MS Insomnia is often a big
problem with a large percentage of the cases of Multiple Sclersosis,
that are diagnosed around the world each year.
Multiple Sclerosis attacks nerves
or nerve cells throughout out bodies and is known for attacking and causing
damage to the myelin sheath that surround, protect and insulate the
spinal cord. MS also
tends to attack the brain, and in particular the Blood Brain Barrier,
which surrounds and protects the brain. Most cases of Multiple Sclerosis tend to result in damage to the nerve cells
thorough out the body, which usually results in scarring after each ms attack, ms exacerbation or ms relapse.
Multiple Sclerosis also
weakens the immune system, setting us up to end up with frequent
infections more often that are difficult for our bodies to fight back
against. Just about any kind of infection
appears to become a possibility for those with MS, but there are certain types of
infections that are seen more often in those with Multiple Sclerosis.
MS
insomnia can
be a big
problem when it comes to Multiple Sclerosis.
Sometimes, the doctors are not totally sure
what can cause the often
extreme Insomnia that is all too often linked to MS. But, I have my own
theories about some of
what can contribute to MS Insomnia, based on my own experiences, while
battling
with my own particular case of Multiple Sclerosis for 12 years. I did have a period of
time, at one point,
within the first 5 years of when I was given the diagnosis of
Multiple Sclerosis, where
I had severe Insomnia. During
the worst
part of this period of time with the severe Insomnia, I had a
combination of a
racing mind, anxiousness, weepiness, being so keyed up that I had a
difficult
time calming down to be able to lie down to go to sleep, in spite of
how
physically exhausted I felt every day. I slept whenever I could, since
I could
not go to sleep at night for months on end and I as only sleeping 3 to
4 hours
a day, at the most.
I
was willing to try
whatever I could find for me to be able to calm down enough so that I
could go
to sleep. I felt
like I had 2 opposite
parts of me that were having a tug of war, where part of me did not
want to go
to sleep and part of me was too exhausted from not sleeping for 2 or 3
days at
a time for me to be able to function much at all.
It is difficult o function, when you find
yourself only able to sleep 4 hours each day for 3 or 4 days in a row,
before
your body gives in to sheer exhaustion and finally just “crashes” for 8
hours
and actually sleeps well, before the 4 day cycle starts over again.
I
did eventually find out
that this particular period of time of severe insomnia occurred because
I was
reacting very badly to a medication that I was taking for a more
extended
period of time that was causing the extreme insomnia.
I have actually had a few periods of time,
where I was taking no prescription medications, that I had Insomnia
from my
MS-related symptoms. In
these particular
instances, the Insomnia was definitely related the Multiple Sclerosis
symptoms,
rather than the result of a side-effect to a medication.
After I
was taken off of the medicine that I had developed a
side-effect to, it tool months for my system to finally calm down.
Although the insomnia that was caused by the medication
finally went away, I do periodically still have a problem off and on
with MS Insomnia.
Finding ways for reducing or maybe
even eliminating your
ms insomnia is so very important for several reasons when you have
Multiple Sclerosis.
Ways to help
reduce insomnia in Multiple Sclerosis can include the
following:
>
boosting the immune system - reduces the frequency and severity of ms
infections that you end up with; helps to boost immune system if you
can minimize how many infections you end up with
> reduces frequency and
severity of ms relapses or ms exacerbations
>
gives you more energy
>
reduces ms fatigue
>
improves how well you sleep
>
improves how well your ms brain functions (improves
ms memory, ms cognitive abilities, helps you connect with your
surroundings better, improves your ability to figure things out)
>
reduces mood swings, anxiety, depression, sadness, irritability
Along
the way, I did find
some supplements, foods and other things that helped to reduce the
times that I
had a problem with MS
Insomnia.
Natural ways:
* 5-HTP
(5-Hydroxytryptophan)
or Tryptophan
- when it is taken, 5-HTP changes changes form in the body to
Tryptophan itself. This aids for
helping to go to sleep and to help the body to relax and rest more.
As an alternative, Tryptophan is also
available by prescription. Tryptophan is naturally found din turkey.
That is what makes you feel tired after you eat
turkey.
* Melatonin
- this is a hormone-like neurotransmitter that the brain normally
produces. Helps with going to sleep at night. If your brain is
deficient in the neurochemical, it will be
difficult for you to calm your mind down to go to sleep at night.
Check with your doctor to see if you need more of this.
Note:
Melatonin should only be taken at night, since taking it too close to
daylight hours can offset you wake-sleep cycle and make things worse
with imbalance to your wake-sleep cycle.
* Inositol
- this is a b-vitamin cofactor that help the racing mind to calm down
and relax enough to help you to go to sleep.
Vitamins:
* Calcium
and Magnesium
- these 2 vitamins are usually taken in a ratio of 2:1 but if you have
a larger difficiency in magnesium, a 1:1 a ratio may be needed to help
relax the over reactive nerves in those with MS. Check with
your
doctor to see if you need to take more of either of these. Magnesium helps
to relax and calm down nerves. When magnesium is taken
with Calcium and vitamin D to increase absorption of the magnesium
Extra magnesium is taken if deficient in magnesium.
* vitamin B12
with folic acid -
can also help to reduce anxiousness or a feeling of unrest that may
also contribute to insomnia. Ask you doctor to test to see if you are
deficient in either of these vitamins to see if supplementing with
either of these vitamins is advisable for your particular case of ms
insomnia. If you are on any prescription drugs, check with
you doctor
to see if any type of herbs maybe taken with the prescription drugs
that you are currently taking.
Before
using any vitamins check with your doctor to see to see if
your
doctor can test you for vitamin deficiencies to determine which vitamin
deficiencies you may be having a problem with that warrants taking
supplements or changing your diet or adding extra nutrients through
juicing or grinding whole foods (especially leafy greens such as kale)
for your particular case of Multiple Sclerosis and other possible
conditions.
Herbs
should be taken with more caution, since some herbs are potentially not
good for certain types of conditions and can be dangerous to take, in
some situations, if you don't know enough about herbs to know which
ones can be taken together and which can not be taken together.
Before taking any herbs check with
your doctor to see if there any of the herbs
listed in this article are recommended for your particular
case of MS.
You can
also check with a doctor or check with a herbologist for more
information about which type of
herbs are recommended for use with each condition that you are
experiencing or for helping to
reduce the ms symptoms that you many be experiencing.
Herbs
Possible
Herbs that can help with reducing MS insomnia can include (but not all
at once -- take only what you need for how severe your ms insomnia -
check with your doctor to determine which of these you can use and in
what combination are they needed for your particular condition related
to your case of Multiple Sclerosis:
* Valerian
Root
- helps make you drowsy enough to go to sleep and help with making it
a more restful sleep (works better than most herbs that I have
tried).
* Skull Cap
* Hops
* Kava
Kava - helps to promote sleep.
Most
of these supplements can be taken in combination, for different
reasons, to calm down the various
symptoms that can accompany Insomnia, in many cases of Multiple
Sclerosis, but
anything that is listed in the above list needs to be discussed and
supervised by a
medical doctor, since too many of these type of supplements can overlap
in how
they react in the body. You need to locate a doctor that has training
in the
use of supplements for MS
insomnia,
including vitamins, herbs and other natural
remedies, so that this doctor can determine what combination of natural
supplements can be used safely for your particular case of MS.
In addition I
found that yoga,
along with meditation and deep relaxation breathing also
helped
tremendously, for relaxing my system, to reduce insomnia. Yoga can be
done
following an audio (CD), video (DVD or VHS) or using instructions or
you can do
the yoga from following printed material to guide you on how and what
particular poses and exercises may help to reduce your particular set
of
symptoms from MS-related Insomnia.
I find it easier do the
yoga by following a the combination of audio and visual instructions
through
following a DVD or VHS yoga session so that I can see how to perform
the yoga
poses and exercises, while being giving verbal instructions on what to
do next.
I found that after I did the yoga for at least a week, I finally
started to be
able to relax enough for me to be able to go to sleep. I did find that
some of
the yoga poses were much more difficult for me to do at first, but this
also
helped me to use up the excess energy that I appeared to have most
days, which
helped me to calm down more easily for me to be able to go to sleep
after doing
the yoga. The yoga poses that I found to be more difficult the
beginning did
gradually became easier for me to do, as I did the yoga on a more
regular
basis. Yoga
also helped to reduce the frequent leg spasms, increase
flexibility, increase muscle strength (especially of the trunk muscles
around
the front and back of the waist) and increased my ability to balance.
Depending on which MS symptoms
were out of control that were contributing to the Insomnia, the yoga,
meditation and taking supplements can all help with reducing insomnia
and
helping those of us, after being diagnosed with MS, to be able to relax
more
and to calm down to be able to go to sleep. Yoga can help relax your
body
through slowing down your breathing. Yoga can also help to create more
flexibility, help to strengthen muscles, and help to increase balance
(both
physically and mentally). Taking the supplements does help for calming
down the
nervous system. Meditation can work more quickly at calming down your
overall
nervous system, and reducing the over reaction of our bodies to stress.
Sometimes a combination of things (meditation, yoga and supplements)
are needed
to be more effective in getting more restful sleep.
Even if you are not
experiencing MS insomnia,
currently, doing yoga can help to increase your
flexibility, balance, strength and peace of mind. I have found that for
me that
doing yoga can help reduce many of the overall symptoms of MS and help
your
body to function more, if the yoga is done more regularly over time.
Meditation also helps to reduce the racing mind that sometimes
contributes to
MS-related Insomnia, that can be a big problem in many cases of MS.
Meditation
helps so much more than Yoga, as far as reducing how MS can cause our
nervous
systems to "short circuit", all too often, in response to stress.
MS Meditation is often thought
of
to require a large amounts of time, effort and commitment for you to
reach a
point of "inner peace" of mind and to relax your nervous system. I
have tried several different types of meditation, since meditation
helps to
calm down the over reactiveness of my nervous system, which can also
help to
reduce other MS
symptoms
that are related to the over reaction to stress.
But
through my own "trial and error" with different types of meditation,
I have found a much better type of meditation that uses tones to
stimulate the
part of the brain that controls how we respond to stress. This type of
meditation helps to reset the "set point" of what is considered
stress in our brains. This type of meditation works more quickly, is
much more
effective and doesn't require huge amounts of time and effort for you
to
receive the good results that are associated with meditation.
