Some people take melatonin supplements to help them sleep. Melatonin is a hormone naturally secreted by the brain at night. Shift-workers and people with jet-lag are particularly prone to low melatonin when it is needed. Some of us don’t have a reason, we just don’t have enough of it, and therefore sleep becomes troubling. Taking melatonin before bed can help your brain adjust to proper sleep-awake patterns. This supplement doesn’t work for everyone, but it’s safe, and certainly can’t hurt. Take it for a week or two before deciding whether or not it works for you. In the US you can buy it at the drug store, in the UK and Australia you can get a script for it at the GP or buy it easily and legally over the internet.

Magnesium deficiency can cause insomnia, as well as increase anxiety and depression. A magnesium deficiency is particularly likely if you are prone to muscle cramps. In Australia magnesium deficiency is very common as our soils – and so fruit and vegetables – are very poor in it. Try a magnesium supplement at bedtime, about 300mg might make a difference.

Sleep well!    Dr Jenny

Some foods can help you to sleep. It’s not just a hearsay that warm milk can help you sleep. Some say it’s because the warm milk contains the amino acid tryptophan, which stimulates sleep. A few recent studies say that a cup of milk doesn’t contain enough tryptophan to induce sleep, but researchers still agree that warm milk does seem to encourage sleep. Turkey and chicken are also high in tryptophan, and with slightly less tryptophan are red meats, fish and seafood.

Even if you’re not a tea drinker, consider having a cup of chamomile tea in the evening. Chamomile naturally soothes the nerves and promotes relaxation. If you don’t like chamomile, consider lavender or passion flower tea. The herb valerian is available as a tea as well as a supplement, and some find it very relaxing.

If a lighter evening meal to leads to hunger in the evening before bed, have a light snack just before bedtime. Some foods might help to promote sleep, including anything containing calcium, as that has also been identified as a relaxing agent. Some foods that are good to eat before bed and that might encourage sleep include cottage cheese, pumpkin seeds, and soy nuts.

Take care,   Dr Jenny

It might seem obvious, but drinking too much caffeine can adversely affect your ability to rest and get to sleep. We all have a different tolerance to caffeine; you might be more sensitive to it than you think and cutting back might help you sleep at night. You might make a rule to not drink any caffeine after 3 p.m., for example, or limit yourself to a specific amount of caffeine a day (like 1 cup of coffee or 2 sodas). Don’t forget to take into account that many sodas contain just as much or even more caffeine than coffee!

In addition, eating a well balanced diet can help you to keep a centered mind and body. Avoid eating foods in the evening that might not agree with you or cause stomach upset. This might include spicy foods, chocolate and some vegetables. Pay attention to how your body handles specific foods and then adjust if necessary.

While you might think a heavy meal will help you sleep, the opposite is true. A heavy meal makes your digestive system work harder and can cause upset stomach when you lay down or heartburn and gas. If you think your evening meal could be affecting your sleep, try eating lighter meals with simple, non-spicy foods.

The timing of your evening meal is also something to take into account. Try to leave at least 4 hours between the evening meal and going to bed. The digestion process tends to increase your metabolic rate for a while, increasing your heart rate and temperature, the opposite of what happens when you go to sleep.

Sleep well,

Dr Jenny

If you have any bad habits or addictions deal with those before you try and deal with the insomnia specifically. If you are addicted to drugs, nicotine or caffeine, for example, these distractions (the desire to take a hit, have a drink, etc.) might keep you awake at night. If you are a compulsive eater, you might be distracted by the idea of getting up and having something to eat. If you don’t deal with the addiction first, you might never effectively deal with the insomnia.

If you smoke, consider the effect that nicotine might be having on your body. Nicotine has been shown to be a stimulant that increases blood pressure, heart rate and that stimulates brain activity. All of these things are not conducive to sleep. Aside from the health benefits of not smoking, there are some sleep benefits to consider as well. Quitting the cigarette habit just might cure the insomnia.

Keep a sleep diary. You don’t want to record just when you sleep and when you are awake, but rather specific things that might affect your sleep. Keep a food journal and record what you eat and when you eat it. You might also record when you exercise and what medications you are taking (as well as what time you take them). Think about anything you might want to include and keep a good record. Over a period of days or weeks you might notice some patterns with regard to your sleep. Once you see patterns, you might be able to adjust behaviors that you think are affecting your sleep.

Sleep well!    Dr Jenny

Try this visualization technique: Think about something beautiful and focus on it. What is the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen? What does it sound like, look like, feel like? What did you feel like when you saw it? What emotions did you feel? Where in your body did you feel them? Focus on these images and the impressions they left and allow yourself to relax into the memory. Especially, don’t hurry: the point is to experience the memory in as much detail as possible, and allow the beauty and pleasure you experienced to relax you now.

Try counting sheep or something else. As you do so, picture the number. If you focus on this job, you will get bored, and most people fall asleep from the sheer dry boredom that this job brings. You can count from “1” or you can start at “100” and count down. If you are counting sheep, work on creating a vision of the sheep. You might complicate it by creating a sheep with a number on his side.

Cheers,  Dr Jenny

Avoid illuminated clocks.

While they are popular, some of these clocks can add quite a bit of light to a room and can impact your regular sleep pattern. If you prefer these clocks because they are easier to read, turn the clock away from you so you can’t see the bright light when you are trying to sleep.

Turn the clock away from you.

If you are anxious about not sleeping, the natural tendency is to continually glance at the clock and make note of how few hours of sleep you are getting. Consider not only turning the clock away from you, but moving it across the room. It will be easier to avoid the temptation to watch the clock when it’s far away from your bed.

Try using earplugs.

Many people find that by blocking out all sounds, they sleep better. Especially if you live in a home that’s surrounded by a good deal of traffic or other noises, you might find that shutting out the noises via earplugs is an ideal way to be quiet in your thoughts and doing so might also allow you to work on other sleep techniques without interruption (such as counting things, visualization techniques, etc). Even if you are used to the routine sounds, ie. traffic noise or partner snoring, and have slept through them in the past, if you are having a bout of insomnia, the noise will be enough to disturb you, so try blocking it out.

Try listening to soft music

You can buy CDs that are designed specifically to help you sleep or you can put together a disc of songs that you find particularly relaxing. Don’t include songs with lyrics if you can avoid it, as you might find yourself singing along and not focusing on relaxing and going to sleep. Some commercial discs might include the sound of waves breaking or the steady sounds of a heartbeat. Many people find these discs an easy solution to insomnia.

Sleep well,  Dr Jenny Mackenzie

Make your bedroom your sanctuary.

Think about redecorating it so that it’s cozy and inviting. You might invest in new bedding or new drapes. Consider painting the walls so they are a darker color. If you create a fairly dark and inviting space, you’ll want to cozy up in it and relax.

Keep the bedroom as a sacred space.

Well, not sacred, exactly, but it should be for sleeping (and sex) only. It’s not a living room. Don’t eat in bed, don’t watch TV and if you find that reading keeps you up at night, keep it off limits in the bedroom and read on the couch before you go to bed. If you create a habit of heading to the bed only when it’s time for sleep, your body will soon notice the pattern and cooperate.

Don’t watch TV before bed.

There are a few problems with television before bed. First, you might get caught up watching something and keep yourself awake watching the movie or show you have become attached to. Watching the news or and exciting program can get your mind racing and put thoughts and visions into your head that might keep you awake. Watch television in the family room or den and make it off-limits in the bedroom. Some experts recommend removing the television from the bedroom altogether.

Control the light in the bedroom.

Consider getting dark, heavy curtains to make the room dark so you can wake when you are ready to (or when the alarm tells you it’s time). If investing in new curtains is not an option, consider sleeping in a sleep mask so you can block the light getting to your eyes.

Consider buying a new bed.

Often, insomnia is nothing more than an inability to get comfortable. Beds should be replaced when they show visible wear, when they squeak when you sit or lay on them or when you are unable to get comfortable in them. Might seem like a Goldilocks situation, but they can be too hard, or too soft. Also, ideally, beds should be replaced every 8 to 12 years. If your bed is older than 8 years old, you should consider getting a new bed.

Think about the temperature.

Everyone has a different preference, but be sure to consider the temperature in your room. Some people prefer sleeping in a very warm space, bundled up in blankets and wrapped like a burrito, while others prefer sleeping with a window open – even when it’s cold – or with a fan in their face. If you haven’t given consideration to the temperature of your sleeping space, now is the time. The more common problem is keeping the room too warm, or too many coverings – even if you are not sweating, your increased body temperature will make your heart speed up, which in turn tends to activate you. As you fall asleep, it is normal for your body temperature to decrease and your heart rate to slow, so allow this to happen. Best to start cool, and increase the temperature or coverings bit by bit, if you need to.

I hope this helps you get to sleep.

Cheers,   Dr Jenny

Get Up to Sleep Better

While it might seem counter-intuitive, sometimes moving around can help you to fall sleep. Most of us fall into the troubling pattern of staying in bed even when the sleep isn’t coming. You might be afraid that you’ll “lose sleep” if you head away from the bedroom, and so you’ll stay loyal to the bed thinking that’s where you should be. But sometimes the best solution is to move, so instead of lying in bed, endlessly wishing for sleep, get up. Sometimes just a change of scenery (the family room instead of the bedroom) will help to jumpstart sleep. Experts suggest you not do anything that will jumpstart the brain, such as reading or watching TV, but instead stay quiet and still. After 10-20 minutes, return to bed.

Change of scene can help sleep

Try sleeping in a different bed or bedroom in your home. That change of scenery might also help you to relax so you can sleep. You might outfit the bed with bedding that suits you and makes you feel comfortable. If you have made concessions in your bedroom for your partner’s benefit, this is a chance to create a bed that’s just how you like it. This custom feel can induce a relaxed sleep.

Exercise can Help Insomnia

For a different take on the “moving around”, work on adding exercise to your daily routine if you don’t already exercise. Studies have shown that people who exercise regularly (particularly those who exercise at an intense level) sleep better than those who don’t exercise. The theory is that exercise releases hormones that promote sleep and a more settled mind.

However, don’t exercise too close to bedtime. While regular exercise is important and can help to regulate sleep patterns, exercising too close to bedtime can cause you to stay awake because of the endorphins that are surging through your body after exercise. Don’t exercise less than three hours before bedtime and ideally no more than five to six hours before bedtime.

I hope this advice helps, but if it is not enough, then consider my relaxation and hypnosis program, Fix Your Insomnia Now. I personally believe it is the easiest and safest option to manage insomnia.

Sleep easy,

Dr Jenny

Often, it’s the little things that keep us awake. You might worry about how you’re going to get dinner on the table tomorrow night when there are so many other things to do that evening. You might worry about what to wear, or if the laundry is done. Maybe you think of your shopping list. To clear your head of these thoughts, do some advance planning. Prepare a meal or two in advance and make sure the laundry is up to date. Consider packing lunches on Sundays and simply picking and choosing pre-packed items each morning for the lunchbox.

Having an organized household might allow you to relax more in the evening and rid the mind of the busy thoughts that can keep it – and you – awake. If you need to, purchase a book on organization and implement some of the tips into your household routine. If you can afford it, consider hiring a professional organizer. A tidy and organized home can go a long way toward reducing anxiety.

If your insomnia is caused by worry, some suggest that you think about the problem visually instead of in words. Instead of allowing the thoughts to clamber about in your head for a period of time, you instead visualize all the things you are worried about. Studies have shown that when people do this, they wake up in a less stressed or anxious state.

If you find yourself making lists of things in the night that you want to remember in the morning, then write them down and say to yourself “I’ll deal with this in the morning”.

Lots of issues can end up blown completely out of proportion when they are worried at constantly – resolve to talk about the issue to someone not involved and preferably supportive, who may also be able to offer some helpful suggestions.

Sleep well,

Dr Jenny Mackenzie

Regards,  Dr Jenny