Dr. Curtis McElroy

Category: Health Conditions

  • Dealing With Insomnia Naturally

    10 Natural Ways To Deal With Insomnia

    Almost all of us suffer from insomnia at some point in time.

    Insomnia can be transient and related to everyday stressors. It can also become chronic, so that nearly every night you have problems getting to sleep or staying asleep throughout the night.

    6 to 10% of the US population suffers from some type of insomnia.

    Women experience this condition two times more than men do.

    sleepdisorders

    Lack of sleep can lead to serious health problems and consequences including, heart disease and diabetes. It is also a contributing factor to obesity and can increase chances of work and driving related accidents.

    Anyone who has ever experienced insomnia or even poor sleep knows that the day after can be pure misery and can affect work, relationships, and social life.

    The following are ten ways to help yourself get some sleep and avoid the long-term consequences of sleep deprivation brought on by too many nights without proper sleep:

    1. Set a sleep ritual. This means you go through the same behaviors before going to sleep at the same time of night. Rituals train the mind, which regulates the body, and a nightly ritual can go a long way to facilitating a healthy sleep cycle. Your sleep ritual can involve self-care like brushing your hair and teeth, putting on some soothing music, taking a bath with aromatherapy candles, and reading by candle light or even fluffing your pillows before sleeping.

    2. Use a white noise machine. White noise machines are all natural methods to elicit sleep and to ensure a healthy sleep pattern. These machines emit white noise to block out extraneous noises that might interfere with your sleep. There are also those that offer the sound of waterfalls, the ocean, or a babbling brook. Choose a sound that appeals to you and go to sleep with that sound playing all night long or just for a half hour to 90 minutes, depending on whether or not your machine has an automatic stop timer.

    3. Practice meditation. Many people meditate before going to sleep. Meditation involves having a strong mind-body connection, focusing on your breath, relaxing all of your muscles and calming the mind. When your muscles are relaxed completely, you will have less musculoskeletal pain and will sleep better. Meditation is very effective for reducing anxiety, which is a major contributor to insomnia.

    4. Practice hypnosis. Self-hypnosis is similar to meditation except that with self-hypnosis, you will focus on a specific goal, such as getting a calm night’s sleep. You work with your subconscious in order to bring about a state of relaxation conducive to sleep.

    5. Drink lavender or chamomile tea. Both of these herbal remedies can help you feel more rested and ready to sleep. Lavender can be drank in tea form, taken as a capsule containing the dried plant components, or used in essential oil form in an aromatherapy diffuser.

    6. Try qi gong. Qi gong is an ancient Chinese martial art that involves gentle and graceful movements attached to deep meditation and breathing. This can be learned at a health club or from a home DVD. Just about everyone has the skill it takes to do this soothing form of exercise right before bedtime.

    7. Avoid large meals before bedtime. Eating too much before you go to bed can make it uncomfortable to get a full night’s rest. Eat at least 3-4 hours before bedtime, reserving nighttime for a small pre-sleep snack.

    8. Practice Tai chi. Tai chi is an ancient Chinese martial art form that has become a popular exercise for better health. It is a bit more stimulating when compared to qi gong but involves similar movements. Tai chi should probably not be done right before bedtime, instead, do tai chi about 4 hours or more before going to sleep.

    9. Try passion flower. Passion flower is a well-known herbal sleep aid that can be taken alone or used with other herbal sleep aids. It relaxes the mind and frees it from anxieties that plague your nighttime hours. Take it as a tea or use standardized capsules containing dried passionflower.

    10. Practice yoga. Yoga can be a good exercise to do right before bedtime. Yoga involves various poses while concentrating on breathing and mindfulness.

    treatinginsomniawithyoga
                   Treating Insomnia With Yoga

    There are several poses, which specifically help to induce sleep and aid with insomnia:

    • Utthan Pristhasana (Lizard Pose)
    • Salabhasana (Locust Pose)
    • Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend)
    • Prasarita Padottanasana (Wide-Legged Standing Forward Bend)
    • Janu Sirsasana (Head-of-the-Knee Pose)
    • Savasana (Corpse Pose)
    • Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend)
    • Supta Baddha Konasana (Reclining Bound Angle Pose)
    • Parsva Upavistha Konasana (Side Seated Wide Angle Pose)
    • Supta Virasana (Reclining Hero Pose)
    • Supta Padangusthasana (Reclining Big Toe Pose)
    • Savasana (Corpse Pose)
    • Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose)
    • Viparita Karani (Legs-up-the-Wall Pose)
    • Siddhasana (Adept’s Pose)

    Take a yoga class to see if you like it or purchase a yoga DVD. Establish a routine that you can implement as a nightly ritual before retiring to sleep.

  • Fibromyalgia And Sleep Disorders

    Dealing With Sleep Issues For Those With Fibromyalgia

    One of the issues associated with fibromyalgia is difficulty with sleep. Whether it is due to chronic muscle pain or depressive symptoms, people with fibromyalgia often struggle with being able to get to sleep and having a restful night’s sleep. Fortunately, there are things that can be done to improve the quantity and quality of sleep in those who suffer from fibromyalgia.

    Here are some tips for better sleep when dealing with fibromyalgia:

    • Sleep with a heating pad. The heating pad should be set on a low setting to avoid burning the skin and can be placed anywhere on the body that hurts the most to loosen the muscles and relieve pain while you sleep.

    • Go to sleep at the same time every night. You should go to sleep at the same time every night, getting up at the same time every morning. This trains your brain to sleep at the proper time and helps you sleep better.

    • Use a noise machine. If sleeping in a quiet room is too distracting, you can sleep with a white noise machine to induce sleep and to keep you sleeping throughout the night. Some of these machines will go on all night, while others will shut off at a prescribed period of time. They also make machines that mimic the sounds of the ocean, rain, or a babbling brook.

    • Don’t eat a large meal before bedtime. This tends to make it more difficult to fall asleep. Instead, eat a small snack to bring up your blood sugar as low blood sugar can interfere with sleep. Large meals should be eaten about 3-4 hours before sleeping so that digestion doesn’t interfere with sleep.

    • Don’t drink alcohol before sleeping. Alcohol is a depressant but it also reduces your ability to get a good night’s sleep. You should have your last alcoholic beverage no sooner than four hours before attempting to go to bed.

    • Don’t drink caffeinated beverages before sleep. Caffeinated beverages act as stimulants that interfere with getting to sleep and staying asleep. Do not drink caffeinated beverages within four hours of trying to get to sleep.

    • Avoid heavy exercise before sleeping. Exercise is activating and can interfere with getting to sleep if you exercise too soon before trying to sleep. If you exercise with fibromyalgia, you should do so about 5-6 hours before falling asleep. Exercise creates energy in the body, and so it’s best to give your body a chance to settle down before getting to sleep. Calming exercises like yoga are okay as they can actually promote sleepiness.

    • A warm bath with calming essential oils like lavender right before bedtime, and especially as part of a nightly ritual can work as a trigger to train the brain to know it’s bedtime helping you find the rest you need so much.

    • Practice meditation. Meditation can be done before sleep to relax the muscles, ease pain, and reduce stress before going to sleep. Meditation also helps lessen the perception of pain in those who suffer from fibromyalgia and can be done at other times of the day besides bedtime for stress relief.

    • Use your bed for sleep and sex only. Do not read in bed or watch television while you are in bed. This only activates your mind and allows you to associate your bed with things other than sleeping.

    What To Do If You Still Cannot Sleep

    Nothing is worse than lying in bed, suffering from pain, and being unable to sleep. When you have fibromyalgia, however, this is what some nights are like, even with the best of sleep hygiene and stress reduction.

    If you can’t get to sleep after a half hour or so of trying, you should get out of bed, use the restroom, and perhaps read a little bit. This will take your mind off the stress of not being able to get to sleep and you can use this time to get a little bit more tired. Do not do this in bed but in another room in the house.

    When you feel tired again, try to go back to sleep, using meditation if necessary to put you in a frame of mind to sleep. Meditation can be used whenever you are having difficulty sleeping because, when done in a tired state, it can induce sleep and you will sleep more restfully.

  • Migraines and Insomnia: Improving Your Sleep

    Migraines and Insomnia: Improving Your Sleep

    Getting a good night’s sleep can be tricky. Your brain’s working overtime all day long and getting it to rest down for the night is the last thing it wants to do. The problem with not getting enough sleep is that it has a negative effect on practically every aspect of your life. Lack of sleep doesn’t allow your brain to work to its maximum potential.

    You’ll find it harder to focus and concentrate and your memory will start to lag. It also affects your mood by making you react negatively and more spontaneously without thinking things through first. In addition, studies have shown that getting too little sleep leads to weight gain. To top it off, it triggers migraines, which can turn your day into one big, pounding mess.

    In addition, it’s a well-known fact that migraines and the quality of your sleep are part and parcel of the same package, a little like the chicken and the egg. They hit 50% of the time between 4 – 9 am and are more common among those who suffer from sleep disorders, such as insomnia.

    Insomnia is defined as having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep for more than 5-6 hours. It’s one of the main reasons behind migraines because it disrupts your natural sleep rhythms, and a result, you’re stuck with throbbing, pounding, sometimes debilitating, headaches.

    Insomnia is also a trigger for mood swings, depression, and anxiety, which all can be contributing factors to migraine headaches. Moreover, it decreases daily functioning and impairs your quality of life.

    Read on to find out how you to get your circadian rhythm back in order and keep it that way to enjoy migraine-free, healthier, happier days.

    Try to go to bed at the same time each day, and get 7-8 hours of sleep per night. This allows you to get a regularly scheduled sleep schedule. The scientific reason behind it is that we go through four main stages of sleep; the deepest and most beneficial are the third and fourth stages, which are at their most powerful just right before we wake up.

    These stages are crucial for the production of dopamine and serotonin; the “feel good” hormones produced by your brain, and anytime their levels decrease, sleep problems arise as well as other disorders.

    1. Eliminate factors that sabotage your sleep.

    • Exercising late in the day
    • Eating protein at night

    • Going to bed hungry can keep you awake because the hormone that’s responsible for your hunger pangs makes your brain alert to get your digestive system ready for food. If that’s the case, eating a small snack will suffice to end your hunger pangs without making you feel too full.

    • Hidden sources of caffeine, like medications or drinks, can prevent you from getting enough sleep. If you take them close to bedtime, they can interfere with your sleep cycle.

    • Too much sleep can also trigger migraines. Sleeping in on the weekends and taking long naps will wreak havoc on your night’s sleep.

    2. Increase your quality of sleep naturally without medication.

    • Put your phone on silent an hour before your bedtime. This will help put distractions at a minimum.

    • Dim the lights in your bedroom and turn off the TV. Bright lights alert your brain and make it think it’s daylight, instead of getting it to wind down and get into sleep mode.

    • Lower the temperature on your thermostat. It’s been proven that the best temperature for optimal sleep should be around 60 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Just make sure you keep your hands and feet warm, even if it’s with just a sheet because these areas are the most problematic for those suffering from migraines and insomnia. Also, make sure your pajamas are made from natural material, like cotton or silk, or flannel in the winter – and doesn’t stick to your body as you sleep.

    3. Hydrate adequately throughout the day. Studies show that dehydration increases the risk of migraines, and is an unavoidable trigger. A mere 1.4% of fluid loss can result in headaches and difficulty concentrating.

    4. Make it a point to exercise regularly, preferably in the morning, which can help improve your mental abilities and increase your focus. It also boosts the level of endorphins in your system, “feel good” chemical messages in the brain known to decrease stress levels as well as reduce the effects of painful headaches. Getting a good workout also, helps get your sleep cycle back in order so you can wake up and go to sleep at regular times, and increase the amount of quality sleep during the night.

     

Copyright @ 2017 DrCurtisMcElroy