In my practice, about 40% of my adult clients come to me with some degree of insomnia, and another 60% do not sleep enough because of their job or family demands. Our lives are so erratic that we do not even have time for such a basic thing as sleep. As we continue with our over-stimulated life-style, more and more people start suffering from trouble falling asleep or waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to fall back to sleep.
The medical definition of insomnia is trouble falling or staying asleep. You have chronic insomnia if you sleep poorly for at least 3 days out of a week for at least a month.
We often have problems with our sleep because of stress, use of stimulants and alcohol, side effects of medical drugs, keeping erratic hours, depression, and hormonal changes such as menopause, pregnancy, and postpartum adjustment. Many mothers start experiencing insomnia after they wean their babies whom they used to breastfeed through the night.
Lifestyle changes
Most people need at least 7-and-a-half sleep hours per night. If you find that you have problem sleeping, you should make sleep a priority in your life. Schedule the time for sleep and keep this schedule fixed no matter what. You must to go to sleep before 11 PM because our systems–particularly the adrenals–do a majority of recharging and recovering between 11 PM and 1 AM. The gallbladder dumps toxins at the same time. If you are awake between 11 PM and 1 AM, the toxins go back into your liver, which then dumps them back into your system and disrupts your health.
Dietary Modifications
Insomnia sufferers should avoid caffeine completely, including coffee and black tea. Some people are extremely sensitive to caffeine and for them even a morning cup of tea or coffee may cause insomnia later that night. Try to avoid alcoholic beverages as well. Although alcohol makes you drowsy, you will wake up later and will not be able to return to sleep.
Avoid sugar snacks before bed. They will raise your blood sugar and you will have difficulty falling asleep, and later on during the night, as your blood sugar suddenly drops, you will wake up.
Professional Homeopathic Care for Insomnia
If these simple measures do not help you sleep better, consider professional homeopathic care to overcome insomnia. Homeopathy approaches insomnia as just a part of a puzzle of what is going wrong with your body. For a Homeopath, insomnia is just an outward manifestation of an imbalance in your organism that can be brought back into balance by a constitutional homeopathic remedy.
This remedy is found by taking into account all of your symptoms — including the insomnia symptoms as well as the emotional and physical symptoms you are experiencing. The constitutional homeopathic remedy heals you from the inside out and you will gradually start feeling better and sleeping more soundly.
Herbs for Insomnia
If your insomnia problem is mild (less than 3 nights a week), you can try to use herbs and homeopathic remedies to help you sleep better. Your first step should be to implement the lifestyle and dietary changes.
In my practice, I use the following herbs as a temporary sleeping aid for the first couple of months, while homeopathic remedies are working on healing from the inside out:
Passiflora Incarnata (Passionflower) — use for insomnia that is due to mental worry or overwork. Take 30 drops before going to bed. If you experience anxiety during the day, you may take 30 drops three times a day.
Escholtzschia Californica (Callifornia Poppy) — this herb is useful if you have difficulty falling asleep or interrupted sleep. Take 50 drops when you cannot get to sleep. You can use up to 150 drops per night.
Homeopathic Remedies for Insomnia
Those remedies will help you sleep better occasionally. If you find that you suffer from chronic insomnia, you should see a professional Homeopath.
Coffea — this remedy helps people who are especially susceptible to the stimulating action of coffee and tea. They may be nervous, restless, and sleepless due to mental activity or excitement. They may sleep only until 3 PM and after that they can only doze.
Nux Vomica — is useful when you cannot sleep because you are thinking about all those things you have to do and, furthermore, you worry that, because you cannot sleep, you will not be able to do all those things. People who benefit from Nux Vomica are often irritable and impatient. They are light sleepers and are sensitive to noise at night and during the day. They often wake up at 3 AM or 4 AM and cannot fall asleep until the morning. The insomnia may be caused by the abuse of sleeping pills, alcohol, or drugs.
Ignatia — this remedy helps insomnia that is due to grief or a recent loss of a loved one. Those who benefit from Ignatia would be sighing and yawning a lot. They may cry frequently or not be able to cry at all.
Cocculus Indica — this remedy is beneficial for those who to keep long hours caring for a sick person or a child. They feel tired but cannot fall asleep. They may also have vertigo with the insomnia.
If you cannot overcome insomnia on your own, professional homeopathic care will remove the causes for insomnia by restoring balance in the body, which will then help to regulate your sleeping patterns.
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