Bedtime rituals
By hedgielady
@hedgielady (96)
United States
January 19, 2011 1:56am CST
Every night before bed, I eat a banana. It sounds strange, perhaps, but it's become a comforting part of my night-time ritual: take a nice hot soak, settle down with a book and eat a banana. This is a recent addition to my bedtime habit, one suggested on a website at the University of Maryland.
Why did I add this, you might ask. My answer: insomnia. You see, for several years now, I've suffered from severe sleep issues. I could not get to sleep without prescription sleep medicine, no matter how tired I was. I'd be in bed, staring up at the ceiling and practically begging for sleep, with no luck for hours and hours (and by the time my body dropped off because of exhaustion, it would be time for me to get up and get ready for work). The sleep meds worked, trust me, but I hated having to take them. Partly because I prefer not to have to take medications if I can avoid them, and partly because I don't like having to spend money on them.
Still, I'd have kept on with the prescription, unhappy about it though I may have been, until something major happened. I wound up with a new doctor, who decided we should try something new. So, he suggested I check out the sleep hygiene site by the University of Maryland. It's got a lot of interesting suggestions on improving sleep habits and health. One of those items stuck out immediately for me, since it sounded like the strangest thing. Eat a banana. Turns out, there's some chemical in bananas (and other foods as well) that helps the body to sleep. At first, I didn't think it would work. I'd taken melatonin before, which is often recommended for those with sleep problems. Never worked for me. Drank chamomile tea, and it would make me somewhat sleepy. For 5 minutes, and then I'd be wide awake again. Despite my misgivings, I decided to give it a try. And now, I eat a banana before bedtime every night, about 15-20 minutes before I want to get to sleep.
So, now that you know my story, I'm interested in hearing yours. Anyone out there have sleep problems they've solved in similar (or even wildly different) manners? What about bedtime rituals (whether or not they're designed to help in sleeping): are there things you absolutely *must* do before bedtime every night?
1 response
@kalyani1234 (637)
• India
19 Jan 11
Hedgielady, thanks for starting this discussion. I myself have suffered from insomnia and occasionally suffer from it now as well, so I know what you mean by saying "begging for sleep". I still go through all of it, tossing and turning in bed, staring at ceiling etc. etc.
Though I have never tried any serious medication for insomnia, I did try taking mild relaxants but I have always been scared of getting addicted to them, hence did not really try any sleep meds. Then I read somewhere about a glass of hot milk in which a pinch of turmeric has been boiled, and a little bit of sugar, if preferred. I tried this and it has worked for me with good results. Eating a banana also seems to be a good idea and one which practically does not require any preparation of whatever sort. I will definitely try it out and see if it works for me.
@hedgielady (96)
• United States
19 Jan 11
Hm, I'll have to give the hot milk with turmeric a shot too. Anything that might improve my sleep even more is worth a shot. I wonder, does it have to be cow milk, or would goat milk work as well? Experiment time, I think!
@kalyani1234 (637)
• India
21 Jan 11
To the best of my knowledge, cow's milk is the best one - ages old Indian scriptures, researched and formulated meticulously by the medicine practitioners have determined many miraculous properties of cow's milk, so that's the best one. But if you cannot get hold of it, then trying goat's milk would be good idea! It should work well! :)
