I have a condition that at times stops me from getting the deep, restorative sleep my body needs.

I've come off the med I was prescribed by the doctor as it caused way more side-effects than help and never truly got me the deep sleep I need. I hate feeling tired all the time, even after 8 - 9 hours of sleep.

I've had a few times since coming off the med I felt refreshed in the AM (more then anytime in the past 3 years!) and need to know if anyone has any suggestions. Getting to sleep isn't a problem. Even waking up in the night, I can usually fall back to sleep. It's the deep sleep I miss/crave.

If anyone has any info to help I'd like to know it too. I've been getting crappy sleep myself and my lavender and rosemary isn't helping.

A tea of Jamaican Dogwood and Kava works for me...

Kava can get your dreams a bit wild

I add a little tincture to Celestial Seasonings 'sleepytime'

dw

Well I'm not sure if it will work for you, but Celestial Seasonings makes a tea called tension tamer that works really well. They also have an Ultimate formula of the tea that has kava kava in it also. One cup is good. If you have a double you need to be close to where you'd like to pass out for the evening...I learned that from experience.
Don't try to drive or operate anything important after drinking this, but come in the chat room as your typing could get interesting...!

Here's a link to another tea that I think would work even better...
http://www.herbalremedies.com/natural-sleep-aid.html
It's called Bedtime, by Yogi Tea.

_________________
View the world as a child and enjoy the wonder of it all...

Yeah, I typically brew a mug of tea with a bag of Sleepytime and Tension Tamer, with the Jamaican Dogwood, Kava Kava, Catnip and Black Cohosh added at about 15 drops of tincture per mug. I'll usually drink two mugs, so that amounts to 30 drops of each tincture (standard eyedropper) per mug.

I make my tinctures 1:1 cut and sift herb / bark and the cheapest 100 proof vodka I can find. The amounts added will not alcohol-intoxicate you; however, if you are in 'Alcohol Recovery,' and such tinctures might trip 'drink signals,' you should probably opt for straight infusions / teas.

I get my sleep schedule so screwed up sometimes it takes *months* to readjust it.

dw

I figured I'd start light and work my way to what works. So I got Sleepytime and that Yogi Bedtime. I'll try one tonight, the other tomorrow night.

then if I need deeper sleep, I'll make the tincture. It sounds like the same way of making liqueurs. I haven't tried my hand at that yet, but I have some recipes I want to try

I'm hoping this works.

Thanks!

is there something other then vodka that can be used im like my mom any amount can do bad things to us

another thing you can try is get a sachet of lavender or make one place it under your pillow or on the head board if its the type that got shelves . the smell of lavender is soothing an it suppose to help with sleep

yeah my lavender isn't really working right now. It helps but I think I just need a new bed. Boyfriend's bed is soooooooo comfy. Makes me jealous.

Souly,

If your difficulty is specific to vodka, any strong liquor will work, the stronger the liquor the stronger the tincture. I just use whatever is cheep, 'coz some herbs have rather *distinctive* flavors, to put it mildly. Some herbs have an affinity for different liquors, ie: a tincture of ginger root in scotch is good for sore throat. The PDR of Herbal Medicine mentions some folk remedies being prepared in 'Spirits of Wine.'

If the difficulty is with alcohol in general, then you might want to look into simple infusions / teas.

Some herbs benefit from being reduced in a mild organic acid solution (Ascorbic, Citric -- lemon juice works) ie: simmer a quart of water down to a pint. I do not have an exhaustive list of such herbs that benefit from this method of processing, so YMMV here. Such is modern-day Alchemy

dw

Melatonin (dont know if spelled right) works for many. My brother takes it, and it works for him. I cant take it cause it effects the optic nerve, and mine is damaged, so it gives me migraines. Valerian has also been used in cold climates such as great lakes region to treat insomnia due to winter depression- not sure that helps ya though.

dreamwalker wrote:

Yeah, I typically brew a mug of tea with a bag of Sleepytime and Tension Tamer, with the Jamaican Dogwood, Kava Kava, Catnip and Black Cohosh added at about 15 drops of tincture per mug. I'll usually drink two mugs, so that amounts to 30 drops of each tincture (standard eyedropper) per mug. I make my tinctures 1:1 cut and sift herb / bark and the cheapest 100 proof vodka I can find. The amounts added will not alcohol-intoxicate you; however, if you are in 'Alcohol Recovery,' and such tinctures might trip 'drink signals,' you should probably opt for straight infusions / teas. I get my sleep schedule so screwed up sometimes it takes *months* to readjust it. dw

is that 1:1 alcohol and herbs? or herbs and herbs?
sorry I'm so ignorant.

Have you tried getting a good amount of exercise during the day? I find that after some good training I sleep like a baby

For C/S (cut and sift) herbs, I take a pint canning jar fill it halfway with the herb, then fill it the remainder of the way with the vodka.

For powdered herbs, I fill the jar about 1/4th with the herb then about halfway with the alcohol.

For Barks and shredded Roots, I do the same as for C/S materials.

Sorry, I wasn't too precise there.

One exception, while I'm thinking about it -- Chamomile flowers (flowers in general) about double in volume, so I'd use the technique for powdered herbs so as not to overflow the container.

dw