Re: Experiences with PS and Insomnia Please - RESPONSE TO MO

[Guest guest]

I haven't tried 5htp, but will look out for it -- Thanks for the

suggestion! Mid Nite (I think that's what it's called), an OTC at

Walgreens, helped a little for getting me back to sleep on waking.

Calms Forte, although it has very attractive packaging and is tasty,

did nothing for me. Also Benadryl, but I don't like how I feel in

the morning.

That's about all I've tried besides PS and now melatonin for two

days. I think they're helping a little, because I doze more during

the Wakeful Time. I'm hoping that as I address the adrenals

generally I'll sleep better and better. Maybe. Also thinking of

asking my doctor for a prescription for sleeping pills, for when I

get desperate!

-Jen

>

>

> Have you tried 5htp? What else have you tried?

>

> I sometimes take one drop of lavender oil in orange juice, leave

it by the bed in case I case up. It just being there reassures me.

>

> I have been an insomniac since childhood and been through a fairly

full range of orthodox and natural remedies.

>

> I rely on a drowsy-making anithistamine at the moment AND I take

the 5HTP also.

>

>  

>

> Mo

>

>

> Experiences with PS and Insomnia Please

>

> My primary goal in treating my hypothyroidism and adrenals is a

good

> night's sleep. For months I have been waking every night for

several

> hours. So I have been experimenting with PS -- with only limited

> progress. Last night I tried taking licorice at bedtime, in case

it

> was LOW cortisol waking me up, but apparently not -- I woke at the

> usual time with my body practically humming and was up for longer

than

> usual. (I don't have any recent labs, but my temperatures have

just

> recently stabilized at 98.6, and I don't have any hypo symptoms.)

>

> So I would very much like to know, if you have tried PS, what your

> experience was and especially what finally got you sleeping

through

> the night? Taking it earlier? Spreading throughout the day? Upping

the

> dose (to what?)? Using melatonin?

>

> I am desperate and overwhelmed and don't know what to do next.

>

> -Jen

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> I'm hoping that as I address the adrenals

> generally I'll sleep better and better. Maybe. Also thinking of

> asking my doctor for a prescription for sleeping pills, for when I

> get desperate!

>

I have read (sorta) bad things about sleeping meds - mainly that

they don't really seem to work in controlled studies.. And I'm sure

they can't be all that good for the cortisol rhythm, although they

might help to entrain it differently.

My experience was that sleep improved A LOT when I went on IsoCort

- even a relatively low dose (5 pills). I used to be a extreme night

owl - going to bed at 1-2 (and got even more extreme before starting

IC - this is how I guessed the adrenals were getting worse. Now that

I'm weaning off, even a little (26->20 mg cortisol), the " natural "

sleep pattern seems to be getting worse.

But about 3 weeks after starting IC, I started to feel tired about

12-16 hours later at around midnight (which would be expected with a

cortisol bio-life of 16 hours from first dose to last), whereas

before I'd not feel tired until about 2-3 AM. Along with this, I

started to actually get up without an alarm clock, feeling awake

( " ALIVE! I feel ALIVE! Never have I, felt so alive! " sayeth Mr. Hyde

from the musical

Jim