Sleep
is an issue for me. Insomnia and mania go hand-in-hand. For nearly
two decades there were some nights where if I didn’t do
something, I would just stay completely awake—active and
awake—for days on end. I just didn’t have an off switch.
It didn’t matter if I took a warm bath, counted sheep, counted
backwards from a thousand (starting over again each time I moved),
did deep breathing, light music, reading a boring book, guided
imagery or mindfulness. You name it, I’ve tried it.
If
any of the above things have worked in getting you to sleep, then you
have never experienced insomnia to the freakishly weird depths that I
have. It seriously didn’t matter how many hours I had already
been up, if I had hiked 12 miles that day or if I had done other wild
things that make normal people with balanced-brains tired. My body
could be completely and utterly exhausted, but my mind would not turn
off. Let me tell you, the headache one gets after not sleeping for 72
hours only gets more severe as the hours increase.
For
eighteen years, there were nights where I could take my (high dose)
of an antipsychotic, crawl into bed with the lights off and lay there
for 45 minutes to an hour, take half a prescription sleeping pill,
wait another half an hour, take the other half of the sleeping pill,
wait another half of an hour and then take my emergency dose of the
antipsychotic. There were many nights where two hours after going
through that process, I was still bright eyed and ready to clean out
the kitchen. Insomnia is the worst. The longer it lasts, the more
likely a person is to start having psychiatric issues.
Last
night I woke up with a start twice. Panicked both times. Waking up at
odd hours is rotten. I do it all the time--especially when I'm
stressed. But now that I have been medication free for nearly a year,
here's what helps me:
Exercise
during the day to work off the excess energy and then take amino
acids afterwards (I’ll explain that later)
Wear
wax earplugs. No more clock-ticking. No
more spouse snoring. No more neighbors with loud radios.
Turn
off the cell phone, computer, tv, and any other electronic device
with a screen. When I am trying to fall asleep (or when I wake up in the middle of the
night), I don't turn on anything with light either. If I do, it
wakes up my brain just like a farmer waking with the
sunrise—especially the blue light of an electronic device.
Do
breathing exercises. Inhale slowly (to the count of 5-10) filling
"my stomach" (it's really the lower 1/2 of your lungs;
when you inhale, your chest shouldn't rise at all. It's called
diaphragmic breathing and better circulates the oxygen in your
brain) Hold your breath (counting 5-10), and then exhale slowly
while counting 5-10. (It shouldn't be uncomfortable. You can adjust
the number you count to depending on how you are feeling. When I'm
stressed it's probably 4 or 5. When i am not, it's more like 8.) I
count on my fingers each cycle. There are nights when my brain gets
mad because I'm "wide awake" at midnight or 3--but then I
can get back to sleep within 10 cycles. Other times it takes longer.
2 nights ago it took 37. But I went back to sleep. Last night I did
it two separate times: 12:45 and 5:17. Worked both times, even
though I'd been so stressed.
IF
those things don’t work, some natural over-the-counter (at a
health food store or online) non-habit-forming supplements can help.
Please talk them over with your doctor before you try them):
Choline
helps with obsessive or racing thoughts. 300 mg. Takes about 30 min
to work.
Inositol
Powder helps with stress in the body (racing heart, tight chest,
etc) Teaspoon in a glass of water. It has the consistency of
powdered sugar. Works in about 10 minutes. (If you are prone to
physical anxiety during the day, you can put some in a water bottle
and just sip it throughout the day.
The
following can be done an hour before you go to sleep to improve your
sleep quality. (If you are on psychiatric medication that makes you
tired, be sure to set your alarm as a reminder to take the meds 1-2
hours before you hope to fall asleep. For years I made the mistake of
waiting till I went to bed before taking my nighttime meds, lying
awake for the next 2-4 hours. When I was on meds, I took my meds at
8pm so that I would fall asleep around 10-11pm. That would allow the
meds to get out of my system so that I could wake up in time to be at
work at 9 am.) Again, it is important to talk these over with your
doctor before you try any of these.
Lavender
oil on the soles of your feet. If you don't have a lot of calluses,
you can actually feel your body beginning to relax from your feet
working its way up your legs. You could also sprinkle some on your
pillow or put it on your inner wrist.
Protein
isolate shake. It has to say isolate! It comes in a powder form. Mix
it with 8 oz of water. It binds with unnatural things in your body's
blood stream (processed meds, processed food, etc) and carries them
away from your brain through your gut. As the toxins are being
carried away, for me, it's like the loud static in my head begins to
turn off. The protein will also help your blood sugar stay balanced
while you sleep. I prefer plant based protein isolate. They seem to
agree with my body better. (Did you know there are more
neurotransmitters in your gut than there are in your brain? Which is
the reason why what you eat can affect your mood)
Amino
acids. You have to get a good "broad-based" one which
means it's not just one type of amino. It's got an entire list on
the back of the bottle. It works like the isolate, binding to the
toxins. Aminos are the basic building blocks of proteins. Taking
them helps your liver metabolize (process) the toxins. (If you take
the protein isolate shake, you don’t need to do the aminos as
well because they are automatically contained within it. Check the
back.) Cool thing about the aminos/isolate I can take them if I wake
up in the middle of the night and if it was the toxins that woke me
up, I am able to get back to sleep within the 20-40 minutes
(depending on if I take a liquid supplement or not). I usually am
too full to take another shake, so I always take the aminos.
(Earlier I mentioned taking amino acids after exercise because if
you have ever been on any type of psychiatric medication—because
it is a foreign substance, your body doesn’t know what to do
with it and rather than flushing it out of your system, it stores it
in your tissues. Exercise, or anything that causes you to sweat
(massage, hot tub, yoga, etc) breaks down those tissues re-releasing
those meds into your system, causing “secondary withdrawals.”
Amino acids bind to the foreign substances in your body and assist
in metabolizing them—flushing them from your system.
Q
Sleep Spray. Up to 8 sprays a night. It has a mix of 5 HTTP,
valerian root and a couple other things. I love it because it gets
me to sleep and I never feel groggy the next day.
GABA.
250mg (The doctor at micronutrient support told me don't take more
than that, even if they sell it in a bigger pill because it can act
as a depressant at higher doses—nobody wants that.) Gaba is
actually an amino acid that helps calm your body and assists your
body into a sleep cycle.
Melatonin.
5mg. My doctor said don't be tempted to buy a higher dose because it
can also act as a depressant if you are prone to depression. Plus a
higher dose will make you groggy in the morning. (Higher doses can
also affect the heart in some people, so talk to your doctor.)
There
are some nights where I do every single thing on this list.
Gratefully, most nights I just do the sleep spray and the
aminos/protein isolate.
Have
an integrative care doctor or naturopath assess you for Candida.
Evidently stress or a course of antibiotics cause the natural and
good Candida (yeast) flares, becoming a fungus. As a fungus, it
escapes the stomach (no longer to properly digest your food) into
the tissues of your body, robbing your body of its ability to absorb
nutrients. This can cause all sorts of problems—the least of
which is insomnia. In October, I began having sleeping problems
again. After a thorough evaluation, my doctor decided that my body
wasn’t absorbing the micronutrients as well as it used to
because I likely had an internal fungal problem. It seemed
absolutely absurd. But since there are more neurotransmitters in the
gut than there are in the brain, I can only imagine how vital it is
to provide proper nutrition to my brain. After all, after eighteen
years on five classes of major psychiatric medication, it is only
because of the micronutrient blend that I have been medication free
for nearly a year. Finally I decided that not absorbing my
micronutrients was likely the cause of this nasty bout of insomnia.
After beginning the anti-fungal candida protocol, my ability to fall
and stay sleep is gradually improving.
I
never thought it would be possible to sleep without medications. But
these things only work with a balanced brain. Gratefully the
micronutrients create that balance. I feel excited as I learn new
tools for my wellness toolbox. With my improved sleep, my mood and
cognition are improving, too. I am finally learning how to properly
care for my body and liking who I am becoming as a result.
I am in the process of compiling
a book on living successfully with mental illness. I will let The
Nauvoo Times know when it becomes available.
Sarah Price Hancock, a graduate of San Diego State University's rehabilitation
counseling Masters of Science program with a certificate psychiatric
rehabilitation.
Having embarked on her own journey with a mental health diagnosis, she is
passionate about psychiatric recovery. She enjoys working as a lector
for universities, training upcoming mental health professionals.
Sarah also enjoys sharing insights with peers working to strengthen
their "recovery toolbox." With proper support, Sarah
knows psychiatric recovery isn’t just possible — it’s
probable.
Born and raised in San Diego, California, Sarah served a Spanish-speaking
and ASL mission for the LDS Church in the Texas Dallas Mission. She
was graduated from Ricks College and BYU. Sarah currently resides in
San Diego and inherited four amazing children when she married the
man of her dreams in 2011. She loves writing, public speaking,
ceramics, jewelry-making and kite-flying — not necessarily in
that order.