Sleeping Problems
#233638 - 12/23/05 07:32 PM
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Hi all,
Does anyone else have sleeping problems? This past week it has been bad, waking up in the middle of the night and cant't get back to sleep for 1-2 hours. I did a little better last night. Of course poor sleep makes IBS worse for me.
A lot of times I wake up starving ,then finally eat a banana and can go back to sleep. Any suggestions?
Thanks so much,
June
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Interesting that you eat a banana. Bananas have ALOT OF Tryptophan, which induces calm & sleepiness. GOOD choice.
Yes, I go through phases where I wake up & cannot sleep because I'm in famine mode. So I just eat something, if it is truly hunger, and go back to sleep. It's usually just because I probably don't eat enough. So, something light and back to sleep. Lately a couple of rice cakes or rice crackers does the trick. Sometimes I just have a serving of cereal. Nothing big. Nothing extravagent. But heck, I've even eaten green beans at 3 in the morning (not the best idea!).
Seriously, it's no big deal. Are you eating enough though?
I know when I don't get enough calories I wake up hungry. So, as I probably don't eat enough, I wake up hungry & eat.
It used to freak me out, but now it doesn't. I only eat when hungry and if that's at 3 or 4 a.m., so be it.
Kate.
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Hi Kate,
Thanks for writing. I probably wasn't eating enough. I have felt better though the last couple of days and had a very good dinner:Turkey burger on rice toast(I'm gluten intolerant), with a little cranberry sauce, baked blue corn chips, peas. I was full, but not too full. Hopefully now that my symptoms have calmed down I can eat more. Before all I did was drink water and have problems! Good news: no pain today and no nausea. Yeah!
Thats interesting about bananas. I didn't know that. I am baking some banana bread right now!
Thanks again,
June
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You'll sleep well with that turkey (tryptophan!). I find potatoes really calming as well. Enjoy the banana bread.
And, try to eat more if you can. I have gluten issues & problems as well and have eliminated it from my diet (with the exception of soy sauce). I feel alot better & have less attacks & vomitting (my body violently rejects wheat & oats).
Kate.
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Hi Kate,
Thanks for the advice.Today I was able to eat more and feel much better. I went shopping today and bought a lot of potatoes, yams, bananas and blue baked corn chips. Its nice to know that I'm not alone with my gluten issues. I don't use anything with gluten, not even soy sauce. I have one of the main genes for celiac disease so I'm not taking any chances. Have a wonderful weekend.
Sincerely,
June 
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I've had sleeping problems from the beginning! I used to have no trouble...but now I'm lucky if I get about 12 hours a WEEK!! I started taking a sleeping Agent called Sleep Eaze when I really was overtired...helped a great deal!
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"And This Too Shall Pass!"
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I find a bowl of rice or corn chex with soy milk satisfying, read a short time, and then go back to bed. Lately, though I find I am awakened by leg restlessness. Often I get up and do some yoga stretches for that area and then I am able to get back to sleep. Do you know where the leg restlessness comes from??
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YES! I totally agree with the bowl of cereal concept & do it as well. I'm more of a Crispix or Rice Krispies person, though. Totally mind/body soothing snack. I often fall asleep reading.
I get that leg restlessness too & the JERKING just as I'm falling asleep. I also get leg cramps. I'll wake up and stretch it out or walk around.
I actually CRAVE a latte or a caffeine snack, which I know is weird. A few years ago, I would actually go get a coffee or a latte (i.e. get in my car & go out), sit & read for awhile & then make my way home & sleep.
From a "nutritional" point of view, I've read that the restless leg experience is often related to a mineral deficiency/imbalance--usually calcium, magnesium, potassium or iron. I know I'm anemic at the moment. I also have osteopenia which is really low bone mineral density. (And I'm only 31. But the bone thing is genetic.) Maybe that's why I'm craving seaweed I wake up and eat ice cubes (my M.D. says that's related to my anemia) & some other weird things. I know if I don't get enough amino acids I cannot sleep as well.
Kate.
Edited by Wind (12/27/05 01:56 PM)
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accompanied by IBS could equal fibromyalgia...just a thought.
And people with fibro have magnesium deficiencies!
If I forget to take my magnesium for a long enough time...my fibro comes back to haunt me 
Sorry to burst into the conversation...I just read this thread and it truly reminds me of fibro.
P.S. Kate...in addition to tryptophan (sp) do bananas have magnesium? Could that also be why it helps us sleep? Does it have malate? Just curious.
*hugs*
Ruch
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Formerly known as Ruchie
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Bananas are a great source of magnesium! Ditto for spinach/dark leafy greens. Legumes are a wonderful source of magnesium as well (you know, your soy, lentils, garbanzos, etc.). Nuts & seeds have notable amounts of magnesium.
I think malate is just a chelated supplement form of magnesium. Most magnesium supplements are magnesium oxide--it's the cheapes & easiest to absorb. Magnesium citrate is another supplemental form of magnesium available.
Be careful though, with magnesium supplements. Too much is a very bad thing. It could leave you not only really beyond lethargic, but also bloated or with edema (major fluid retention), or it could give you D. Actually too much magnesium via supplements is very dangerous. It really puts undue stress on the veins & flushes out nutriets.
Kate.
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