Many people with lupus, including myself, often have problems falling asleep even when tired. I found that melatonin really helped me but my doctor and rheumatologist could not prescribe it for me. I got mine in the past from America where it is freely available. I have also tried a number of herbal remedies and methods of relaxation that have been really helpful.
I wanted to share some of the researched methods that may help with sleep. Today I posted a new piece about cherry juice on my website. This has been helping me a lot, it seems that cherry juice increases the natural melatonin in the body which may help with sleep. Here is my article:
Thanks for another helpful and interesting blog. Sleep problems are a perpetual nightmare for me so I'll definately be visiting your site and finding out more about melatonin.
As I sit here tired from lack of sleep I will definitely be trying the cherry juice and let you know how it goes after a few weeks.
Do you know where I can get it as I don't recolect seeing it in the supermarkets?
I have had terrible nights when I can be awake for hours and eventually give up on it. I have even found it impossible to just nap on a coach on the way to work whilst all the people around me sleep like tops!
This is one of the worst parts of this wretched disease and one of which doctors simply don't understand. They just think you are like everyone else and there must be something on your mind. I think it is simply a manefestation of Lupus and the key to solving it is yet to be discovered.
You can buy cherry juice in healthfood stores. Be careful to read the ingredients, you want 100% cherry juice not something loaded with sugar and packed with added water. The brand used in most research is Cherry Active. It is available as juice and tablets. I find both work and the tablets seem better value but you could try either. I buy mine from Bodykind, a company I used to write for on a freelance basis, I no longer work with them but trust them. Here is a link to the cherry active products:
hi ann, im new to this blog and i have like most of us chronic insomnia i take zopiclone but still have trouble going to sleep and staying asleep, my son is on melatonin for his aspergus and i was told under no circumstances can someone with an autoimmune disease and on my meds take it, r u on methotrexate or hydroxchloroquin?thanks
Thank you for your comment, I am not on any medication at all at the moment and manage my condition through a whole variety of diet and lifestyle choices and am always investigating new things. Melatonin is not available in the UK anyway unless on prescription but the cherry juice/supplements work by increasing the natural melatonin in the body which may aid the sleep cycle. If you are on medication and even if not it is always vital to check with a medical doctor before taking any supplements anyway. I work closely with my rhematologist and he is aware of the variety of nutritional supplements that I take.
I think one of the other links I provided gave some other advice for insomnia....here is the link again vitalitywithin.com/sleep-is... - in that piece I discuss blood sugar balance, caffeine, exercise and some herbal remedies.
I hope that you get some good sleep soon, I know that sleep can really help me feel so much better about everything!
I use Kalms or Quiet Life pills to help me relax. Falling asleep isnt the problem, its staying asleep, tend to wake long before I want to get up and when I do I feel washed out, low and fed up, always in a sweat. Mornings used to be my best time of the day, not any more. My GP told me once never to take supplements unless they were prescribed so I never have but pure cherry juice sounds good..I imagine its expensive but I'll have a look for it...
Yes GP's often say that about supplements, but the sad fact is that they only get 6 hours of nutrition/diet training in their 6 years of university training. My two year masters degree in Nutritional Medicine was designed for GPs and the ones who attended were amazed by what they learned, one GP cut his prescription costs by a third via advising his patients on diet and supplements. Most supplements are fine, but it is best to check with a doctor first especially if you are on medication because there can be an interaction. I personally take a variety of supplements and at the moment I have no inflammatory markers in my blood (my last blood test was 4 weeks ago) which is great!!
For the first few years of my illness sleep was a huge problem. I would pass out on the frontroom floor regularly, and eventually drag myself up to bed. But sleep as you all know is not always refreshing and I would often wake with my brain in overdrive. So here is my secret for getting through those nights without loosing my mind and actually getting some rest.
I had designed a 3 wheel go-kart and in my mind I would build it. Weld by weld joint by joint, bolt by bolt. I would always build the thing in the same order and take pains to justify each and every detail of the design. And If by the time it was complete I had not been swept away in the arms of Morpheus . ~ Then I would start again at the beginning and build it from scratch. I never imagined driving the thing of even firing it up.
The point was to marshal my thoughts and not allow my brain to race.
As you can imagine, this was not an easy process to master, and it took some effort. But that was all part of it. That effort was exhausting.
OK so not everyone is an engineer. But everyone knows the process of how to do something.
And sometimes its nice to get one over on this illness without resorting to drugs.
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