Question
i am a young adult, just 18 years of age and i have been through night terror when i was a kid, followed by sleep walking. now i have been awaking during the night, and its been hard to fall back to sleep. this episodes have occurred enormous times. its been really hard on my body and mind. i feel very tired and restless during morning. also, when im in my bed, my mind seem to be racing with thoughts, and i try my hardest to stop thinking and relax but its hard .do i see the doctor for this or should i wait and see any changes occur?
Answer
First of all you should go to your doctor and get your blood checked for any thyroid trouble or anemia, you might also tell him about your anxiety, next you might want to try these tips, if all else fails consider going to a sleep center .
You must go to bed and awaken the same time each day regardless of little or much
sleep you got the night before. This starts to reset your sleep clock
3 hours before bedtime stay away from
tea, coffee, caffeine, caramel colored soda like, coke,pepsi, ginger ale,
or root beer, chocolate and exercise .All these make for restless sleep.Do the following religiously for 4-6 weeks although some have seen changes in as little as 2 weeks.
Make sure room is quiet and dark. When you go to bed if you start to
twist and turn or if you wake up in the middle of the night and cant
go back to sleep, twist and turn for only 20 minutes, then get up, go
into a different room and read a book or magazine only! No computer!
When you start to doze immediately go back into the bedroom.This retrains
the brain into thinking that the bedroom is for restful sleep only. Do
this as many times as you awaken thru the night, it will lesson.
30 minutes before bedtime take a hot bath and immerse hands under the
water.Latest research states that the palms of the hand when immersed
in hot water send signals to the brain to relax. 15 minutes before bedtime\
drink a glass of warm milk. Milk when heated contains tryptophan, a
natural amino acid sleep inducer. Go to sleepnet.com click on disorders
insomnia for more tips. Feel free to email again , Karel
