Hitting a Rough Patch - Advice Needed

busdriver11
Sun, 15 Sep 2013 01:27:47 +0000

rockvillemom, very glad you had a great time tonight! But…I think sleep would be the very first thing I would address, if I were you. Sleep is everything, without it, the world is gray, everything is worse, you just can’t function normally. It is particularly important to me because the average age of death of people in my occupation (at my specific company) is in the lower sixties, and we think a large part of that is sleep deprivation related.

There are some things that I post that I want to say, these are foot stompers, these are important life-changing things…please listen. But it seems very rare that you can tell people things that they will really pay attention to, so I kind of give up. But yeah, this one is a foot stomper, and in my case, it might be life itself. We have lost so many people at my company, so young, and it depresses the daylights out of me. So I truly believe that sleep is critical.

As we get older, our bodies produce less melatonin and it is very hard to go to sleep, and stay that way all night. It is normal to wake up in the middle of the night and not get back to sleep as you age…but absolutely not desirable. If you are ruling out the obvious things like too much to drink, or coffee or sugar too late, consider trying melatonin supplements. It is the natural way to put back into your body what you are missing.

Are you sleeping well, for many hours, restful sleep and through the night? As it sounds like you’re not, you should definitely consider melatonin, but you really need to know how to use it correctly. You may know this already, but if you haven’t used it before, you have to titrate yourself to find the exact amount that you need. Everyone is different.

First, get a melatonin pill in 1 mg increments that is pure, not loaded with a bunch of who knows what. Start out the first night taking 1 mg. Do that for three nights in a row. It probably will do nothing for you, but some people get crazy wild dreams just on 1 mg, and if you do…melatonin is not for you. After three nights, raise it to 2 mg, take that for three nights and see how it works. Keep raising the dose until it gets the desired effect.

The goal is to have restful sleep, wake up well rested, dream…but not crazy, too intense dreams. You only take enough melatonin to get the desired effect. Personally, I need 2 mg. Three is just a little too much, but if I need a serious night of sleep, I might take that. The great thing is if I wake up in the middle of the night, I go right back to sleep, instead of tossing and turning. It takes about an hour to take effect, and you really should have a good 7-8 hours to sleep or you might feel kind of groggy. I don’t take it when I have to wake up in 5-6 hours.

If you haven’t tried it (or done it correctly) try it. See how much better you feel when you sleep through the night!