Insomnia - Finding the Cause
by Ruth Galbraith, ND
I don’t know a Naturopathic Doctor who hasn’t seen many, many patients complaining of insomnia. It’s an increasing phenomenon in our ever more stressful culture. When we can’t sleep, we soon discover how very important that rest we once took for granted is. As more sleepless nights pass, we find our general health declining. It begins in the psychological realm, with a shorter temper, inability to concentrate, and even depression, but sleep deprivation has very real physical consequences over time, and has been associated with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia, among many other increasingly common disorders. During restful sleep, our bodies do much of their healing, repair, and synthesis of important hormones and other natural enzymes and chemicals, which keep our bodies functioning at optimal levels. When our sleep is interrupted, too light, or for other reasons non-refreshing, much of this repair, healing and synthesis cannot occur, and we see the eventual deterioration of our health.
When I see patients who can’t sleep, what they want is a quick cure. If you’ve ever suffered from insomnia, you know that it often gets worse as time passes, and at some point many become quite desperate to get some sleep!
However, as with many health conditions, a quick fix isn’t always synonymous with cure. I see more and more patients who are on pharmaceutical sleep aids, and invariably what they tell me is that the drug either worked at first, but is no longer working, or that it works, but that the side effects are interfering with their lives almost as much as the sleep deprivation did.
So what is the answer? As a naturopathic doctor, one of the principles that guide me is “Find the Cause.” If I simply treat to relieve symptoms, I am not understanding or treating the cause of the dysfunction, and my patient will not be cured.
So the first thing I must do is discover the cause of my patient’s insomnia. The list is long, and can include: t.v. before bed; too much caffeine; low nighttime blood sugar; not enough exercise; too much exercise; trying too hard to fall asleep; nicotine; some natural therapies taken for other reasons; alcohol; irregular hours of sleep or work; noise; light; psychiatric disorders like depression; pain; benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH); breathing related sleep disorders, including sleep apnea; Restless Leg Syndrome; reflux; high blood pressure; allergies; and asthma. These are just a few of the many causes of insomnia.
Treatments:by Ruth Galbraith, ND
But what my patients want is a cure! As I’ve said, the cure is as varied as the cause. Once we find the cause of your insomnia, there are many treatment options, including balancing nutritional deficiencies; treating adrenal or thyroid dysfunction; improving diet; losing weight; balancing hormones; hypnotherapy; treatment of underlying disorders; detoxification; therapeutic IV nutrition; relaxation techniques; appropriate exercise; and addressing blood sugar dysregulation. As a naturopathic doctor, I have many, many tools to choose from in addressing insomnia, and I do have some great ways to help my patients achieve sleep while we work on discovering and eliminating the cause of insomnia. Some simple things you can try at home:
- Turn off the t.v. at least an hour before bed and indulge in a quiet activity (reading, meditating, gentle stretching, quiet craftwork, etc). If you must watch television, do not watch the news. Instead, watch something relaxing, like a nature show, preferably on CD, so you avoid commercials (which are not relaxing!).
- Read something light. Don’t read the newspaper or internet news. There is nothing relaxing about news! Instead, get lost in a favorite novel. My little secret for making it through the stress of medical school? I re-read many of my favorite children’s books!
- Take a tepid shower or bath, and throw in some relaxing aromatherapy. A little lavender or rosemary added to bath water is very soothing. Do not take a bath that’s too hot or too cold, as either is stimulating to the nervous system. Tepid water (96?F) is relaxing and calming.
- Visualization. This can take many forms; find what works for you. You might try creating a special, relaxing place in your mind. Fill it with all the things you find most soothing. This could be a mountain, forest, or ocean scene filled with sunshine, moonlight, softly singing birds. Each night, work on adding to this special vision. As you move into this place, try to simultaneously relax all the muscles of your body slowly, one by one, starting with your facial muscles and ending at your toes.
- For those who wake in the middle of the night, the culprit is often low blood sugar. Try eating a small amount of protein before bed, whether this be a small serving of yogurt, a handful of nuts, a tablespoon of peanut butter on a cracker, or part of a protein bar. This may keep the blood sugar from dropping too low during the night, and prevent you from waking.