Sleep issues..... help!

[Derek]

Hi 'E'...

It is still very early days following your diagnosis. In my immediate post diagnosis period my tinnitus was really awful and together with balance problems and total hearing loss on the affected side, I was in a right old state, particularly so in having to carry out my daily stressful routine as a (then) senior police detective and in choosing not to disclose my AN condition to anyone other than my wife. In my case within a few months my balance problem rectified itself, my tinnitus became so minimal that I am now rarely aware of it and nature has compensated my single-sided total hearing loss in that it is no longer a problem for me. Also remember that no two persons will have exactly the same symptoms irrespective of the size of their AN.

The 'key' to your present situation is to have self belief in what you are personally currently doing to deal with your situation (and from your posts on this website you are doing a lot) and to develop an abundance of patience as you embark on your present 'watch & wait' mode. Maintain an otherwise good standard of health, be guided by the advice of your neuro specialist and do try not to WORRY as undue stress merely exacerbates the problem.

Best Regards

Derek

[Esperanza]

Thank you so much Derek, this and your answer in the other thread are just what I need at the moment..... 

[Tumbleweed]

Esperanza, here are some things that work for me, returning me to deep, restful sleep after having a bout with insomnia:

Eat a healthy helping of salmon or trout. They are both incredibly high in B vitamins, especially B6. Insomnia is one of the most common symptoms of a B-vitamin deficiency, and mental stress increases your need for B vitamins in your diet. Studies show that B vitamins are more difficult to assimilate in pill form than other vitamins, so it's best to get it from your food. After I eat about 1/2 pound of salmon fillet, I usually sleep like a baby.

Meditate. It doesn't matter what kind of meditation you do. Or do yoga. This will calm your mind and should help you sleep better.

Excercise, preferably outdoors. Exercise will tire you out and reduce stress, helping you sleep. And simply getting out of the house and breathing fresh air is a great stress reliever for me.

A hot cup of chamomile tea will calm your nerves and help you sleep. A stronger (yet safe) herbal remedy is valerian root extract. Take it 40 minutes before bedtime. You can find both of these herbs in natural-foods stores. Interestingly, I find that these herbs do nothing for me when I'm low on B vitamins. After eating some salmon, however, valerian puts me to sleep quickly.

Melatonin is a synthesized form of a natural hormone that makes one sleepy. It's available in natural-food stores and at Costco. It does nothing for my wife, but puts me out like a light.

Tinnitus: I have found that eating a healthy meal with lots of steamed, leafy green vegetables (kale, chard or collard greens) almost completely silences my tinnitus, though only for several hours or a day or two. Many people also find relief from taking the herb ginkgo biloba, which increases capillary circulation in the brain.

I hope this helps you.

[Tumbleweed]

One other thing: walking will help your balance. Your brain figures out what's up, down and sideways by way of three mechanisms: 1. signals coming from your vestibular system, 2. visual input (what your eyes tell your brain), and 3. signals coming from muscles and bones (propioceptors) in your feet. By walking, you temporarily strengthen #2 and #3, causing your brain to ignore the erratic signals coming from your vestibular system that throw your balance off.

A friend of mine and I do radical cross-country backpacking every year, over very rough terrain. (I still have 30% of my balance on the left side, as measured by an ECoG test, so I can still be very active.) I usually have some difficulty with my balance at the beginning of the trip. By Day #3, my balance feels completely normal, like it did before the onset of my AN symptoms! That's because my brain compensates and learns to trust my vision and propioceptors in my feet and disregard my vestibular system. 2 or 3 days after the backpack trip, however, my disequilibrium is totally back to where it was before the trip. So the benefit is temporary, but you can help your balance quite a bit by regularly walking (especially over uneven ground, if your balance is good enough to safely do this).

I hope this helps.

[Palace]

Hello Everyone,


I've had insomnia issues since my AN tumor began growing but, I didn't know what the problem was.

I had one hour sleep last night but, I have a bad cold.  I usually take an OTC or prescription drugs to sleep.  Watch out for the ingredient, Acetaminophen---a reminder that is is very hard on the liver.  Avoiid larger doses or consistent use of this.

Oh, I had a bad flu just before the cold and before that I hurt my back exercising.  (yes, I had my flu shot)  Right at the first of the year, I got a broken blood vessel of the eye.  (Ginko can cause some possible blood thinning, I believe)  I'm taking too many drugs right now and I'd like to take something more natural for sleep.  I've tried just about everything so, I understand the sleep issue. 

I suppose you people tried "white-noise" such as, wave sounds, forest sounds or certain  repetitive music to fall asleep.  It helped mask the "heavy metal band" in my ear but, I still couldn't sleep.

Valerian root helps me fall asleep sometimes.

Maybe I need to try some reverse effect such as, "Lorenzo's coffee special."



Palace

RE:

The “insomnia thing� has come up a few times on the forum

I too started a link
http://anausa.org/forum/index.php?topic=5359.0

I can now tell you that I am now back to a more normal sleep pattern and I actually bought a new cappuccino espresso machine and thanks to Lorenzo (a treatment  success story) I am hooked on Peet’s coffee now (and still sleeping at night with that morning consumption – wow!).

Cheers,

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