Hey Roses,
LOL I almost watched the movie Inception the other night!!!
I had to actually rearrange my entire evening schedule in order to start sleeping decent again, as well as take some more pills.
I am not medically trained in any way, but here's what I have to do in order to sleep-
(a) First, an hour before I want to be in bed, I turn off
all things that can stimulate the brain - t.v., computer, even radio if necessary.
(b) I don't read books, magazines or other things that can get you to thinking or are suspenseful in any way. Although I have found that I need to do
something during that hour, so usually do word-searches, it actually causes me to be bored, which leads to me being a little sleepy all on it's own!!
(c) I turn down the lights. Soft lighting is much better, more soothing.
(d) I let the fragrance of lavender take over my bedroom!! Of course true lavender oil would is best - strategically placed near the bed
& on a piece of fabric which then goes into a plastic baggie and sits under my pillow.
This does not mean I have to go out & spend a bunch of money on Lavender oil (It's usually not that expensive), but if it is a bit more than I can afford at the time - I go to a store like Walmart, or better yet a "Dollar" store and buy lavender oil for use in or with a diffuser -I get either two or three if I can. The lavender smell needs to be very apparent yet not over-powering.
(e) I take Melatonin - it's not an expensive supplement at all!! I started out with a 3 mg dose 30 minutes or so before bed. Although I did have to increase my dose & now take 6 mg each night.
(f) I also take an older antidepressant (Trazodone - which is pretty inexpensive as well) which has a very strong side effect of making me sleepy enough through out the night, so that even though I wake several times during the night, I can usually get right back to sleep.
And finally #(6) - I have found soothing music to play all night to help drown out any other noises that might wake me & helps me to get back to sleep once I am awake.
On the subject of acupuncture - YES!! it does work & quite well especially for pain - that's
IF you can get into see a
good acupuncture doc or therapist!!
Those who don't have a good experience need to find another practitioner!! Not all those that claim to know acupuncture really know it! I have used three other acu 'docs' here - but they didn't really know what they were doing or weren't willing to take me & my infections on as a patient before I found the one now that is making a huge difference in my life!!
As far as those needles go - take a look at someone with baby-fine hair. That's how big around the needles are. A good practitioner can insert many needles per visit without the patient hardly feeling a thing!
Acupuncture has been proven to be as effective as some narcotics for pain, there are
NO side effects, and some insurance policies will pay for them or at leas part of the cost of seeing one, under the same section as the insurance co will pay for Chiro care.
Acupuncture is not the "new comer" in medicine. The Chinese have been using acupuncture & TMC (Traditional Chinese Medicine) since before the time of Christ --- and it's worked quite well for them all of these years!
I don't want anyone to think I am trying to push them - or anyone else- into using acupuncture. I believe it is the best route for me to go, but I still see the benefits of using acupuncture to just get some pain relief or relief of some other issue.
And no, you don't have to "believe" in it before it will work!!!
I do hope this helps!!!