Insomniaaaa

[DizzyIzzy]

Alright, it's 3.30am and I'm wide awake. Gotta be up at 7.30am. I don't often get insomnia but the past week has been BAD. Doesn't help that the moon's nearly full either...

So what do you lot do when you just. Can't. Sleep. ??

Tried rescue remedy... tried relaxation exercises... tried classical music... tried meditating... ffs. Uni is gonna suuuuck.

[Islander]

I have access to 10 mg. Valium for just such occasions.

Mostly I lie still and wait for sleep to come. If it goes on for a couple of hours, I may actually get up and do something boring and odious, like pay bills or balance the checkbook, usually while sipping a glass of wine. If I really need to be up early the next morning, the Valium is a last resort.

At one time I thought oral Vitamin D was causing my insomnia. I quit the D — gave it away, in fact — and sleep pretty well now. I just ordered a new supply because I'm concerned that I'm not getting enough sun (roofers here all last week, could not sunbathe) and I want to re-try. Other factors could have been implicated in the insomnia. Time will tell....

Sorry I can't be more help!

[EmmaPeel]

Diz...you had such a busy week! This insomnia doesn't seem unusual when you have been asking your body to produce and create. Accept that your body was running on adrenalin from finishing your book. And the full moon...does it to me too...(hope you put your crystals out! )

When I used to get these bouts (before going gluten free and eliminating late night snacking)...I used to just get up and read in another room with a warm mug of milk. I found EFT really expelled a lot of excess energy too!

When I do my EFT, I usually have to go through no more than 3 cycles and I am so calm I fall asleep within moments. I tap on all points and say..." Even though I am feeling tired, anxious and unable to sleep...I wholly and completely accept myself.." I can usually FEEL the excess energy being expelled though my hands and finger tips like buzzing electric currents.

[Aaltrude]

Diz...you had such a busy week! This insomnia doesn't seem unusual when you have been asking your body to produce and create.

I agree that being over tired could be a cause. I find it difficult to sleep if I get too tired.

[Reesacat]

AWWW-sending {{Warm Sleepy Fuzzies}} to Dizz............

[Maurya]

I agree that being over tired could be a cause. I find it difficult to sleep if I get too tired.

This seems so counterintuitive, and yet it is so true. I have found that this phenomenon leads to the well know vicious cycle, where one is just so tired all the time, and as soon as the head hits the pillow, the body just lies there, all awake-like. So frustrating!

[Islander]

I don't think I've EVER been too tired to sleep. Au contraire, when I was working adolescent therapy, I was so stressed that I could sleep ANYWHERE. At one point I was seeing a shrink (after my stepmother died); in her waiting room were a couple of chairs and a loveseat. I'd lie on the loveseat with my head on one arm and my legs over the other, and fall asleep almost instantly...until she called me. On a plane, I'd be asleep before it left the runway. To bed at 9, asleep immediately, up at 5. These years were the only time in my life when I could sleep anywhere, and nap in the middle of a day, given the opportunity. Blessed sleep!

[DizzyIzzy]

I think it probably is just adrenaline at the moment, but uuugh. So annoying.

However, today in herbal med we were studying narcotic, sedative, hypnotic herbs. And of course we have to try all the liquid extracts. By the end of the lesson most of the class were yawning and struggling to keep their eyes open... early night methinks, lol.

[Aaltrude]

However, today in herbal med we were studying narcotic, sedative, hypnotic herbs. And of course we have to try all the liquid extracts. By the end of the lesson most of the class were yawning and struggling to keep their eyes open... early night methinks, lol.

That class was well timed for you Iz.

[EmmaPeel]

I think it probably is just adrenaline at the moment, but uuugh. So annoying.

However, today in herbal med we were studying narcotic, sedative, hypnotic herbs. And of course we have to try all the liquid extracts. By the end of the lesson most of the class were yawning and struggling to keep their eyes open... early night methinks, lol.

I figured it was adrenaline. Happens to me too when I have writing projects that get my undivided attention for weeks. Funny you should say that. I have been looking into the herbal prep my ND gave me to help me get my stress level down.

Valerian
Hops
Skullcap
Linden Flower
Jujuba fruit
Griffonia simplicifolia seed
Magnesium citrate

Haven't started it yet, because I was still working and I could not take the chance of becoming groggy at work. That's the whole problem. Safety first.

I haven't had any issues as far as insomnia are concerned for a few months now, and I take a regular afternoon cat nap around 1730hrs (the heat and humidity also makes me drowsy, of course).

What do you know about the Linden, jujuba & griffonia?

[Katee]

What do you know about the Linden, jujuba & griffonia?

I have no knowledge of the other items, but i buy jujubes here at the Farmer's Market every year. They come ripe in the fall, & when they are fresh their flesh is rather like an apple in texture. As time goes by (at least here in the very dry air) they dry & become rather more like a date. They have a pit inside that is plum-like. I like them very much, but had never heard of them being good for insomnia.

[EmmaPeel]

Thanks Katee...I wonder if they are the same thing? Jujuba vs Jujubes? (Such a funny name. We used to call those sugar, fruity jelly/rubbery candies Jujubes when I was in grade school...)

Anyway, that is what his formulation consists of. Perhaps Diz can enlighten us otherwise I will do a search...

[Katee]

I think they are the same. When i looked them up a year or so ago, i think there were several different spellings. They are also known as Chinese dates. They do come in different sizes, but fresh are usually about the size of a plum maybe up to the size of a kiwi. I think they grow in all climates, but haven't tried to get one to plant here yet.

I know the candies of which you speak. I never cared for gummy candies (jelly beans, gum drops, jujubes - yuck!). These don't taste anything alike, if i remember, & the texture isn't the same either. I don't know why they have the same/similar names.

[EmmaPeel]

This is what I found on Jujuba seed.
Aaltrude, you can buy these in your market??


Wild Jujuba Seed

Latin: Semen Ziziphi Spinosae Origin: Wild jujuba seed is the ripe seed of Ziziphus jujuba Mill. Var. spinosa (Bunge) Hu ex H.F. Chou, one of two species of small, spiny trees of the genus Ziziphus of the family Rhamnaceae. Wild jujuba is native to China, where they have been cultivated for more than 4,000 years. The plant has naturalized in Japan, Korea, Java, Malacca, India, Irag, Turkey, Spain, Nigeria, Haiti, Dominican Republic, etc.

This species, 7.6 to 9 m high, has alternate, three-veined, elliptical to ovate leaves 2.5 to 7.6 cm long. It is in flower from April to May, and the seeds ripen in October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by insects. The small yellow flowers are followed by dark brown, round to oblong fruits the size of small plums. The white, crisp pulp surrounds a single large, pointed stone. The tree cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.

The other species, the Indian, or cottony, jujuba (Z. mauritiana) differs from the wild jujube in having leaves that are woolly beneath instead of smooth. The fruits are smaller and not so sweet.

When made into glace fruits by boiling in honey and sugar syrup, they resemble Persian dates and are sometimes known as Chinese dates. Juice obtained from the fruits is used in making small candies called jujubas.

Both species thrive in hot, dry climates where winter temperatures do not go below 9.4¢X C. The trees are resistant to a great number of pests. Propagation is by seeds, although the commercial varieties must be propagated vegetatively by suckers, root cuttings, or grafting.

In China, wild jujuba is mainly produced in the provinces Hebei, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Shandong, etc. When the fruit ripens at the turn of autumn and winter, remove pulp, grind kernels to pieces, take the seeds out and dry them in the sun for use when raw or after parched. Pound them finely for use.

Wild Jujuba is also called Common Jujube, Chinese Jujube or Chinese Date. Properties: Sweet and sour in flavor, mild in nature, it is related to the heart, liver and gall-bladder channels. Functions: Nourishes the heart and liver, tranquilizes the mind and stops excessive sweating.

Wild jujuba is both a delicious fruit and an effective herbal remedy. It aids weight gain, improves muscular strength and increases stamina. In Chinese medicine it is prescribed as a tonic to strengthen liver function. Applications: 1. Treats palpitations and insomnia:

Being sweet in taste and entering the heart and liver channels, wild jujuba seed can nourish the heart-yin and replenish the blood in the heart and liver to such an extent as to tranquilize the mind. Therefore it is mostly used for such ailments as palpitations, severe palpitations, insomnia, amnesia (loss of memory), etc., due to deficiency of yin and blood and malnutrition of the heart.

a) Palpitations and insomnia mainly due to blood deficiency of the heart and liver:

Wild jujuba seed is often used in combination with Chinese angelica, multiflower knotweed tuber (Radix Polygoni Multiflori), longan pulp, etc.

b) Insomnia due to vexation as a result of deficiency of the liver with heat:

Wild jujuba seed is often used in combination with windweed rhizome (Rhizoma Anemarrhenae), tuckahoe (Poria Cocos), chuanxiong (Rhizoma Ligustici Chuanxiong), etc., e.g., Suanzaoren Tang.

c) Palpitations and insomnia due to qi deficiency of the heart and spleen:

Wild jujuba seed is often used in combination with Chinese angelica, milk vetch root (Radix Astragali seu Hedysari), dangshen (Radix Codonopsis Pilosulae), etc., e.g., Guipi Tang.

d) Palpitations and insomnia as well as amnesia (loss of memory due usually to brain injury, shock, fatigue, repression, or illness) and dreaminess due to insufficiency of the heart and kidneys and hyperactivity of yang as a result of yin deficiency:

Wild jujuba seed can be used in combination with ophiopogon root decoction, raw rehmannia, thinleaf milkwort root (Radix Polygalae), e.g., Tianwang Buxin Wan.

2. Treats hyperhidrosis (excessive perspiration) due to general weakness, spontaneous perspiration and night sweat:

Being sour in taste, wild jujuba seed can astringe to arrest sweating.

Wild jujuba seed is always used together with Chinese magnoliavine fruit (fructus Schisandrae), medicinal cornel fruit (Fructus Corni), milk vetch root (Radix Astragali seu Hedysari), etc. Dosage and Administration: 10-18 g.

Decoct wild jujuba seed for oral administration or grind it into powder for swallowing. Cautions on Use:
Reference Materials: Shen Nong's Herbal Classic : "Chills and fever in the chest and abdomen, accumulation of pathogenic factors and stagnation of qi and damp arthralgia with soreness and pain in the limbs."

Other Medical Records of Famous Physicians : "Insomnia due to vexation, sweating due to debility and excessive thirst. Nourishing the spleen and stomach, replenishing the liver-qi, reinforcing bones and muscles and assisting yin and qi."

Guide to Reading of Materia Medica : "Being sweet and moistening, the wild jujuba seed is used after prepared for the treatment of such ailments as insomnia due to deficiency of the gall-bladder, excessive thirst and sweating due to debility. It is used when raw for the treatment of drowsiness due to the gall-bladder-heat. It is an herb for the foot jueyin and shaoyang channels." Toxic or Side Effects:
Modern Researches: Wild jujuba seed contains large amounts of fatty oil and proteins, two kinds of sterols, two kinds of triterpenoid compounds (betulin and betulic acid), jujuboside, etc., and it also contains a large amount of vitamin C.

The decoction of the wild jujuba seed has tranquilizing and hypnotic effects. It can antagonize the state of stimulation caused by caffeine. It can enable the obvious reduction of the frequency of protective motion conditional reflex, the diffusion of internal inhibition and subsidence of conditional reflex.

The decoction also has tranquilizing, anticonvulsive and temperature-lowering effects. The water-soluble ingredients of the wild jujuba seed may cause the continuous reduction of blood pressure and heart block. They can also stimulate the uterus.

Japanese research has shown that wild jujuba increases immune-system resistence. In one clinical trial in China 12 patients with liver complaints were given wild jujuba, peanuts and brown sugar nightly. In four weeks their liver function had improved.

The dried fruits of wild jujuba are anodyne, anticancer, pectoral, refrigerant, sedative, stomachic, styptic and tonic. They are considered to purify the blood and aid digestion. They are used internally in the treatment of chronic fatigue, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, anaemia, irritability and hysteria.

The seed is hypnotic, narcotic, sedative, stomachic and tonic. It is used internally in the treatment of palpitations, insomnia, nervous exhaustion, night sweats and excessive perspiration.

The leaves are astringent and febrifuge. They are said to promote the growth of hair. They are used to form a plaster in the treatment of strangury.

The root is used in the treatment of dyspepsia. A decoction of the root has been used in the treatment of fever. The root is made into a powder and applied to old wounds and ulcers.

The plant is a folk remedy for anaemia, hypertonia, nephritis and nervous diseases.

The plant is widely used in China as a treatment for burns.

http://www.hkmj.org/article_pdfs/hkm0112p392.pdf

http://www.e2121.com/herb_db/viewherb.php3?viewid=478&setlang=

[EmmaPeel]

This is what I found on Linden flower;

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/linden-000263.htm

And this is what I found on Griffonia;

http://www.kosmix.com/topic/griffonia