knocks me out cold!!
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Screw all that herbal shit, all it does is make you drowsy...takes 5 hours to kick in, and then knocks you out (if you're lucky) at the most inconvenient time, like 5:45 am when you're almost ready to get up for work... I hate all that herbal crap like melatonin, valerian root, kava kava, etc. etc. it's never worked for me, I have insomnia, the best thing I can recommend to you is:
Immovane.
(http://www.meds-easy.com/images/drugs_live/imovane1.jpg)
One of these babies and in 15 minutes it's lights out.
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Since I started training hard again after shoulder surgery and rehab, although i am beat down from my workouts I cant seem to sleep solid for more than 2-4hrs at a time. Not sure if its because i have the stres of running a business and a family to support, but something keeps me from sleep. i have tried every OTC sleep aid outthere and the eith do not work or make you feel horrible the rest of the day when you do wake up. Ambien helps me to sleep, but the after affects suck, everything is hazy. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated, especially if anyone knows of something herbal or natural.
Dude, I am the expert on getbig on insomnia and I am telling you DROP sleep meds, they don't really work. I was taking them for over a year. Believe me, it is better to run on 3 hours natural sleep than 4-5 hours of drug induced sleep.
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Dude, I am the expert on getbig on insomnia and I am telling you DROP sleep meds, they don't really work. I was taking them for over a year. Believe me, it is better to run on 3 hours natural sleep than 4-5 hours of drug induced sleep.
Do you manage to get allot of stuff done since you only sleep around 3 hours a day?
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Do you manage to get allot of stuff done since you only sleep around 3 hours a day?
No, but it is worse WITH meds than WITHOUT.
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Lot of good suggestions on this thread. Another thing which has always helped me is to get off the laptop 30-40 minutes before I want to sleep. The light off the monitor seems to disturb sleep patterns.
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Either valium or GHB sends me to sleep.
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klonopin works well for me but you need to be able to get 8-9 good/full hours of sleep...and use them to get your sleep cycle normal and regulated and after about a week or two your body should have adjusted to the sleep routine and be fine w/o the meds...worked for me...i was having the worst time falling asleep and began using "k" and after about a week i noticed i was beginning to feel sleepy b/t 9-10pm every night w/o the meds. and being able to wake up feeling refreshed the next morning
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I repeat long term sleep aids are useless... :-\
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Benadryl and Melatonin, and hard workouts=good sleep
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i haven't food anything OTC to help me. I have no insurance so I can't afford prescription stuff. None of the meditation or at peace with the universe shit helps me out
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i haven't food anything OTC to help me. I have no insurance so I can't afford prescription stuff. None of the meditation or at peace with the universe shit helps me out
try doxyalamine or cyproheptadine, cypro is the best of the 1st gen antihistamines for sleep as it improves sleep architecture.
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i'll give it a try. Anyone have anything good for back pain. I have teken 1000 mg of Ibuprofen nad various stuff like aleve. Only thing that helps is narcotics :-\
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Liquid Melatonin is a little more effective and less common than pill form, can be gotten at vitamin shoppe. Melatonin's good when you want something short-term as opposed to sleeping pills. It's milder so it works some but not all the time. Squeezing one out along with a sleep aid usally helps. ;)
Haven't found Ambien to be that effective. For short-term sleep about 4 hours, try Trazadone, 100 mg, probably available under a few trade names. For longer sleep that knocks you out 8 hours or so try Temazepam, 30 mg.
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i'll give it a try. Anyone have anything good for back pain. I have teken 1000 mg of Ibuprofen nad various stuff like aleve. Only thing that helps is narcotics :-\
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does nothing for me.
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i'll give it a try. Anyone have anything good for back pain. I have teken 1000 mg of Ibuprofen nad various stuff like aleve. Only thing that helps is narcotics :-\
no shit...i get really bad headaches ive been to my fam. dr. neurologists and so on....havent found anything wrong but i know what gets rid of the pain...some lortabs and percs. just sucks when you run out
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why can't you sleep, must be something sub consciously keeping you up?
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why can't you sleep, must be something sub consciously keeping you up?
loretab works nice.
I wake up with bad back pain every night. I generally sleep a few hours at a time. total about 5-6 hours a night if lucky. SOmetimes my brain won't shut off. Moslty though it's the pain.
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I vote for liquid valerian root
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that helps you stay asleep but nothing for pain right
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that helps you stay asleep but nothing for pain right
As far as I know it carries no analgesic properties, ...but the deep relaxation might help someone suffering pain
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maybe i can take that, melatonin, st. johns wart, tylenol pm and 6 aleve. that may help
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Phenibut to knock the edge off or Knockout from Scivation.