Help One of these is making my insomnia much worse, but which one?

WisconsinGardener

Loony Member
My functional medicine doctor just added several things to take morning and evening. One of them is keeping me awake. One thing to note - things that make most people sleepy make me wired (like Benadryl or Tylenol PM or any of those). Also, pretty much any adaptogen keeps me awake, even those some people take for sleep.

Albizia
Goldenseal
Uva Ursi
Chamomile tincture
Bacopa

I was awake until at least 1 am last night. Help?
 

WisconsinGardener

Loony Member
The directions have been to take them morning and evening. So, no, not actually in bed, yet. For example, last night, I took them at 7:30ish. Went to bed at 10-ish. Was still awake at 1 am. I'm guessing they want me to take them around 12 hours apart, which works out to morning and evening. I thought it was maybe the Albizia keeping me awake, as it is supposed to make people sleepy, so with my weird body, I wondered if perhaps it as keeping me awake. However, some people think that both Goldenseal and Uva Ursi cause insomnia, so maybe it's one of those. I am reluctant to be wrong, again, but my only choice is take one at a time earlier and see which one is the culprit, I guess.
 

naturallysweet

Has No Life - Lives on TB
My functional medicine doctor just added several things to take morning and evening. One of them is keeping me awake. One thing to note - things that make most people sleepy make me wired (like Benadryl or Tylenol PM or any of those). Also, pretty much any adaptogen keeps me awake, even those some people take for sleep.

Albizia
Goldenseal
Uva Ursi
Chamomile tincture
Bacopa

I was awake until at least 1 am last night. Help?


Chamomile is a calming herb. Unless you are intolerant to it, it should help you sleep.

You might try leaving out the suspect ones, and seeing if it helps! Then adding them back one at a time. You might only be able to take them in the morning.
 

WisconsinGardener

Loony Member
I moved the Goldenseal and Uva Ursi to afternoon, and it's been better for sleeping, at least. I guess these must be doing something, as I feel fairly awful. It never occurred to me all these years that my actual issue was bacterial overgrowth. My comprehensive stool test showed some nasties, as well as too much of even some of the good ones.
 

moldy

Veteran Member
WG-- have you cut out sugar and high carb foods? That can certainly contribute to bacterial overgrowth. The chamomile may be the one bothering you. You might ask your FM doctor about switching to another bitter, like dandelion. Chamomile and Valerian both just work like herbal Ritalin for me - they don't make me jittery, just very focused.
 

moldy

Veteran Member
WG - I've strugggled with insomnia for several years. I recently found that if I leave my cell phone out in the living room or kitchen (it was usually charging at my feet overnight), I sleep MUCH better. Hope you are feeling better.
 

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
WG - I've strugggled with insomnia for several years. I recently found that if I leave my cell phone out in the living room or kitchen (it was usually charging at my feet overnight), I sleep MUCH better. Hope you are feeling better.

Also, some people are sensitive to EMF (electromagnetic fields). Being near a device that puts off relatively high
EMF readings can cause anxiety, difficulty sleeping, even nausea and hallucinations! I was waking up almost every morning with what i could only call "free-floating anxiety"... not quite a panic attack, but very unpleasant.

After i discovered that my clock radio was putting off significantly high EMF readings (right next to my head on the nightstand), I unplugged it and tossed it. Lo and behold... much better sleep and no more waking panic and anxiety!

Summerthyme
 

moldy

Veteran Member
I've finally found that passionflower helps me more than anything. That and some black cohosh for the hot flashes!!
 
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