05 Sep Treatment for Insomnia with Acupuncture and Alternative Medicine
Millions of Americans suffer from insomnia that can be attributed to a variety of causes.
Restless sleep in modern society that is moving at such a fast pace day in and day out may be a cause of insomnia. Our society emphasizes ‘doing’ more than ‘being’. From an acupuncture perspective, the yin aspect of life is significantly depleted for the average modern American. In case you are not familiar with the term yin and yang, these two are the polar forces that are reflected in everything in the natural world. Yang is related to movement, accomplishment, and function. Yin is related to stillness, tranquility, and contemplation. We need yin and yang to be in balance in order to experience health and wellbeing. When we are yin deficient, we easily become irritable, excessively busy and restless. We end up compromising our ability to rest and restore and we never seem to get a break from the constant activity in our lives minds and our lives.
We don’t know how or have forgotten how to turn our minds off due to the frantic speed of everything around us and we have become yin deficient as a result. Another way to look at stress is to look at that the sympathetic nervous system and recognize that it is on overdrive constantly. We are stuck in fight or flight mode as we are trying to keep up with our hectic schedules and myriad of responsibilities. We have excessive amounts of adrenaline and cortisol in our systems, which keep us feeling amped up and unable to rest. Within the pattern of yin deficiency and a hyperactive sympathetic nervous system, we will often feel anxious, thirsty, too warm, and dried out. This pattern is particularly common in women in menopause. Due to the fact that we are in fight or flight, we sometimes can’t tell if we are tired. We often feel a deep exhaustion that penetrates into our bones or on the other extreme we might feel wired or manic.
There are numerous other reasons that contribute to insomnia, but this is the primary issue that many people are facing. Other potential causes are nutritional, hormonal and energetic imbalances, repressed emotions and relationship issues.
Here are a few of the top all natural treatment options for insomnia:
1) Acupuncture: All of the major organs of the body are related to a specific kind of insomnia pattern. For example, if a person has a liver/gall bladder insomnia, they are likely kept awake by strategizing, planning and scheduling of their lives at night. This person often cannot turn of their minds unless they read a book or watch television before bed. Equally, there are other patterns of insomnia that relate to the heart, lung, spleen and kidney, each having specific manifestations. Acupuncture is an excellent at treating insomnia, regardless of its etiology. For chronic insomnia, I typically recommend receiving acupuncture once a week for 4-6 weeks, then we can assess for progress. Acupuncture helps to restore balance to the central nervous system and harmonize qi (chee), which is the functional energy that underlies our general state of health. Overtime qi can either become stagnant, meaning that too much energy is blocked in a particular area or in an organ, or it can become deficient, meaning that there is not enough energy in an area or in the organ. Both patterns may cause insomnia and both are treatable with acupuncture.
2) Herbs: Chinese and Western herbs can be very helpful for in treating insomnia. Chinese herbs are typically combined to create a formula that treats specific patterns of disharmony. It is highly effective to combine Chinese herbs with acupuncture as one modality treats the insomnia externally while the other treats it internally. Western herbs are also use but used frequently used as a stand-a-lone versus formulas. The great thing about the herbs listed here is that they don’t cause the drowsiness and disorientation, which many of the Western sedative drugs frequently do.
Valerian: Has mild sedative properties that help to relax the nervous system and calm the mind.
Chamomile: Has a mild tranquilizing and calming effect that soothes all major systems of the body.
Kava: A highly prized medicinal that is used to alleviate anxiety and induce deeper sleeping patterns however, if you have any issues with adrenal exhaustion or kidney issues please consult a physician prior to using.
There are a variety of Chinese formulas that can be used in treating insomnia. Some of the most common ones that I use in my practice are ones that treat insomnia with accompanying symptoms of : hard time concentrating, slower memory recall, low energy, anxiety, depression, possibly night sweats and nightmares. Another formula for insomnia will treat the root cause of the insomnia and irritability and restlessness. Other patterns may include low back pain, anxiety, excess thirst, night sweats and an overall feeling of heat in the body, in which another Chinese Herbal formula would be used.
3) Meditation: Meditation is a deeply restorative and can replicate many of the benefits of sleep. In fact, meditation is often considered to be more beneficial because it can lead to a state of non-thought, which is said by many spiritual traditions to be the deepest state of relaxation and healing possible for humans. In sleep, our minds are still processing and dreaming. If you have a hard time falling asleep, try spending 15 minutes before bed meditating and it will most likely allow you to fall asleep faster and to sleep more peacefully.
4) Yoga: Practiced for many centuries throughout the Eastern world, yoga has finally made its way into to the Western world with unprecedented popularity. There are numerous styles of yoga; I encourage you to experiment and try different styles until you find the right one for you and that meets your specific needs. If you plan on doing yoga at home, I recommend doing 15-20 minutes of restorative poses (downward dog, child pose, plow pose, corpse pose, shoulder stand, standing forward bend, etc.) before bed. Combined with your sitting meditation, you will take a significant step forward towards healing your nervous system.
5) Nutritional Recommendations:
Caffeine
One of the most obvious culprits in terms of its effect on insomnia is caffeine. If you drink coffee, I recommend either cutting it out completely for a short time or switching over to green tea. Coffee tends to irritate the colon, liver, and nervous system and is very warming and stimulating and can be a major problem in healing insomnia. On the hand, Green tea, is soothing to the gut and nervous system and cooling in nature and is filled with antioxidants. Green tea does still have some caffeine, however it is still a much better choice than coffee.
Sugar
Another culprit in sleep disturbance is sugar. Eating sugar regularly causes increased problems with the regulation of insulin and glucose, which will lead to hypoglycemia and possibly pre-diabetic symptoms. It has been clinically proven that blood sugar has a profound impact on the health of the nervous system. To keep blood sugar balanced, you should avoid white sugar or, at the least, accompany the sugar with protein but make sure the protein is ingested first. Sugar also causes systemic inflammation in the body, which can lead to adversely affecting our ability to relax, restore and rest.
Alcohol
Some people claim that alcohol helps them sleep better, however, if you have insomnia and drink regularly, I recommend trying an experiment and give up alcohol for a several weeks and see if it your sleep improves. Alcohol is another substance that has an adverse effect on blood sugar and can easily irritate the liver and nervous system. Many people are sensitive to alcohol but haven’t identified it as a problem.
The perfect diet got those with insomnia
As you can see, the best thing you can do to heal nutritionally from most chronic health conditions, including insomnia, is to eat an organic whole foods diet that is rich in antioxidants, essential fatty acids, and fiber and to minimize processed foods such as sugars, and refined carbohydrates.
Nutritional Supplements
- Melatonin: Has been proven to help people fall asleep, however it is still controversial as to whether it helps with staying asleep.
- Fish oil: Essential fatty acids are often used in the treatment of emotional and mental imbalances. As you read, some of the patterns for insomnia include symptoms such as depression and anxiety. As such, they tend to compliment other treatments that are being used for insomnia.
- 5HTP: A precursor to serotonin. It is used for treating anxiety, depression and insomnia.
It is extremely rare that any of these natural options cause side effects as seen in Western sedatives such as drowsiness, moodiness, or dream disturbed sleep. I often notice that the patient’s overall health improves while using one or more of these protocols. Insomnia is very treatable using this combination of therapies. In particular, I would highly recommend acupuncture if you have never tried it before. It should also be noted that there is a wide disparity in the quality of nutritional products available to the consumer. I only use pharmaceutical grade products that have performed thorough clinical testing on their products. It is definitely worth it to pay more for higher quality products and to be diagnosed by a qualified healthcare professional in order to achieve maximum benefit. For more information or if you would like a consultation, please call my office to set up an appointment.