Sleeplessness

[Guest guest]

Hi all, Does anyone out there have any suggestions of something one can eat or drink to help them sleep better without taking prescripions meds? I get so tired and want to fall asleep but sometimes it takes me a couple of hours before I can finally fall asleep. Then, when I do finally fall asleep it is not a very restful sleep. Maybe it is just something I have to deal with thanks to PSC. Sleepless in Oklahoma () P.S. Some of you were talking about red spots and red faces, etc. Well, I can tell you that I think I would probably win the prize for the most haggard looking. My gastro. doc told me early on that I would eventually look like an olive on a toothpick. It sounded funny at the time but now I am starting to believe him. I have bird legs, my upper torso and arms look like I just excaped from a refugee camp and my

face...............well just the other morning I went out on the back patio to listen to the birds and watch the squirrels and one look at me and they sqwaked and made a b-line for the woods!! I have some of the red spots, too, mostly on my face. When my husband calls the dog, Spotty, we both come running. Enough said, it's Friday and if we can't laugh at ourselves we'll just cry. This is the better option.

Get your own web address. Have a HUGE year through Yahoo! Small Business.

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

I've had trouble with sleeping too. Originally, the doctors told me to

use benedryl. However, that's not something I can do long term because

of the way it affects me. Recently, someone suggested a glass of hot

water. I run a full 12oz glass of hot tap water and microwave it for

about 45 seconds so that it's about as hot as you would want soup. This

has worked pretty well. However, not always. It seems to relax your

insides. Good Luck! janel

>>> Baker 3/30/2007 2:13 PM >>>

Hi all,

Does anyone out there have any suggestions of something one can eat

or drink to help them sleep better without taking prescripions meds? I

get so tired and want to fall asleep but sometimes it takes me a couple

of hours before I can finally fall asleep. Then, when I do finally fall

asleep it is not a very restful sleep. Maybe it is just something I

have to deal with thanks to PSC.

Sleepless in Oklahoma ()

P.S. Some of you were talking about red spots and red faces, etc.

Well, I can tell you that I think I would probably win the prize for the

most haggard looking. My gastro. doc told me early on that I would

eventually look like an olive on a toothpick. It sounded funny at the

time but now I am starting to believe him. I have bird legs, my upper

torso and arms look like I just excaped from a refugee camp and my

face...............well just the other morning I went out on the back

patio to listen to the birds and watch the squirrels and one look at me

and they sqwaked and made a b-line for the woods!! I have some of the

red spots, too, mostly on my face. When my husband calls the dog,

Spotty, we both come running.

Enough said, it's Friday and if we can't laugh at ourselves we'll

just cry. This is the better option.

---------------------------------

Get your own web address.

Have a HUGE year through Yahoo! Small Business.

[Guest guest]

, Several years ago someone on this site suggested taking melatonin to help get to sleep. For me it works. Melatonin (if I understand correctly) is a substance that our body releases naturally as we are going to sleep but I guess for us that doesn't always happen. I don't take it every night but some nights I feel very awake when heading to bed so I know to take it so I don't stay awake for hours. And honestly it doesn't always work but a high percentage of the time it does. Melatonin is found in the vitamin and supplement aisle of your favorite pharmacy. Blessings, Barby - KS UC - 1965, ileostomy - 1972, BCIR (continent pouch) 1994, PSC - 1995, arthritis 2007married 27 years , 5 sons, 2 daughters in law, 1 granddaughter born 6/06 and 2 golden

retrievers

[Guest guest]

I use both Melatonin and Benadryl to help me sleep on occasion, but

since they seem to build up in my system and turn me into a zombie

during the day if I'm not careful, I don't use them all the time.

It seems that for whatever reason, the normal cycle of melatonin levels

is altered in liver disease. Normally it's essentially zero during the

day, and then there's a sudden spike about an hour before your normal

bedtime. For whatever reason, in liver disease it seems to be elevated

somewhat throughout the day and into the night. Then a while after your

normal bedtime, it starts to rise, but not as fast as it should. It

tops out sometime in the middle of the night or early morning and then

starts the drop gradually, but never really drops to zero like it should.

This messed up melatonin cycle may be at least partly responsible for

the sleep troubles and daytime drowsiness many of us suffer from. For

me taking a little bit of melatonin (I have 3 mg tablets and I usually

break them into fourths or even eighths) about an hour before bedtime

does help get my schedule back in order, but if I take too much, or for

too many days in a row, it starts to throw me off even worse.

Hope that helps!

athan

PS the above info about Melatonin is my summary of the info from a

journal article I read several years ago, so may not be perfectly

accurate due to my feeble memory! If anyone's interested I could

probably dig up the article and post a link to it here.

[Guest guest]

,

I have been going to a Chinese acupuncturist for sleep problems, and she has helped me enormously. Most nights I fall asleep pretty quickly, and I stay asleep. It has been a miracle for me.

Ricky

PSC 2003

P.S. I love your sense of humor!

Sleeplessness

Hi all,

Does anyone out there have any suggestions of something one can eat or drink to help them sleep better without taking prescripions meds?

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

For what it's worth, my hepatologist is okay with the benadryl, but not with

the melatonin. You may want to check with your hepatologist before taking

anything. I also usually drink a cup of hot milk before bedtime, and that

seems to help me.

>

>Reply-To:

>To:

>Subject: Re: Sleeplessness

>Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2007 16:55:10 -0400

>

>I use both Melatonin and Benadryl to help me sleep on occasion, but

>since they seem to build up in my system and turn me into a zombie

>during the day if I'm not careful, I don't use them all the time.

>

>It seems that for whatever reason, the normal cycle of melatonin levels

>is altered in liver disease. Normally it's essentially zero during the

>day, and then there's a sudden spike about an hour before your normal

>bedtime. For whatever reason, in liver disease it seems to be elevated

>somewhat throughout the day and into the night. Then a while after your

>normal bedtime, it starts to rise, but not as fast as it should. It

>tops out sometime in the middle of the night or early morning and then

>starts the drop gradually, but never really drops to zero like it should.

>

>This messed up melatonin cycle may be at least partly responsible for

>the sleep troubles and daytime drowsiness many of us suffer from. For

>me taking a little bit of melatonin (I have 3 mg tablets and I usually

>break them into fourths or even eighths) about an hour before bedtime

>does help get my schedule back in order, but if I take too much, or for

>too many days in a row, it starts to throw me off even worse.

>

>Hope that helps!

>

>athan

>

>PS the above info about Melatonin is my summary of the info from a

>journal article I read several years ago, so may not be perfectly

>accurate due to my feeble memory! If anyone's interested I could

>probably dig up the article and post a link to it here.

>

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[Guest guest]

Marie Nilsson wrote:

> For what it's worth, my hepatologist is okay with the benadryl, but not with

the melatonin.

Did your hepatologist say why he didn't want you to take Melatonin? My

GI doc OK'd it for me... said it was a whole lot safer than anything he

could prescribe to help me sleep.

Just wondering if there's some actual basis for worrying about it's use

in liver disease, or if the issue is simply that it hasn't been studied

thoroughly enough to be sure of it's safety.

I would definitely agree that you should check with you doctors before

taking any new meds, and if they have concerns find out why they do.

For instance when I asked Dr. Raiford about fish oil, he was worried it

might upset my digestion. When I let him know it hadn't been causing

that problem, he said it was probably a good idea to take it. Luckily

for me, Dr. Raiford is the type of Dr. who explains his reasons without

having to have them pried out of him. Some would have just said that

fish oil wasn't a good idea and left it at that if not asked about their

reasons.

athan

[Guest guest]

Melatonin is a prescription drug in some countries, but I agree with your hep

(safer). There are very few negatives (mostly drug interactions) and LOTS of

positives. Contraindications are (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin):

Safety

Melatonin is practically nontoxic and exhibits almost no toxic side effects.

However, melatonin taken in combination with monoamine oxidase inhibitors

(MAOIs) can lead to overdose because MAOIs inhibit the breakdown of melatonin by

the body. Exogenous melatonin normally does not affect the endogenous melatonin

profile in the short or medium-term, merely advancing the phase of endogenous

melatonin production in time.

In individuals with auto-immune disorders, there is concern that melatonin

supplementation may exacerbate symptoms due to stimulation of the immune

system.[39]

Melatonin causes somnolence, and therefore should not be taken within five hours

before driving, operating machinery, etc. As melatonin is almost always taken at

the end of the waking day, this is generally not an issue.

Individuals who experience orthostatic intolerance, a cardiovascular condition

that results in reduced blood pressure and blood flow to the brain when a person

stands, may experience a worsening of symptoms when taking melatonin

supplements, a study at Penn State College of Medicine's Milton S. Hershey

Medical Center suggests. Melatonin can exacerbate the symptoms by reducing nerve

activity in those who experience the condition, the study found.[40]

As a natural substance with a virtual absence of problematic side effects, with

health benefits to users without illnesses, melatonin has been classified as a

dietary supplement and made freely available in the USA, but in the EU,

over-the-counter sale without prescription is not yet officially permitted.

As a datapoint, fish oil does NOT agree with me.

Arne