desperate insomnia....

[KFH]

I have been pregnant since October, and have had insomnia since...October. I've complained at each midwife visit, and after trying realaxation, and other seemingly natural methods to combat it, to no avail. The midwife, this time, did say that Tylenol PM was ok to take while pregnant. Now I wouldn't normally take it when not pregnant, but I'm desperate. She said try it for several days and "see if it gets you back on track." Well, I did it for a week, and stopped. It worked, but left me kind of groggy for the first half of the day. I'm back in the same boat again. Waking up anywhere from 1-3 am and staying awake. Any suggestions? I've read different things about the safety of valerian in pregnancy, anyone know about that? (I have no experience with it when not pregnant either-usually don't have insomnia!)

Help!

Oh, and I have been taking, on a suggestion, a calcium/magnesium supplement for about a month, to no avail.

[Sharon]

I can't say that I have insomnia, but I'm certainly not sleeping very soundly. My midwife suggested eating something with protien right before bed and keeping a snack next to the bed for when I wake up. I have found that I do sleep a bit better when I do this even if it's just a couple bites of ice cream or cheese. She suggested trying power bars or something of that sort. Good luck!

[intymama]

chamomile tea

When I was pregnant with my first baby, I was so excited that I couldn't fall sleep easily. I drank chamomile tea every night before going to bed. It really helped me sleep. Very time I feel a ittle ansy I drink it and helps me relax.
Also, I once learned in one of those nightly news shows that working in the computer before going to bed was a bad idea.
I hope you are sleeping better by the time you recieve this message. I am sending you lots of zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz's

Jula

[momto l&a]

Have you looked into Melatonin (sp?). I am not sure if its safe to take during pregnancy or not, but off hand I'd think it would be better than Tylenol PM.

Your midwife should know about Melatonin and wether or not it is safe.

[galadriel]

Acupuncture can help enormously with insomnia, and it is very safe. I highly recommend it!

[Proud50andPG]

Insomnia trials

Hi - I had some vicious insomnia in the first trimester and it's still not gone away completely. I am single so I have some options about where & how I sleep; don't know if you do as well. You've probably tried this but if not ...

- try sleeping in the other room for a few nights
- try moving your bed from one position in the room to another
- try try setting a time to go to bed and a time to get up, same time every night & day of the week ... I go to bed by 11:30 pm and have my alarm set for 8:30 am ... so there's a one hour leeway of insomnia and I still would get my 8 ... when I awake in the night I check the clock ... if I'm awake longer than 1.5 hour then I "give" myself another hour in the morning - reset the alarm for 9:30 am

Of course this last one depends on having a flexible work schedule, which I do.

I hope you find some relief. My midwife says benadryl is OK in small quantities (I would wait until I woke up and then if I couldn't get back to sleep would take half of a 25 mg tab - very small dose). Though frankly even that small a dose would leave me groggy the next day.

I sure hope that something works for you. I know how miserable that stuff can be. Best of luck - Martha