What herbal remedies are helpful for sleep?
You can pop a pill to help you sleep—or you can try a side-effect-free supplement, says sleep medicine expert Dr. Carol Ash. Find out what it is by watching this video.
Transcript
You start slow. Sometimes your sleep actually gets worse before it gets better. But after a month, if you are consistent,
you will see a big difference. And it will make a tremendous impact on your health and well being. [MUSIC PLAYING]
Well, for many patients, when they first see a patient who's having difficulty with sleep, instead of going to the sleeping pills first,
what I try to encourage them to do is get some of the over-the-counter supplements that are available. And the reason why I like doing that
is because it becomes part of a plan that I put in place for patients. And I know that they're not going to get addicted to these medications.
We're not going to see the side effects that you typically see with your over-the-counter sleeping pills that have antihistamines or your prescription
medications. And it's something that they can use along with, again, a plan that includes a regular routine, same time to bed,
same wake up time, making sure you're getting the right amount of sleep. And you want to create a relaxing bedtime routine
and taking those natural substances one or two hours before as part of a relaxing bedtime routine.
Believe it or not, it sounds like it wouldn't be helpful, but it really can make a difference. And what I will tell patients, I'll
forewarn them, after years of bad habits and coping with your day in a way that really sacrifices your sleep--
You'll find it's like exercise. If you've never exercised before, as you start to exercise, you may not feel so great in the beginning.
But it will make a difference for you. And same thing with sleep, so you start slow. Sometimes your sleep actually gets
worse before it gets better. But after a month, if you are consistent, you will see a big difference. And it will make a tremendous impact on your health
and well being. So when I'm putting together a plan for a patient, who comes to me, who's having problems with sleep, one of the recommendations
I will make is, get over the counter melatonin. And you can use melatonin. And what melatonin actually does is help to reset the clock.
So unfortunately, many of us are not keeping a regular schedule. It's great for people who are travelers, people who have erratic schedules to help get their clock back
in sync, so that they can fall asleep at night. So melatonin really is a good one to use. And then there's some other over-the-counter substances.
There's some that use passion flower extract, which is a mild, natural substance that
can help create sedation that will help you sleep at night. Another really good one to use, believe it or not-- it's very common for people
to have difficulty with muscle cramps. And we have a problem sometimes with a disorder called restless legs syndrome and the other fancy name
periodic limb movements of sleep. And we tend to see these muscle cramps and problems, especially in women who are pregnant.
But a lot of people don't realize is that can be from a calcium or magnesium deficiency. So you can get over-the-counter calcium, magnesium, 600mg
of calcium, 400mg of magnesium. That can help. Another thing that people can experience is pain.
When you're not sleeping well at night, it actually increases your sensitivity to pain. So doing things that will help decrease the pain
can help you stabilize your sleep at night. And simply taking two baby aspirin combined with another natural substance called 5-HTP.
5-HTP is converted into serotonin. Serotonin is a very important neurotransmitter,
is very important for good quality sleep. Not only is serotonin good for sleep,
it also helps to decrease the sensitivity to pain. So you can use aspirin and 5-HTP if you're having
difficulty with pain at night. You can try it and see if that helps.
alternative medicine
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