Monday, October 28, 2013

Simple Trick to Beat Insomnia

The idea sounded as weird as a tin foil hat, but it worked.

Upon the suggestion of a friend/ psychologist, I got a pair of yellow safety glasses (actually mine are more orange than yellow) to wear for the hour or so before bedtime, to block out the blue light generated by lamps, TV, and computers. The blue light makes your brain think it's daytime, and stimulates you to stay awake. Buying these glasses was the best $8 I've spent in a long time!

And so sexy too! ;)



My husband also uses a pair of these (he looks just as fetching in them).

I've had insomnia most of my life. We have blackout drapes, and I put a small stuffed animal over my eyes to block out any light that slips through from anywhere else. Yes, that's my eye mask- a toy stuffed puppy. Because an eye mask makes my face puffy.

And a white noise machine. That helps to keep me from waking back up when the garbage trucks, lawn mowers, or neighbor's piece of crap car start up. But of course, in order to not be awakened, you have to be able to fall asleep in the first place... 

I've tried attivan, trazadone, benadryl, ambien, meditating, relaxation exercises and tapes, brain wave CDs, stretching, breathing exercises... Nothing really helped all that much. Well, the breathing helped on a few occasions. And the attivan helped for months- but then I developed a tolerance, had to take more, and then I started losing all my short term memory. So I quit taking it.

However... I am generally doing quite well now with the insomnia- or rather, lack of insomnia (knock on wood)! I take chelated magnesium and valerian an hour before bed and Klonopin 20 mins before bed. And the yellow/ orange glasses are the real cherry on top. They really work. It's a LOT cheaper than prescription meds, and so far, these yellow glasses haven't erased my short term memory or made me sleepwalk or sleep-eat. Maybe I can even cut back on the klonopin.

Give it a try, and let me know how it worked for you!





Nighty-night!

Carla 


Carla Ulbrich

The Singing Patient: Author, Health Speaker, Humorous Songwriter and Entertainer http://tinyurl.com/348hroc - Carla's book "How Can You NOT Laugh at a Time Like This?" http://www.thesingingpatient.com 
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