For so many years I used to wake up shortly after I fell asleep, only to experience anxiety attacks. After pretty much conquering those with meditation and affirmations and prayer, I am still waking up in the middle of the night, not being able to go back to sleep. About 18 months ago I found out why: Adrenal fatigue was manifesting itself with super high cortisol levels at night. Night time is when your cortisol levels should decrease.
What is one of the ways to heal your adrenals? BY GETTING MORE SLEEP! Kind of hard to do when you CAN'T STAY ASLEEP. HAH! What a conundrum.
I have been working on ways to help me sleep and have tried many different combinations of things to help. Here are some of the things I have tried:
- Earthing Sheet. This has been helpful -- I think. I know that I notice that I don't sleep as deeply when I am not using it. This helps to protect against the EMFs that may disrupt someone's normal sleep patterns.
- Serenity Sleep Meditation. This MP3 that I listen to with ear buds is probably one of the best factors in getting to sleep and sleeping through the night. I am going to write a blog post about it in the near future to explain how it works. When I do not use it because I forgot to charge the batteries on my little MP3 player, I wake up in the middle of the night like normal, but can't seem to get back to sleep. When I listen to it before bed, I am always able to get back to sleep!
- Detox foot pads. These suckers are amazing. Sure, they are my own product but even before I created Purify Your Body and started selling my own version, the ones I purchased helped me to sleep better. Every little bit helps and when my body is doing its normal detoxification process during the night like it is supposed to, then it contributes to a good night's sleep. Some of my customers even say that they put them on their kids when their kids have a hard time sleeping. It works like a charm!
- Essential oils. I am not going to name any brands because I hate the brand wars going on, but I do not use any MLM essential oils. Not because they don't have good products - I am not going to judge on that - but I personally choose to not use any MLM products. I use a night time relaxation blend.
- Chamomile tea. Oh yes. Numi is my favorite brand of tea and one that I trust to not have any chemicals or toxins in (read this article from Food Babe on how horrible many teas are for you). I would also recommend an epsom salt bath if you could fit one in your nightly routine. I don't have a bathtub right now so this is out of the question for me.
- Cool night temperatures. We moved to a mountain home we are renting in El Valle, Panama. Before, we lived on the beach where at night we were trying to sleep at 80 degrees F in our bedroom. Very hard to sleep at that temperature. Here in the mountains it gets in the low 70s or even high 60s at night. PERFECT!
- Supplements.
- I take a magnesium supplement every night - OxyFlush. I also occasionally take Natural Calm (which I think tastes disgusting but it works nonetheless.... caution -- start SLOWLY or you will be up in a few hours going to the bathroom!!)
- Enerphos. This is one that my naturopathic doctor has put me on to help with my adrenals. It is mineral based.
- Cortisol Manager. This is also one that will help control my adrenals with adaptogenic herbs.
- Melatonin. I have been taught that if your body doesn't need melatonin, it won't work for you. It seems to work for me as I notice a difference between nights I don't take it, and nights that I do. I take a time-release 5mg one.
- There is a new supplement that I just started. It is called NaturalSleepX. I received it to review, and have taken it for about 7 days. It has all natural ingredients, including the melatonin (When I took this I did not take my regular melatonin). It also has GABA, 5-HTP, some amino acids, lemon balm, chamomile, valerian root and more. All good things that are known to help you sleep.
It is a decent product -- one that I would recommend to everyone, as it is affordable, and has ingredients that I approve of. But my thoughts are that it will work better for someone that has occasional bouts of insomnia, not chronic insomnia with adrenal issues like I have.
I am flying to visit my family in a week and I am going to let my sister in law try it. She has insomnia as well, and I want to see if it works for her.
I still want to try a salt lamp, and I am open for any other suggestions to help me sleep better. Feel free to comment below to tell me what you think might work for me :)
I also sleep with my dog and cat on my bed. Sometimes it makes it uncomfortable (my dog seems to think he can take up 3/4 of my space), but when he isn't there I wake up in a panic wondering where he is and if he is ok.
I also have tried Ambien. Honestly, it worked a few times, but the potential side effects are not something I want to have to worry about. Too much to worry about already and it is only in extreme cases that I take pharmaceuticals. But, it is there if needed.
About Me: Hi! I am Rebecca :) I am the owner of Purify Your Body Detox Foot Pads. I love natural health and wellness, and I love to eat real food. :)
I love my family, and my pets. I actually love all animals -- they are much nicer than most humans! I don't watch TV and haven't watched a movie in the theater for more than 9 months. I would much rather read a book!
I love to garden and make homemade products -- body butter, toothpaste, perfume, cheese, yogurt, etc. It tastes better when it's made from scratch! Contact me here: sales@purifyyourbody.com
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
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