😴 INSOMNIA 😴

Ever since daylight savings time ended last weekend it seems that every patient, regardless of what they’re coming in for, has been having trouble sleeping. Whether it’s having trouble falling asleep, or waking up in the middle of the night and just laying there for hours, it seems like a good night’s rest is eluding everyone. So let’s get straight to what you can do about it.

IF YOU CAN’T FALL ASLEEP

First, if you don’t already know what good sleep habits are here are the basics: 

1. The bedroom is for sleep and sex. Unless you’re using your phone or devices to help in either endeavor, don’t bring them to bed with you. The best recommendation we can give is charge them in the kitchen so there’s no temptation right before falling asleep to roll over and check the news/IG/whatevs.
   
   
   

2. What you do right before sleep can lay the foundation for a good night. Great options are reading, drawing, or doing a guided meditation like this one from Drexel.
   
   
   

3. If you’ve been in bed for 30 minutes or more, you’d be well served by getting out of bed and doing something low key to get out excess energy. Then try to go back to sleep.

Now if none of that is working don’t fret, here are 3 treatments that could help get you there that we carry or provide at HAC:
 

Melatonin

A hormone your body naturally produces to help you wind down. Sometimes a little extra is all you need to finally drift off.  We carry a sustained release version of 3mg to last through the night.

Acupuncture

For those of you who’ve had it, remember that night’s sleep after your first treatment?  Even a single treatment can reset the clock for insomniacs and then using good sleep habits can keep you there.

Ziziphys

Sometimes falling asleep feels like pushing a boulder up a hill, but this is actually a Chinese Medicinal herb called Suan Zao Ren and has been shown to be effective at calming the bodies reaction to lead to a deeper sleep.

IF YOU CAN’T STAY ASLEEP

This ones a little trickier, but there are still plenty of things you can do to help.  Good sleep habits will help here too:

1. If you wake up in the middle of the night, don’t pick up your phone. Remember it should be charging safely in the kitchen!
   
   

2. If you feel like your mind won’t quiet, don’t be afraid to get out of bed for a short bit. Try a short guided meditation and then head back to bed.
   
   

3. Limit alcohol right before bed. Maybe forgo that night cap for a week to get back on track.

Now if none of that is doing the job, the supplement we’ve had the best luck with lately is CBD.  Don’t worry, there’s no ‘high’ from taking our CBD as it’s derived from Hemp and won’t have any THC in it at all. Depending on how you want to take it, we have both a Chocolate Minty Oil you can put under your tongue for a minute, or we even now have GUMMIES that are easy to chew in either Ginger or Lime flavor.

Hopefully we’ve given you some ideas so you can put daylight savings behind and start loving sleep again.