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I was going to say All Encompassing Power – which includes the ability to change anything and make people abide by your will…until I read Cherrychapstik and felt guilty. 😆
Definately would not want invisibility. There are things you just wouldn't want to hear. Flying – I can't even get on a plane, so that's out of the window too. 😮
'Martin' wrote on '14:Yup, similar. I actually found it in a few stores in NYC – very expensive though. It's definitely an acquired taste – I fear that if you aren't raised on it, you'll find it to be the most disgusting substance ever invented!
So I've heard about vegamite. Why don't you try amazon or ebay – bet you could find it cheaper there! Everything is super expensive in NYC. I don't think I'll ever entertain trying it. : p
'Martin' wrote on '13:Isn't Marmite high in Vitamin B12?
I'm in the U.S., so I have no clue! lol Is that like vegamite?
'Tommy wrote on '10:Isn't Vitamin B12 that stuff they put on energy drinks such as Monster & Rockstar that turns your pee green?
I had to look those drinks up, because I had never heard of them – they use b12 under the name CYANOCOBOAMIN. B12 is an innocuous substance, and you can't really OD on the stuff. Most people are deficient especially if they are under stress.
The more controversial ingredient in energy drinks is usually Taurine. I believe Taurine does not mix well with caffeine.
As if I haven't said enough, lol, here's where I got the info about magnesium in the morning, and more info on the use of magnesium (and also calcium) – this is an article on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – another supposed possible cause of insomnia:
Quote:Magnesium works best if taken in the morning when it is pumped into the liver's circadian cycle and most needed. The magnesium/malic acid combination should be taken for several weeks to give it a fair trial.Since proper magnesium metabolism is dependent on calcium, a magnesium supplement taken in the morning should be balanced with a calcium supplement in the evening. The best time to take calcium is an hour or two before bedtime (500 to 1000 mg), perhaps with a small snack. Calcium is taken up by the body during periods of inactivity and can be helpful for insomnia, a common problem among CFS sufferers. Calcium citrate is a soluble form easily absorbed.
'Martin' wrote on '10:Thank you so much for sharing this link – I've included it in today's blog post:
My pleasure! 😀
An update on the magnesium – still working, though I had to switch from taking it at night to taking it in the morning. It does not sit well with my stomach at night, regardless of whether I eat something with it or not. I read magnesium should be taken in morning anyway because it has something to do with the liver circadian rythm. Which I know from doing acupuncture – the liver is an important organ if insomnia is due to anxiety.
Also, re-reading that article about supplements, it does mention chromium causing interrupted sleep, and that was my experience with chromium as well (you can tell I've used every supplement under the sun). Chromium causes a drop in blood sugar for me at night, which is a problem I have had in the past along with the adrenal problem. Which is another possible cause for insomnia (but not my issue now). Think I have mentioned that too on another thread, but low blood sugar during sleep can cause you to awaken often because of safety mechanisms in the body to counteract that – such as increasing cortisol, increased adrenaline and I think Norephinephrine (I know I'm spelling that wrong). So eating a little something such as protein/fat/carb (i.e. wheat bread with peanut butter) before bed can help if that's the problem.
Going slightly off topic, I was also doing a neurotransmitter test (not sure of it's accuracy & I think the doctor might be a little controversial – but supposedly he's popular in NYC), but insomnia was one of the symptoms of either low Dopamine, GABA, Acetylcholine and Serotonin. I was severely deficient on all supposedly to the point that it says one should be on meds, but don't know if I believe it, as I feel as if I'm a relatively normal functioning person with exception of fatigue issues, the insomnia thing and lack of motivation. But I guess one could use it as a guideline, and find supplements that may help those neurotransmitters – Choline, Tyrosine, SAMe, Rhodiola, St. John's Wort, 5htp, etc., etc. Some of those supplements could have long term side effects though. Here's the test: http://www.longevity-and-antiaging-secrets.com/support-files/the_braverman_nature_assessment.pdf
P.S. I'm dreaming again (albeit crazy dreams)! Even before this bout of insomnia, I don't ever recall any dreams. I'm sure I have them, but they're not vivid enough to remember. Maybe has something to do with getting more REM sleep.
'Martin' wrote on '06:Thank you so much for sharing – this will definitely be of help to other members. Do keep us updated on the Magnesium Citrate. If it works, I want more details so I can post about it on the blog.
I'll keep you updated. I did stumple upon this article of a multitude of vitamin deficienies that can cause insomnia including magnesium: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_249/ai_114820705/
Also I should add that L-carnitine & L-arginine cause insomnia for me as well. I might have said that on another thread, but I know the arginine can increase growth hormone (and I think carnitine) – which can cause sudden awakenings – an adrenaline rush sort of feeling, and it did exactly that for me. Many people, from reading supplement forums I belong to, have no problem with it though. I have tried taking it over & over, and it does the same thing everytime.
Thought I'd add this to the natural solutions thread. So far for the past 1 1/2 weeks Magnesium Citrate has been working for me (with my luck now that I've said it, it'll stop working).
Cherry Juice (not tart) worked for a couple days then stopped (suppose to contain melatonin).
5-htp works for me for about a week, and then stops and has the opposite effect.
I was doing the Mucinex protocol (Guaifenesin) which is used for fibromyalgia – that was making insomnia worse (I reintroduced this alone without the magnesium).
I was also using vitamin A cream + drinking alot of carrot juice. I don't know if that was exacerbating insomnia, but I did read too much Vit. A can cause insomnia.
And to top it off, I was using echinacea, which apparently recycles cortisol, so that can keep you up as well!
But I did notice after cutting all that other stuff out, if I don't take magnesium before bed (separately from vitamins) I'll stay up an extra 2 hours.
No need to apologize – that's what boards like this are here for. And having suffered a few episodes of situational and clinical depression myself, I do understand (though everyone's misery is different). I'm (sort of?) lucky that my clinical depression is worsened by my health problems which throw off hormones, and then throw off brain chemicals. So I do have a way of working it out just by diet. Wish it were that easy for some of the people I know who do suffer.
But just to throw it out there since you mentioned headaches, there are so many things that could be causing severe insomnia w/depression outside of brain chemicals. At one time I did have headaches frequently because of my pituitary tumor. Pit tumors can throw out numerous excess hormones – cortisol, thyroid hormone, growth hormone – that can cause those symptoms. The actual growth of the tumor can cause headaches. Pit tumors are relatively common (they say 30% of the population have one and never know it). And they're non-cancerous, so nothing to worry about there. Just saying I hope they give you a full workup because of the extremeness of your insomnia and the length that you've had it.
The thing about keeping so busy to keep depression away – it works up to a point. So many people keep up busy lifes so they can shove down their feelings and they never deal with any trauma they went through. We're all guilty of it. But like I said, when you hit the pillow at night, the brain has a way of shoving those feelings to the forefront and that can keep us awake. It's got to be hard not working – that makes everything so much worse. I'm fortunate that I have a home business and I can work around my crappy sleep hours.
The headaches + insomnia would drive anyone to the brink. There's nothing worse than pain AND insomnia. I had a long period of joint pain (4 years), and I was on the edge. I remember Montell Williams saying that because of his chronic pain from MS he was suicidal. Chronic pain drains the life out of you. It stresses your adrenals too.
Keep me updated on your dr. appt – would be interested in hearing how it went. And tonight is your night to sleep – so enjoy the rest!! As for me, I'm going to try some meditation cd's and try to wind down my brain before I go to bed. Maybe write down what thoughts are running through my head too so I can just let it out.
I should correct that – I know bipolar is depression/mania switching back and forth. I just meant during the depression part does hyper-alertness coexist at the same time.
I'm so sorry for what you went through, and glad you lived through it.
I'm just wondering – does depression/hyper-alertness coexist at the same time with bipolar? I thought it was either your low energy and depressed OR high energy, insomniac, etc.
I will say that insomnia for sure can cause depression – everything seems bleak when you are that tired. I'm sure everyone with insomnia feels that way. And you've got some extreme insomnia on your hands. The fact that you are not tired AT ALL is really a freaky thing. I'm sure there is some medical explanation – but just how you can go for days without sleeping without your body somehow shutting down seems against the laws of human physiology.
Did things get considerably worse after the overdose/coma?
I understand about days fusing together. My memory is shot as well. Even though I get at least 5-6 hours of sleep, it's not nighttime sleep. It's shift-worker sleep. In chinese medicine they say that your body detoxes & repairs different organ systems during each hour of the night. If your not sleeping during those hours, you're not getting the full benefits of that. If you're not sleeping at all…wow.
Hi Tommy,
Wow, so sorry you were in a coma – bless you that you are (hopefully) recovered with exception of the insomnia/depression. Was the coma a result of a head injury?
The mind racing I have to say that I'm fine during the day – I don't experience that until my head hits the pillow. I don't know if it's the spinal cord connections getting jumbled, or if it's because I've spent all day busy with other things & it's my mind facing it when I have down time. But I really don't think it's the latter. I've had episodes in the past just as I'm drifting off to sleep that I've stopped breathing momentarily. Sometimes that goes on multiple times until I actually fall asleep.
As for the haziness during waking – I've also had that in the past but not during this episode. I've had episodes of feeling like there was a blip in my brain where the lights were going out. But I've had other health problems that can account for that. I don't think I have felt alert for years and am generally in a haze. No jerkiness – but this past week I've had ALOT of full body jerking a little bit after I fall asleep. I swear it does feel like a seizure & it's VERY annoying.
I do worry about stenosis in the neck. My stepfather has a severe case, and they told him one bad fall & he could have a stroke. He's too old for surgery. But yet, I'm terrified to get an MRI. I've just got dr. burnout and can't stand another long medical saga.
If you aren't sleeping for 2-3 days (my gosh!) it's understandable that you are getting that jerking though. Your body is probably trying to shut down. I've recently read something about how the brain does go into a semi-state of sleep during waking hours at times even when we feel alert – something to that effect.
Do you feel hyper-alert at all during the day/night? Have you ever had your cortisol levels checked?
