Acupuncture and Sleep

Sleep ameliorating effect... [Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013] - PubMed - NCBI

This was only a small study but apparently acupuncture can help you sleep better if you have sz. I know I occasionally have sleep issues--like no sleep at all or two hours. Not sure if anyone else here has that problem, but this might be a nice alternative to more meds.

Thanks. Sleeping is a huge issue for my son. Even when he does manage to get to sleep, it's low quality. I don't think he gets to the deep sleep levels.

.Sleep is a HUGE factor for me. When I was really sick last year, that was the number one thing I feel that was so evident-- I was hardly sleeping. We all know how important sleep is.....even the healthiest person will experience distortions of reality when sleep deprived.

I look for this as one way to monitor myself for signs that I may be spiraling.. If I am not sleeping then I know what will follow next. I don't want to become ill again.

Also, I think that my quality of sleep is not great. I feel tired when I wake up.

Last night I was up late and got up to the phone around 6am. I feel emotional and frustrated with things today. So I am pretty sure it's simply that I didn't get enough sleep, I am one of those people that absolutely needs at least 8 hrs. every night consistently, or everything is thrown off balance.

I suffered from insomnia most of my life, so I know what you mean. I didn't have it the extremes my son does sometimes - going days at a time with no sleep when it's really bad. But when I was routinely getting not enough sleep, I was always in a low-level depression.

I had lunch with my son today. I asked about his sleep, and he says it's fine. He said that in general things are going ok, and he really did look well. I mentioned the accupuncture thing to him anyway. I told him we should look into it if his sleep deteriorates.

Different topic: He caught sight of himself in a mirror while he was at the buffet today. He came back to the table and said he didn't want to look like he was down all the time. I didn't tell him, but he usually does look down. His face looks ... not sad, but ... idk ... stiff?

Yeah pdoc is monitoring my sleep...almost went on ambien after a week of sleeping 3-5 hours, but I don't know I think acupuncture might be a little more zen and a little less addictive. Now if I'm sleeping Ok I need to get ten hours a night, but if I'm not sleeping I can feel perfectly fine on two hours. It's more like mania than insomnia, we're still not sure what caused my psychosis it could be sz,sa or even bipolar or it might be none of them. The current bet is none, thus taking me off the meds. We shall see.

SP: yeah, I'd rather not take sleep meds. Usually if I know I am headed for trouble in the sleep dept. I will take diphenhydramine, but that still has side effects.
I definitely think Chinese medicine is a good choice. I got into it when I lived in Ca. because it was readily available.

Costello: that stiffness you describe that your son has is characteristic in Sz sometimes isn't it? I wonder what that is, too. I have seen it and read about it. There have been times when I feel this weird stiffness. I have had clinicians years ago tell me to" loosen up" my body like I could shake it off by moving my arms and legs around. IDK. I don't believe it is all med related either.

I'm allergic to diphenhydramine so he recommended either melatonin, Ativan or ambien. Melatonin was my first choice but I never made it out past a week of not sleeping....now I'm sleeping more like 6 hours ...I just wake up at four am.
Pdoc doesn't know what to make of it...last year he just told me it was aging(gee thanks). Now that its gone away and come back its harder to explain.

wow. to be allergic to an allergy med.! what a trip! oh and I don't think it's aging either!

I have heard that calcium and magnesium supplements may help and then of course there's a whole bunch of Chinese herbs that your acupuncturist would recommend. I remember feeling so calm when I did Chinese medicine. I also did Shiatsu massage ( Japanese) which was totally beneficial.

I tried an rx.-- Rozerem , which is an amplified type of melatonin. It did nothing for me but you might want to try it. It's a weird one. you HAVE to take it on an empty stomach and absolutely right before bed. You can't take it too late in the evening, if you have to get up and drive and work the next day. It has warnings about people doing things like having sex, driving, etc. and not remembering. (if I have sex I want to remember!) It has only a small window to work. I felt hung over and really sick to my stomach from it.

I know the irony...makes my joints swell up but when I was psychotic I actually bought some on the recommendation of a friend becuase I didn't read the label...I had to google it to realize it was Benadryl then I was so desperate I almost took it anyway...

I think pdoc would flip if I started taking herbal supplements....he wants to know even every vitamin I take.

Well six hours is plenty right now I'm more worried when it gets down to two or three.
The thing about my sleep is its like I don't even need it but we're worried because of the impact on psychosis. So that's why the pdoc is monitoring it to some extent.