re: Child with extreme insomnia

[Guest guest]

Hi Roseann,Puberty changes everything!  My daughter's sleep trouble came back right around puberty.  Those hormones can affect so much of a person's system.  We still haven't gotten my daughter back to her pre-puberty level of functioning but she's gotten a little better.  I do have some suggestions and some things to look into.

1.  GABA-glutamate imbalances can cause OCD behaviors, anxiety, and sleep issues (specifically high glutamate with respect to GABA levels).  Try GABA at night.  It will quiet the voices in your child's head (that repeated dialogue or song that just won't stop).  Valerian helps with GABA absorption and is good for calming--give some with the GABA.  Ginkgo biloba blocks NMDA receptors and helps reduce glutamate production.  For us, the GABA really helped.  We use Thorne Labs Pharma GABA.  Start low, say even a 1/4 or 1/2 capsule and work up.  Same goes for the valerian and ginkgo.  Also consider adding NADH (we use Source Naturals Enada NADH).  It too helps calm.

2.  High oxalate foods increase glutamate.  Google " high oxalate foods " and check the list.  Try to avoid the worst ones for your child, especially at night.3.  Look up supplements that can increase GABA production.  I believe B6 is one of them. 

Good luck. Puberty can be tough but we can help our kids (and ourselves) get through it.SuzanneWoodland Hills, CA-- “We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

          --Albert Einstein