Or Do You Feel The Same

[MichelleLT]

He's been hitting lows for 2 yrs now.

I can't deal with this forever.

[Firekeeper]

i think you were considering ad. i am taking tmg - trimethylglycine, which is a precursor to sam-e. sam-s is very expensive but tmg is cheap. sam-e was compared to ad imipriptomine (?sp). i think it helps me, at least there is no side effects

[MichelleLT]

I am going to try the herbal route first. I hate drugs, but the ups and downs over the last two years have worn me out. The adrenal glands and thyroid tend to get worn out, so I bought supplements for that, plus Omega-3 fatty acids, plus a sleep aid which contains mostly GABA and L-Glycine. If a couple weeks of being good taking them and eating well doesn't help, I might consider something more drastic. But most ADs have a lot of side-effects and I don't want to have to test a bunch of them to see what works for me - plus I'm usually very sensitive to meds since I rarely take anything.

At any rate, I'm making chicken and bell pepper pizza for dinner and cracking open a beer.

[transformer]

Sweet M,

wow, it sounds like H has been through so much. crazy. I can't even imagine. the transition not just to civilian life but to civilian student life must be so hard. I am SO glad that you sent that article to him. I am glad that he is into chinese medicine too! I have 2 good friends who are halfway through medical school and also studying chinese medicine... maybe I could ask them what chinese medicine has to say about PTSD? prob get him to a acupuncturist or something.

Im so with One Day. Michelle, you are truly wonderful. Your light is so strong, it shines through the screen and illuminates my room. In person you must be blindingly bright!


Hey, about the not being able to sleep thing... I think I actually figured it out. I did not believe anything would work b/c I had been having so much troulbe sleeping for so long... like 6 monhts of 2-4 hours a night. What I did was:

-b vitamins
-calcium magnesium pill
-vitamin c

Also:
-exercise EVERY DAY
-go to bed and wake up at the same time no matter what
-if I can't fall asleep after 30 minutes, get out of bed and do something else for 30 minutes, then get back into bed
-don't use the bed for anything except for sleeping at night
-NO NAPS

I didn't think it would work, but somehow it reset my internal clock, and now I feel way more human.

Hang in there girl.... you got so much going for you. This is so not about you.... this is all about H... and right now it's just about taking care of you and finding ways to fill your heart with joy of any kind, from any source, until that joy starts to flow more and more.

((((((M))))))
T

[MichelleLT]

I have been good about trying to get to sleep at the same time and get up at the same time. I also don't lay in bed or nap.

However, I am a light sleeper and have been waking up a lot, tossing and turning. I figure a little herbal help won't hurt me.

I'm gonna go finish my movie and crawl into bed!

[One Day]

-don't use the bed for anything except for sleeping at night

LOL! Some other things must be allowed? Surely?!

Morning Michelle!

[Firekeeper]

morning Michelle

re sleep - they say that watching movie/computer may overstimulate nervous system for some people and make their sleep light. reading may be an option?

herbs - valerian root, any "sleepy" tea from the store

for me personally meditaion/visualization works best


re PTSD - EMDR is shown (statistically, in scientific studies) to be a successful therapeutic approach to PTSD (altho not ortodox). i heard a lot of personal accounts of its effectacy as well.

[transformer]

Michelle,

I feel so silly giving you suggestions, you are obviously already so on top of your game, and here I am giving you lists of things to do that you're already doing. I feel silly.

I am sorry to hear about the light sleeping and tossing and turning!! I am using valerian too, not all the time, but sometimes when I can feel the sleeplessness coming on. Do you have a Hot Yoga studio in your area? One of my closest friends had major sleep problems and as soon as she started doing Hot Yoga she started sleeping like a log. Especially Bikram studios usually have some kind of deal where your first month is only $40 or something ridiculously cheap like that.

Honestly the biggest thing for me was getting out of bed when I can't sleep and doing something else. then usually I can fall asleep after reading for 1/2 an hour. Otherwise I would just lay in bed for hours anxiously thinking. and we all know that is No Fun!!!

-don't use the bed for anything except for sleeping at night


LOL! Some other things must be allowed? Surely?! ;\)

OMG! I sound like such a friggin puritan!!! Geez, of course, other activities are allowed, especially where lonely beavers are involved.... and EVEN MORE SO, beavers who are entertaining snakes!! ;-)

Well, I hope you are having a gorgeous morning, Michelle. you are one tough lady!!! I am so impressed with you!!!
(((((M))))))
T

[Kalni]

Good Morning!!!
K

[MichelleLT]

-don't use the bed for anything except for sleeping at night


LOL! Some other things must be allowed? Surely?! ;\)

OMG! I sound like such a friggin puritan!!! Geez, of course, other activities are allowed, especially where lonely beavers are involved.... and EVEN MORE SO, beavers who are entertaining snakes!! ;-)

Ironically, there's not really much of that going on either as H doesn't know where I live let alone want to be in my bed, plus the shower is my most favorite spot.

I am having a pretty good day. I slept well, not sure if I was just that tired or if the herbal stuff helped, but I slept for 6 hours straight, woke up briefly, and went back to sleep for an hour until I got up for work. I had a hectic morning getting out the door - kept forgetting things, but here I am at work, in one piece, with my Senior Lunch to look forward to (which is also why I'm dressed up and took forever to get out the door this AM - I had to shave my legs and actually do real make-up insted of eye shadow and lip gloss lol). Plus I'm going to aikido tonight - gotta take advantage of that this week since my summer school class (which will be in the evening) is going to interfere.