Dear Pharmacist, I have trouble
with prescribed sleeping pills, they
make me do crazy things like sleep
walk, eat and wake up family members
just to chat. What are natural options?
— A.A., Superior, Colo.
I wrote an entire chapter
about insomnia and natural
remedies in my first book, “The
24-Hour Pharmacist.” Here’s a
summary:
Creepy crawlers: You fall asleep
just fine but somewhere around
3 a.m., you wake up and can’t
get back to sleep. You consider
putting away dishes, folding
laundry, or vacuuming.
Don’t! For “Creepy Crawlers”
I recommend melatonin. It
increases the number of hours
that you sleep.
You may be wondering if it’s
OK with Ambien, Xanax other
medications. It should be fine
because we make melatonin in
our brains anyway, some people
just run short. It is terrific for
people who have autoimmune
disorders. Ask your physician if
it’s right for you.
Antenna heads: You climb into
bed at a reasonable hour, but
your brain becomes an antenna
for every thought on the planet.
When you’re fully maddened
and start cursing the sheep, you
drift off at 2 in the morning!
Antenna heads will do well
with a relaxing herb about
an hour before bed, such as
chamomile and lavender tea.
Take 2 teaspoonfuls of dried
chamomile herb, and ½ teaspoon
dried lavender and steep
that for two to three minutes,
sweeten if necessary and enjoy.
These herbs will settle your
brain down. They are also available
as liquid herbal extracts.
Bed bugger: You fall asleep fine,
even staying asleep through
the night, but you thrash or
wake up a lot; maybe you have
bizarre dreams. The hallmark
is fitful sleep. “Bed Buggers”
respond to supplements that
relax the central nervous system,
for example, magnesium,
a natural “chill pill” and muscle
relaxant. Two others are glycine
and Chinese skullcap.
Thyroid medicine, blood pressure
drugs, cold medicine and
asthma inhalers are stimulating,
so take them earlier in the day.
If you’re craving more information,
sign up for my free newsletter
at
tulsaworld.com/pharmacist.
info@dearpharmacist.com
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