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Warm Milk

Gently warm up some milk and drink it before going to bed.

Comments

To help people go to sleep, milk can be useful. The warming of the milk activates the Tryptophan that exists in a natural form in the milk. Tryptophan has been mentioned as active in inducing sleep. Milk doesn't seem to be able to keep people asleep once they get to sleep.

People commenting on this cure report the following:

• Milk may put you to sleep but it certainly does not keep you sleeping.
• It doesn't help much. I always have to go to the rest room.
• I have tried this often but with no effect at all
• I haven't found this to be true at all. It may work for children, but not for me.
• I HAVE FOUND THAT IT DOESN'T HELP ME AT ALL, EVEN IF I DRINK THE MILK I STILL DON'T GO TO SLEEP.
• I found that warm milk only does something to me when I THINK that it will work. If I say to myself, this isn't going to work. Then I never fall asleep. And the vice versa. When I say, milk does the trick. I'm asleep in a second!! I think it's all psychological.
• Aids inducing sleep: does not keep you asleep
• As a baby I was given warm milk, so before bed I heat up a glass for 20 seconds and sip it about a half hour before bed. It works great and I always fall asleep comfortable.
• I am lactose intolerant and, therefore, cannot drink any kind of milk product.
• I can't stand the taste of warm milk, so have chosen insomnia vs. vomiting, if it truly does help.
• I feel sleepy for around 15 minutes and then I am wide awake
• I have found that it is just a psychological rumor of sorts. It did not work for me at all!!!
• It helps going to sleep. Make you quieter altogether
• It might help me to fall asleep but I never stay asleep
• It never works, and I hate warm milk.
• It often helps me sleep and stay asleep. I usually read in bed while drinking the milk, which helps settle me down.
• IT TOTALLY WORKS!!!
• It worked with me, I fell asleep quite quickly
• I use it often it relaxes me but it doesn't help me sleep any better
• Let me just say this: I tried warm milk an hour ago. Now it's after 2 a.m.
• Only good when taken with bananas).
• same thing, it puts me to sleep but causes me to get up to use the bathroom
• Sometimes it helps, temporarily, perhaps an hour.
• That a warm drink such as milk, just simply relaxes you. Doesn't help me sleep.
• The taste of warm milk is so abnormal to me that it's very much like taking a nasty tasting cold medicine. Even though it has worked fairly well for me, I tend not use it.
• Warm milk can sometimes just set the right mood so you worry less and allow yourself to drift off either to sleep or just to a relaxed mode that will lead to sleep or the rest you may be after. It does not, however, carry much of a guarantee.
• We have found out that, warm milk does not have any effect in going to bed.

Onions!?

Cut up and onion and put it in a jar. As you go to bed, open the jar, sniff the onion and then close it and place it on your bed stand. Within 15 minutes you'll be asleep.

Source: Corvallis Gazette Times quoting Joan Wilen, 6/18/97

Comments

• The normal amount of time it takes to fall asleep (sleep latency) is 10 to 20 minutes.

• IT MAKES MY EYES WATER

• The onion cure is a savior. IT has worked many times fir me. It only took me about eight minutes to fall sound asleep. The best part was that I stayed asleep all night. That is very hard to do when you have a very serious case of insomnia such as I do.

Sounds

Note: The Sleep/Insomnia Program does not necessarily recommend these cures. Actual remedies for persistent insomnia should be individually designed by a health care professional. These are included here for your information and enjoyment only.

• A method I have found very helpful is to have something very arithmetical such as music or a fan.
• Leave a TV on, a radio on, or have a fan going.
• actually, a moderately loud fan does help me.....
• I also suffer from insomnia. I don't have problems waking up out of my sleep. The problem for me is falling asleep. Leaving the television on use to work for me, but now I stay up and watch it. I've also tried contracting and releasing my muscles while in bed, but that seems to make my body ache. Now I try gently rocking my body like one would rock a baby while sitting in a chair, not a rocking chair. Just a normal chair. Instead of rocking back and forth, the motion is from side to side. It's pretty relaxing. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Listening to soft, low music seems to work best for me.
• If you leave the TV or radio on you will stay awake because you always wonder which show or song is going to be on next, the fan one is a good idea
• Insomnia runs in my family and we've always hunted for different methods of "easy sleep". Leaving something running such as a fun, TV, or radio seems to speed up this monotonous process of getting to sleep.
• Many people may be unaware that "Books on Tape" played on a bedside cassette recorder (NOT a Walkman--the earphones get awkward!) helps induce sleep if the material is familiar, soothing, and uncomplicated. Keep it low for your bed partner's sake but she/he may well find it becomes a trigger for sleep as well. Don't expect to remember much of what you play while falling asleep!
• "White noise", such as a fan, does wonders for me and my family. We have fans in every room and run them all winter long.

What have you found to be true about any of these cures?

What cures have you found to be effective? What odd cures have you found in your own searches for help with insomnia? Please include a description of the sleep problem that the cure was trying to remedy. This page will be updated periodically to show promising new Curious Cures.

Herb and Enzyme Cures (Submitted by visitors to this site)

Note: The Sleep/Insomnia Program does not necessarily recommend these cures. Actual remedies for persistent insomnia should be individually designed by a health care professional. These are included here for your information and enjoyment only.

• The herb Valerian seems to ease tension, calm anxiety, moderate emotions
• I experienced not feeling mentally clear when I used Valerian to help me get to sleep.
• I have difficulties falling asleep before 3am. I have found that Passion Flower Incense (by Sacred Spirit Products) works quite well. "For Peace of Mind & Relaxation. This scent will aid sleep, bring calm to your home & soothe trouble & problems"
• I have problems falling asleep then waking up through the night, a a night time tea of valerian, chamomile, and other herbs known for their sleep help before bed helps me not wake up so much at night. It doesn't help me fall asleep though, but hey its relaxing effect make me have that warm comfy bed feeling even when i am up, so then I don't care that I am, and for that reason fall right back to sleep
• I sometimes take an amino acid - GABA which, when it works, gives you vivid dreams. It's full name is Gamma Aminobutyric Acid. I take 1000mg (2 x 50mg capsules) about an hour before bed. Unfortunately it doesn't always work so please let me know of any other cures. Thanks
• Massage as well as aromatherapy using lavender oil
• Melatonin, available over the counter, clearly has a sleep-inducing effect but ordinary perspiration may not last long enough to maintain sleep throughout the night.
• Taking melatonin, an over-the-counter naturally occurring hormone, has helped me fall asleep. I take a 1/2, or 1/4 of a 3mg. tablet. i was having trouble making myself sleep and it helped. often I just wander around my house finding stuff to do, and this helps me . it also seems to help keep me asleep, when i do fall asleep. the first couple of times I used this, it did give me a slight sleep hangover, but that went away after a couple uses! hope it woks for you!
• The amino acid Tryptophan seems to work well for insomnia, but I can not find it, this was the most effective sleep remedy i have used to date, i trust me i have tried almost every known drug for insomnia
• Only way possible to get any sleep if there is any sleep, is with a fan towards the face, air-conditioning, TV on low on non-commercial channel since commercials wake one combination of valerian, melatonin etc, and, unfortunately, lots of aspirin. Sleep for a couple of hours anyway, sometimes, before waking. L-Tryptophan (tablet form-Schiff brand) was a cure for me, 15 years without insomnia, but it's gone from the market.

Other Cures 

Note: The Sleep/Insomnia Program does not necessarily recommend these cures. Actual remedies for persistent insomnia should be individually designed by a health care professional. These are included here for your information and enjoyment only.

• Get up at the same time each morning & go to bed at the same time each night
• Stretching like a cat. Just stretch your legs and arms as far as possible and within 15 minutes it seems to work most times.
• I've found that I can sleep better when it is cold rather than when it is hot, so in the summer I turn my central air down to about 60 degrees and let the cold air hit my feet. When I do that, my body seems to cool down faster. In the winter, I leave my bedroom windows open about 1 to 2 inches. That allows the cold air to come in & I fall asleep better.
• Massage as well as aromatherapy using lavender oil
• Nyquil always knocks me out.
• Pretend you're taking a nap and fall asleep on the couch.
• Read an agonizing, boring psychological journal article (I recommend E. Tory Higgins)
• Try to clear your mind as much as possible . Try to work out problems that you have been putting off because you will think about them at night wether it be consciously or subconsciously.
• None keeps you asleep!!!
• I've also found that putting a pillow on top of my head (not over the face) helps when I go through my "phases" of insomnia. My husband finds that wearing a hat helps him get to sleep (though he has never complained ot problems sleeping). I've no idea why this helps but I'm curious to find out.