Thursday, March 17, 2011

Grandma Jane Syndrome

Do you have trouble falling and staying asleep through the night? I sure do!  As long as I can remember it has always taken me a solid 30 minutes to fall asleep; to shut down my mental factory for the day and get to a quite enough place to fall asleep, and then if I were to wake in the middle of the night for any reason, as soon as my eyes open my brain would turn itself back on. I found a great solution....

A few years ago I discovered what was almost a wonder drug: valerian root. I popped two pills before bed one night, and my thoughts slowed quicker and I slept like a baby. Every night, day after day, month after month, I would take my two pills 30 minutes before I was ever planning on going to bed and I would sleep great.  Then 4 weeks ago I was told in preparation for a routine out-patient procedure I needed to stop all supplements. I didn't know what I was going to do.

I went back to taking forever to fall asleep and waking like clock-work at 3 am. And now I'm told Valerian Root can be harsh on my body and actually thins your blood more than advil.  I'm not allowed to start taking it yet again but now I'm not so sure I want to.  Only problem is I need a new solution to a life long problem.  And yes it's live long, as I recall counting sheep up to 1,000 when I was in high school, and my grandmother hasn't sleep more than  5hrs a night for decades. Help! I don't want to do crosswords at 3 in the morning with a reading light.  Suggestions?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I drink a product called Organic Nighty Night tea by Traditional Medicines. It uses passionflower, chamomile flower, catnip and hop strobile (lupus type plant), spearmint and orange peel. It has a similar affect to what you describe in valerian root. At least for me. Everyone's different so it may not work for you, but I'd give it a try. Plus it tastes good :)

Kendra said...

Maybe you just don't need as much sleep as the rest of us? Are you tired?

Debbie said...

Tiffany- I'll keep my eye out for that tea, although I hate mint- is the spearmint flavor strong? And Kendra- yes, I'm tired. :-(

Anonymous said...

Nope, not a strong mint flavour. Actually I don't think I noticed the spearmint at all, but maybe if you don't like mint you would notice it more. It's definitely not strong like peppermint tea :)