Sleep

Continued from webmd.com article:

1. Do not eat or drink right before going to bed. Eating a late dinner or snacking before going to bed can activate the digestive system and keep you up. If you suffer from gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) or heartburn, it is even more important to avoid eating and drinking right before bed since this can make your symptoms worse. In addition, excessive drinking prior to bed can overwhelm the bladder, requiring frequent visits to the bathroom.
2. Make your sleeping environment comfortable. Temperature, lighting, and noise should be controlled to make the bedroom conducive to falling (and staying) asleep. Your bed should feel comfortable and if you have a pet that sleeps in the room with you, consider having the pet sleep somewhere else if

While I was getting ready for another night of insomnia, this caught my eye from www.webmd.com. I sure see quite a few culprits that readily sabotage my sleep.

1. Wake up at the same time each day. It is tempting to sleep late on weekends, especially if one has had poor sleep during the week. However, if you suffer from insomnia you should get up at the same time every day in order to train your body to wake at a consistent time.
2. Eliminate nicotine, caffeine, alcohol, and other stimulants. This includes certain medications such as theophylline, beta agonists (usually as inhalers) and decongestants, especially prior to bedtime. The effects of caffeine can last for several hours, perhaps up to 24 hours, so the chances of it

So, once again, I can't sleep. All of you have heard or experienced how having little ones in the house can disrupt your sleep patterns. Well, I have always had trouble sleeping, even as a child. Of course, during my pregnancies and then with a newborn, it only got worse. Even when she slept through the night, I couldn't. Now Bec is home and he is a trooper when it comes to sleeping at night. Not so for Mommy! Instead of lying around and fretting over how my not sleeping is going to influence my mood tomorrow, I normally get up and try to do something soothing to calm myself into a state of sleepiness. A lot… [more]

Since I have chronic fatigue immune deficiency syndrome (which was formerly known as CFS, can be also known as Epstein-Barr), one of the symptoms, oddly enough, is trouble sleeping. Lots of people I know who have CFIDS take melatonin (or, something way stronger), and that's usually worked quite well for me. But one of the sites I use for my CFIDS that suggests melatonin, also has a warning about melatonin for people trying to conceive. I'd vaguely "heard" you shouldn't take melatonin while trying to conceive, and here's why: it raises your prolactin levels. Prolactin is the hormone that you secrete in great amounts when you are, well, lactating. This is often a signal to the body to shut off other fertility processes, as, obviously, evolutionarily… [more]

Did you know that something as small as a nightlight can have a direct effect on your fertility? When I was having a bunch of miscarriages, a friend told me to make sure my bedroom was totally dark--now I know why: melatonin. This hormone is primarily secreted at night, and it requires darkness to be produced. Bright light suppresses melatonin secretion. Less bright light can screw it up. Exposure to light at night can inhibit the pineal gland's production of melatonin. Something as small as a nightlight can actually throw your fertility off, and why? The hypothalamus gland, also located in the brain, is richly supplied with melatonin receptors. This gland regulates your body's overall homeostasis, including things like blood pressure, emotions, temperature, and the endocrine (hormonal)… [more]