When Periods Cease - Part Six: The Challenge of Getting a Restful Night Sleep!

Sleep has been something I've struggled with for years so I have a lot of experience with what helps and what doesn't. As periods cease, I am even more sensitive than ever to the subtleties in life that tend to keep me awake at night. Mike Adams from Natural News recently posted this article on his website. It is the best insomnia advice I've ever read. I do ALL of these things and it helps tremendously. I also want to add that I've started taking 500 mg of GABA along with 3 mg of melatonin and a little bit of tryptophan as I crawl into bed with my calming book. You might not see results all at once. These tools have an "accumulative" effect. Be patient. The pay-off is worth it.
 
(NaturalNews) Good sleep is a gift from god. How beautiful it is to wake up refreshed after a sound eight hours of sleep. The day can be tackled full of energy, with an awake and ready mind. Quite the opposite occurs after a sleepless night. How awful to crawl out of bed with a body and mind reeling from no or just a few hours of sleep. The performance of a sleep-deprived mind and body are far inferior to the rested state. 30% of the US population experience sleep deprivation regularly. Imagine the impact, the stress, the worry created by insomnia in this taxing, demanding, instant world? The demanding world feeds more insomnia. More insomnia makes the busy world less bearable. How can we get out of this vicious cycle? What solutions are there to improve sleep?

Step One:
30 min to one hour before bed take any of the following:

Tryptophan
Tryptophan is a precursor to serotonin, which induces sleep and tranquility in the brain. Serotonin deficiencies, which are related to tryptophan deficiencies, may be one of the causes for insomnia. Supplementing with tryptophan is safe and cost-effective. Tryptophan is best taken with a B-complex for better absorption.

Melatonin
Melatonin is not a sleep hormone, as mistakenly believed. Instead, it regulates nighttime and daytime, the circadian rhythm. With dark surroundings, the body starts producing melatonin. Without an increase of melatonin production at night, sleep may be evasive. When exposed to bright lights in the evening, jetlag, shift work or poor vision, the melatonin production may suffer.

Valerian and Co.
Numerous compounds containing valerian, hops, chamomile, passionflower or even kava kava can be located on shelves in health food stores. Which one to pick? For many, valerian has shown to be extremely effective as a sleep aid. For others, it does nothing, or worse, creates anxiety. This is due to our unique biochemistry. Trial and error can help to determine an effective herb combination.

Step Two
Reading & Writing
Once in bed, write down thoughts, worries to get the energy out of the system. Then, read a good book in bed in a dimly lit bedroom to calm the mind further. Get cozy, put yourself in "sleep position" and get "inside" a book. A book shifts focus from the day's worries to a new reality. The deeper you get into the book, the more daily worries and frets are forgotten. It is the racing mind that restricts shut-eye time. Reducing thoughts by refocusing can be very effective. When you feel your eyes closing, slowly turn off the light and doze off. Perhaps, you have to repeat the process a few times. But in time, you may even fall asleep on the book.

Step Three
Long-term relief - Sivananda Yoga, Meditation
Sivananda yoga, unlike other forms of yoga, incorporates the proper breathing, proper exercise, proper relaxation, proper diet and positive thinking. Yoga, as originally practiced in India, merely consisted of a few stretching exercises before meditation. Its main intent was to relax the body and prevent stiffness while in cross-legged meditation pose. The West turned yoga into a workout. Vinyasa flow resembles an aerobic gym class these days. With Sivananda yoga, the mind becomes still (breathing, meditation) and the body relaxes with specific, slow exercises - a great solution for long-term restful nights of sleep.

http://www.sivananda.org/teachings/...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health...
http://www.melatoninfaq.com/
http://www.raysahelian.com/valerian...
http://www.cocoonnutrition.org/cata...

About the author

Suzanne Meier, BA, CN, Author.
Born in Switzerland, Suzanne has since lived in the US (most of her life), Canada, Sri Lanka, England and Peru. She truly acts and writes from a 'four corners of the world' perspective. Her locally derived knowledge contributes to a unique cultural insight on how each solitary individual affects the collective whole. After having been caught in an act of war, which triggered a transforming spiritual experience, Suzanne's in-depth search for truth, healing and spiritual awakening accelerated greatly.
Her book "Becoming Human Again - From Sheeple To People", discusses the global manipulation of human kind at every level and how to use consciousness to break free.
www.becoming-human-again.com

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/033268_sleep_remedies.html#ixzz1Ud7UWdSF

When Periods Cease - Part Five: Oh, Those Poor Adrenals!!!!

Soooooo..... About three months ago I was offered a position as an Office Administrator and I accepted. The job is good and I enjoy it but the stress of adapting has been less than easy. Not to complain or anything... I'm grateful to be employed!! I just knew something was definitely "not right" after a very long time of feeling like my energy tank was on empty and I started having chest pains! My first step was to go to a doctor that I trusted and confirm that my heart was ok, do some blood tests and a 12-hour saliva test to see what my DHEA and Cortisol were doing. The results showed that my DHEA was fine but my Cortisol levels were extremely low and they stay low all day long. Typically they should start out high and gradually decline during the day. This particular doctor suggested we try to stimulate the adrenals in order to raise the cortisol. However, all attempts so far have been less than favorable because even a micro-dose of any kind of adrenal support supplement caused insomnia rendering me pretty much useless!! Not good when you're trying to look like you know what you're doing at a new job!!!!

So at this point we are shifting to adaptogens. Some of them still sound like they could have some stimulating (causing insomnia) affects but are generally milder. I did some research and found that many adaptogens can have other side effects as well like blood pressure raising or blood sugar lowering or increasing thyroid symptoms (all of which are red flags for me) so another doctor of mine suggested "Solomon Seal". It's a mild adaptogen that doesn't seem to have any reported side effects. It's not easy to find but I did manage to get Solomon Seal root at a local health food store. I followed instructions and placed 1/2 teaspoon of the chopped root in a cup, added my hot water and then covered and steeped for about 10 minutes. I did this without a tea ball or strainer and it worked fine since most of the root sinks to the bottom. According to instructions you should drink one cup a day and never more than 3 cups in a day. It tastes very mild so no need to hold your nose when drinking! In the future if I want to order it in drop form I can do that online.

Since this is my first day I will need to come back with my results. But if you're in a similar situation, other things that may help are:

• Exercises that raise chi (like chi gong, tai chi, and some yoga stretches)
• Acupuncture
• Meditation
• Going to bed by 10:00
• A really good multi-vitamin with lots of B Complex.... way more than the daily requirements
• An excellent vitamin C supplement (2,000 - 4,000 mg per day)
• Pantothenic Acid (1200-1500 mg per day)
• Magnesium (400-1200 mg per day)
• Stay away from sugar and gluten
• Check your vitamin D levels. Chances are they are low.
• Eat lots of good sources of protein
• Increase fiber

Some adaptogens that may help (but make sure you research for side effects) are Ashwaganda, Asian Ginseng, Bacopa, Cordyceps, Holy Basil, Licorce, Rhodiola, Maca, and Dong Quai.

More to come in a while!

When Periods Cease - Part Four: Breast Lumps

Yes, well.... along with all the raging hormone fluctuations come the possibility of changes in the breasts. Some can be a little alarming.... like a few months ago, during a self exam, I found a lump in my right breast. It stopped me in my tracks and I felt a wave of fear pass over me as I felt how different it was from the usual spongy kind of breast lumpiness I used to get right before a period. This was more like a small kidney bean shaped pebble. Hard as a rock. I decided not to do anything about it for awhile to see what would happen. However, it did not change. In fact it seemed to maybe get bigger. When my acupuncturist said "You really should have that lump checked out", I decided it was time to do something.

I'm not comfortable at all with mammograms. I had one about 20 years ago and I never had another one. Also I refused to get sucked up in the fear-driven consciousness of Western medicine and possibly face repeated needle biopsies. I did some research and found a chiropractic office nearby that does thermography so I made an appointment. Thermography is completely non-invasive, radiation-free, and I trusted the procedure far more than mammography. I even mapped out a rough idea of what my plan would be should I be diagnosed with cancer that would include guidance from an MD that practices naturpathic medicine only if that is what the client prefers.

In short, thermography measures the radiation of infrared heat from our body and translates this information into anatomical images. Cancer cells will stand out clearly on the thermographic image as a "hot spot."


Eveything went very smoothly with my appointment. I was able to get results from my thermography immediately from the doctor who did the procedure. He showed me the images and explained that the way it looked, there was nothing that he was concerned about. To be really sure, he said I could come back in 3 months and have the procedure repeated. At this time it is 3 months later and the lump has disappeared.

If you would like to know more about thermography, click here to see a previous entry.