Can't Fall Asleep!

[carolinelee]

Hi! I'm 14 (15 on Nov. 5th!!) & I've been gluten-free for about 6 months now. I had trouble on getting all the gluten eliminated, up to about a month go. And now I have absolutely no problems now that the glutens is all out of my diet!! .

But I do have trouble getting to sleep...and its really frustrating. I'm homeschooled, so I can sleep in later, which is good when I have those nights when I only sleep 2 hrs.

I don't even start to get tired until about 12:30 am.! I try to read a book from 11:45-12:??. but once i close my eyes to go to sleep,,BAM, i'm wide awake again! its so frustrating. My mom had me take benadryl a couple nights in a row, just because I was like a zombie for 2 weeks, only getting about 3-4 hrs a night. But usually once I'm asleep, I'm definiteley asleep. For about the last two nights I fell asleep at about 1 am (which is REALLY good for me), & I slept for about 11 hrs! I did grow an inch in about a week! lol, & I know that can make you tired. But the problem for me is, trying to get to sleep!!

Anyone have the same problem or have any ideas for this? I dont want to get addicted to Benadryl if I take it every night. Like last night, I didnt take it & i just layed in bed til about 2 am, then I got tired of not being tired, so i took one.

I am glad to hear that I am not imagining these symptons. my son is 5 and was diagnosed 4 yrs ago and was really very ill. we have not had a proper nights sleep since! I have tried sleep programs from the Dr , but the boy wont sleep! He can lie awake till 1 in the morning or if we manage an early night he will be awake early hours of the morning. I am really strict with his diet at home. Apart from bread the whole family eats gluten free. He also has nightmares and gets really anxious about sleeping. We just have to give him lots of love reassurance and sleep in shifts!! Hope you get some sleep soon!

[Guest keegans_mommy]

Hey Grump, yes, I have had ringing in the ears for many many years. As long as I can remember. It was about 30 years before I was dianosed with celiac disease and now it is better. But the ringing continues day and night. Nothinbg stops it.

WA4MOE

I also suffer with the constant ringing. Sorry to know others have it too.

As for the sleep issues:

I have been an insomniac for YEARS!!!!! For as long as I can remember I have issues falling asleep. About a year or so ago, I started having panic attacks/palpitations and horrible anxiety at nights only. I never got the connection but when I went gluten free, they vanished! I know without a shadow of a doubt when I have accidently eaten gluten because I can't sleep that very night because of panic attacks! Funky huh?

[JNBunnie1]

I also suffer with the constant ringing. Sorry to know others have it too.

As for the sleep issues:

I have been an insomniac for YEARS!!!!! For as long as I can remember I have issues falling asleep. About a year or so ago, I started having panic attacks/palpitations and horrible anxiety at nights only. I never got the connection but when I went gluten free, they vanished! I know without a shadow of a doubt when I have accidently eaten gluten because I can't sleep that very night because of panic attacks! Funky huh?

That is the cutest avatar ever.

[shimo]

I have ear ringing and buzzing from "white noise" the quieter the room is the louder it is for me. I sleep with a fan on. The breeze keeps down the sweating and temp differences and the noise of it lulls me to sleep and gets rid of the ringing. T.v. helps little because I don't fall into a deep sleep-whatever is on t.v. becomes part of my dreams and I hat ewaking up to an infomercial-it pisses me off then I'm up for hours on end all mad. I have used benadryl for a long time-I learned in college from my professor that you cannot get addicted to it. It won't harm you if you use it continually as long as you follow the directions. It knocks me out until my alarm goes off-although it takes an hour or so to really wake up and sometimes I have a really bad "Benadryl hangover" where I'm tired until the afternoon. I stay on a schedule and take it around dinner time so I know when everyone else is going to bed I'll be in half pass out mode already. Ambien never worked for me and I like to feel sleepy to the point where I can't keep my eyes open any longer instead of lying there waiting to fall asleep.

Any hoo....try a fan. It does wonders!!!-Not a quiet one though-the cheap little $10 dollar ones work the best.

Haha same thing here. It's easier for me with either a fan or heater on, don't know why - probably the noise

[loraleena]

Try 1-3 mg of melatonin. I take this 30 min. before bed and it knocks me out. Try and stay away from those prescription meds - lots of bad side effects. You can also take Valarien with the melatonin. I found the Natrol brand of melatonin works great!! Melatonin is a natural hormone our bodies produce for sleep and some of us are lacking in it!

[loraleena]

Try 1-3 mg of melatonin. I take this 30 min. before bed and it knocks me out. Try and stay away from those prescription meds - lots of bad side effects. You can also take Valarien with the melatonin. I found the Natrol brand of melatonin works great!! Melatonin is a natural hormone our bodies produce for sleep and some of us are lacking in it!

[sneezydiva]

I want you to read this and REALLY think.... what if they key to falling asleep is what time we got up...not when we went to bed the night before. This is what most sleep studies have found... I had a friend with a girlfriend who was bad enough to be admitted into the national sleep disorder clinic.... and they told her basically you have to FORCE yourself up at the same time EVERYDAY...

They will refuse to treat anyone that won't do this.... and the place is incredibly hard to get into... you need a VERY persistant GP... it is massively overbooked.

I agree with this 100% I also have been having trouble sleeping since going gluten free. I used to have to sleep 11-12 hours. Really! I'd go to bed about 10:00-11:00pm and wake up about 10:00 am. After going gluten free I found myself staying up until 2:00 am and still waking up at 10:00am!

Articles I've read suggest you can graudually change your wake-up time. Every 4 days, set your alarm for 10-15 minutes earlier and head to be 10-15 earlier and eventually you'll be waking up at a decent time. I'm in the process of trying it now. I'll let you know how it goes.

Also, in addition to melatonin, plain old magnesium taken in the evening can help relax you and fall asleep. The effect is subtle, it's not like taking a sleeping pill, but it helps.

[SqueakLAG]

The more I research, the more I find little problems I have that coincide with others. You don't really hear about gluten problems until you think you have one. Insomnia is a problem for me as well, but I haven't found anything that does help. I may try the melatonin.

Insomnia, osteoporosis, hypothyroid, itching on elbows and wrists, BLOATING, etc. Where does it end? Gluten sure seems to be a terrible curse from some.

[mdcr]

Hi! I'm 14 (15 on Nov. 5th!!) & I've been gluten-free for about 6 months now. I had trouble on getting all the gluten eliminated, up to about a month go. And now I have absolutely no problems now that the glutens is all out of my diet!! .

But I do have trouble getting to sleep...and its really frustrating. I'm homeschooled, so I can sleep in later, which is good when I have those nights when I only sleep 2 hrs.

I don't even start to get tired until about 12:30 am.! I try to read a book from 11:45-12:??. but once i close my eyes to go to sleep,,BAM, i'm wide awake again! its so frustrating. My mom had me take benadryl a couple nights in a row, just because I was like a zombie for 2 weeks, only getting about 3-4 hrs a night. But usually once I'm asleep, I'm definiteley asleep. For about the last two nights I fell asleep at about 1 am (which is REALLY good for me), & I slept for about 11 hrs! I did grow an inch in about a week! lol, & I know that can make you tired. But the problem for me is, trying to get to sleep!!

Anyone have the same problem or have any ideas for this? I dont want to get addicted to Benadryl if I take it every night. Like last night, I didnt take it & i just layed in bed til about 2 am, then I got tired of not being tired, so i took one.

[gfp]

I agree with this 100% I also have been having trouble sleeping since going gluten free. I used to have to sleep 11-12 hours. Really! I'd go to bed about 10:00-11:00pm and wake up about 10:00 am. After going gluten free I found myself staying up until 2:00 am and still waking up at 10:00am!

Articles I've read suggest you can graudually change your wake-up time. Every 4 days, set your alarm for 10-15 minutes earlier and head to be 10-15 earlier and eventually you'll be waking up at a decent time. I'm in the process of trying it now. I'll let you know how it goes.

Also, in addition to melatonin, plain old magnesium taken in the evening can help relax you and fall asleep. The effect is subtle, it's not like taking a sleeping pill, but it helps.

So how is it going ....

Of course this works best for the "trouble falling asleep insomnia", less for the "waking up in the middle of the night can't get back to sleep kind".

Every 4 days, set your alarm for 10-15 minutes earlier and head to be 10-15 earlier and eventually you'll be waking up at a decent time.

I'm not sure if this is always as effective... I find the shock treatment works half because I'm so damned tired... and half because of when I got up... (well half and half is a guess)

So the 10-15 minutes is probably 'less' effective? but I'd be interested to find out because its obviously a nicer way to do it...

However my problem now is usually that the wake up times get skewed by work (I often end up working till 5-6AM or worse I'm on 24 hour callout) and then I have to really be firm...

This really sucks because I still have to be in work by 9AM... and it totally messes up my sleep patterns.

The only thing saves me at all tends to be making sure I'm still up by 9AM at weekends ...(and it can be damned hard)

[Beagle]

JNBunnie1 is definitely right when she says melaton works. I have celiac disease and had a problem waking up 2-3 times a night, but I have found melatonin works great. I take 2-3 mg before I go to bed and get wonderful sleep! My husband takes the same amount, but his daughter takes 6mg, so everyone is different. It is a natural hormone & anti-oxidant (no other hormone in a persons body is both) produced in the pineal gland, located in your brain. The fact that it is also an anti-oxidant means it helps build the immune system, not just aid in sleeping. Some people produce less of this hormone than others, therefore getting less sleep. I don't know if this low production is caused by celiac/gluten intolerance problems, but I do know it helps me sleep.

My husband went without melatonin for two nights in a row and didn

[moonlight]

Hi, my husband had sleeping problems too. he found out that when he feels like he cannot fall in asleep, he sleeps on the floor. He has a yoga mat, he puts it on the floor, and he puts a quilt on it to make it a little soft. This helped him very much. Somedays, if he eats too much fruits, he cannot fall asleep, so now he knows what to do. This might help you too. the other thing is, although you are 100% gluten free you might still be consuming too much simple carbs - you may want to re-examine your diet.

I hope this helps.

Hi! I'm 14 (15 on Nov. 5th!!) & I've been gluten-free for about 6 months now. I had trouble on getting all the gluten eliminated, up to about a month go. And now I have absolutely no problems now that the glutens is all out of my diet!! .

But I do have trouble getting to sleep...and its really frustrating. I'm homeschooled, so I can sleep in later, which is good when I have those nights when I only sleep 2 hrs.

I don't even start to get tired until about 12:30 am.! I try to read a book from 11:45-12:??. but once i close my eyes to go to sleep,,BAM, i'm wide awake again! its so frustrating. My mom had me take benadryl a couple nights in a row, just because I was like a zombie for 2 weeks, only getting about 3-4 hrs a night. But usually once I'm asleep, I'm definiteley asleep. For about the last two nights I fell asleep at about 1 am (which is REALLY good for me), & I slept for about 11 hrs! I did grow an inch in about a week! lol, & I know that can make you tired. But the problem for me is, trying to get to sleep!!

Anyone have the same problem or have any ideas for this? I dont want to get addicted to Benadryl if I take it every night. Like last night, I didnt take it & i just layed in bed til about 2 am, then I got tired of not being tired, so i took one.

[moonlight]

Oh, also, my husband never ever tried a sleeping pill. It is difficult, but it worked -

[Chari]

HI,

I have just joined your forum as I have so much going on I wondered if others are the same. i could write an essay !!

I have SLE, Sticky Blood(APS) Sjogrens Syndrome, Hypothyroidism, I am Glucose Intolerant on the way to being Diabetic (steroids don't help)and lots of other bits.

I have now found I am gluten intolerant awaiting blood results but I suspect they will be non conclusive as I don't carry antibodies. I had a bad fall last year which I think triggered the coeliac as Iwas in hospital (Warfarin caused a big bleed)

I feel I just about get used to one thing then something else happens. Does anybody know anything about LIchen Sclerosis as I suspect I now might have that.I have read that it is linked to COeliac, it is another auto immune disease.

I picked this thread as I have suffered insomnia since I started to be ill in 2001.Its 11.45pm as I sit here typing.

Hope to pick up some ideas and help from you all

Chari

[CuriousOne]

Okay lets pretend:

you were out in the wilderness away from all artificial lighting. within a few days you would be sleeping at night... you would start feeling sleepy near sunset, and waking with the sun at sunrise!!

the light controls our hormones...

we are built for it...

so i would say, go to lowbluelight.com and order one of their lights, to flick on at the same time everynight. preferably before 9 pm... or just use a candle.

do not use any other type of light..and make sure your room is dark...

and here is the ticker!

every morning when you wake up, go outside and look in the direction of the sun for 1-2 minutes.

the earlier it is, the easier it is to look towards the sun. if its too late then just sorta look at the sky in the other direction. try to focus on letting that light energy go into your eyes.

Let me know how it works for u. i've been researching/experimenting with this stuff for so long... all the posts above are just rehashings of anything else you've find on internet.

IE people don't really know! sorry its just the truth.

Why take melatonin...you end up telling your body to stop producing its own. Plus your body can make its own if there is no "blue" spectrum of light present.

check out photoperiodeffect.com

read Lights Out

but for me the key is the sungazing. thats just me. thanks

[CuriousOne]

By the way sorry if I came across harsh everyone was trying to help. And maybe you have done stuff that has truly helped you. This has been my own experience and I believe it could help so many people, since it is built on the way we actually work within the larger functioning of our world.

[tarnalberry]

you can do it without getting any additional lights, just start turning off/down the lights in your own house along with the light conditions outside (or, if you're in the north like I am, maybe a little earlier ). don't have a bright living room at 9pm. don't watch a bright tv at 10pm. help your body adjust. the eyes are a major input to the circadian circuit that controls our sleep patterns; use it to your advantage!

[Terbie]

I have similar problems too!

Does anyone know of a good brand of Melatonin to use? It seems to be the most recommended thing in all the sleep related posts.

Are their any restrictions in taking it? Should you eat with it?

I also notice lately that I've been waking up and all of my muscles are really tense, so much so that it's hard to move. I'm only 24, should that be happening yet? I'm wondering if I tense all my muscles at night so when I wake up they are hard to move. Any thoughts?

[solo]

I have many problems sleeping at night. Going to sleep at night is like rolling the dice for me, I never know how it will turn out, but I have used this natural sleep aid, with some sucess rate.

Open Original Shared Link

I tried over the counter medication to no avail, and tried ambien- never again. I won't go as far as to say it's dangerous, as not everyone is the same and some will suffer different side effects or none at all, but when I was on it my life was terrible, depression, suicidal thoughts, etc. I constantly felt like doing a swan dive off a real high bridge. Needless to say I flushed them all down the toilet.

[Stevs]

Hey Grump, yes, I have had ringing in the ears for many many years. As long as I can remember. It was about 30 years before I was dianosed with celiac disease and now it is better. But the ringing continues day and night. Nothinbg stops it.

WA4MOE

Hey all forum readers,

I am new to this so bear with me. I have been having insomnia problems and ring of the ears also. I have not been diagnosed with Celiac but have many of the symptoms that accompany it. I know for the ringing of the ears their is an herbal medicine called Ears that has helped some. You can get it through an herbal health food store or there are a lot of catalogs out there that allow you to purchase from them. Another thought is that an ear specialist can recommend a device that is called masking something small worn in or behind the ear. It disquises the ringing and you don't hear it.