Dr. Joseph Varon and Dr. Adylle Varon explore sleep from Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine perspectives. Find out what's keeping you up and how to fix it.
Wish there would have been more here about supplements and teas that people to buy to try. Few people have TCM providers available. Or in my case, every formula my TCM provider has given me causes me side effects, while very few other supplements do. For some reason it just isn't a fit for me.
Thank you, Drs. Varon. I’m a huge fan of yours. I am recovering from Septic Shock and my sleep was terrible for a year — PTSD jolts and nightmares, aches, like I was in a block of ice suddenly — until I started taking Benfotiamine. I now sleep extremely soundly. I still awaken from aches, but when I’m asleep it’s deep and lovely. May I ask what you think of Benfotiamine?
It’s a form of synthetic B 1 that kicks ass. I take it 3 times a day. It’s used for neuropathy which I don’t have. But the Septic Shock I went through affected my nerves horribly. I use Doctor’s Best Benfotiame 300 which you can get on Amazon. Alpha Lipolic Acid is often taken with it as an enhancer, but I find ALA bothers my throat. There’s a lot about it online.
Thank you for that info! I would like to subscribe to your Substack but first I’d like to know the names of the experts who are behind your editorial team and your articles, the way the medical team a IMA is listed.
I have tried alllll the non-pharma things. Herbs, acupuncture, addressing emotional stuff. Continuing to do all of those. And still I do not sleep well.
If I hear another person tell me that sleep hygiene will fix my chronic insomnia....
I have been doing weekly acupuncture for two years to help rebalance my emotional self. I stopped briefly in exchange for chiropractic, because my energetic/emotional self had become a lot more even and I felt the hands-on deep tissue work would be more advantageous, and it was. My chronic insomnia had improved although not abated.
And now, I am again in upheaval thanks to the utterly unexpected and abrupt death of my spouse very recently. Not due to the 💉 thank God.
Only less than a handful of times have I fallen asleep or been close while on the acupuncture table. The best times I have had as far as relaxation have been under the weighted heat packs that my chiropractor uses before his treatments.
Everything in this article is good. Including the time chart which I have seen before. My current wake time very much corresponds to lungs/grieving.
But what else is there for people in my situation?
In the late evening, I take 83 mg of magnesium citrate and 0.5 mg of melatonin. Very mild, but it is helpful. On the other hand, 67 degrees is just too cold for me, even with a heavy blanket.
I fall asleep easily after meditating for 20 minutes. I go to bed between 10 and 11 P.M. because I rarely feel tired. I'm 73 years old. I never touch coffee or other stimulants and I don't drink alcohol.
I ALWAYS wake up between 4 and 5 A.M, no matter when I go to bed. At that point I'm wide awake and don't feel tired again until the next day. I've tried sitting in the living room and reading a book or doing puzzles but I remain wide awake.
My doctor told me it's very common for people in their 70's to wake up at 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning.
Your recommendation not to eat before bed is the opposite of what I've discovered. The MORE I eat before bed, the better I sleep. But it's not a cure. BTW, I don't have sleep apnea.
I do have epilepsy and I take an anti-seizure medication (Keppra) twice a day. It doesn't affect me one way or the other, and it prevents seizures 100%. I will continue to take that it for the rest of my life.
If you have any suggestions regarding a natural remedy that I could add to my regimen and that doesn't have a negative interaction with Keppra, please let me know. Thank you very much.
Can anyone speak to a hormone connection? Hubby and I are trying everything to not much avail, but we're 56 and have been told it's "just hormones". Neither one of us does any kind of replacement, just natural lifestyle remedies. Would welcome input.
Good article. Thank-you. One thing not mentioned is sleep apnoea. Especially since the ramping up of the attacks on us, many people have weakening of the tissues of the upper airway with resultant snoring and apnoea. It is partly genetic too. Snoring and stopping breathing is not benign! Some people have had good results with the simple Iqoro device. Mary Talley Boden has a sleep clinic in Texas. I am not affiliated to either of these, but mention them because it is important to choose a good sleep clinic if you go this route because mostly it's a bandwagon and the quality if diagnosis and treatment variable.
Since i learned how to turn off the stream of thought, I've been able to sleep at will. Maybe everyone has to learn this in their own way. My experience was, I put in three days of focussed effort, and after that, it got pretty easy.
well, right this red-hot minute it's about 3 am and i've been awake an hour. Tried manfully (can i say that?) to focus on focussing, with some success, (it's much easier sitting than lying) but sleep didn't come, so my apologies for sounding cocky! (can i say that?) I got up, happily, and hunted snails in the cabbage patch, etc., which is weather-dependent, but it's a fine, warm night, summer here. Luckily i don't any longer need to get up early, being 72 in a nice semi-socialist country. (I'm sure that's risqué, verging on red flag?)
Wish there would have been more here about supplements and teas that people to buy to try. Few people have TCM providers available. Or in my case, every formula my TCM provider has given me causes me side effects, while very few other supplements do. For some reason it just isn't a fit for me.
Thank you, Drs. Varon. I’m a huge fan of yours. I am recovering from Septic Shock and my sleep was terrible for a year — PTSD jolts and nightmares, aches, like I was in a block of ice suddenly — until I started taking Benfotiamine. I now sleep extremely soundly. I still awaken from aches, but when I’m asleep it’s deep and lovely. May I ask what you think of Benfotiamine?
What is benfotiamine? Rx med, or supplement? Sounds like it has been really helpful for you.
It’s a form of synthetic B 1 that kicks ass. I take it 3 times a day. It’s used for neuropathy which I don’t have. But the Septic Shock I went through affected my nerves horribly. I use Doctor’s Best Benfotiame 300 which you can get on Amazon. Alpha Lipolic Acid is often taken with it as an enhancer, but I find ALA bothers my throat. There’s a lot about it online.
Thank you for that info! I would like to subscribe to your Substack but first I’d like to know the names of the experts who are behind your editorial team and your articles, the way the medical team a IMA is listed.
I have tried alllll the non-pharma things. Herbs, acupuncture, addressing emotional stuff. Continuing to do all of those. And still I do not sleep well.
If I hear another person tell me that sleep hygiene will fix my chronic insomnia....
I have been doing weekly acupuncture for two years to help rebalance my emotional self. I stopped briefly in exchange for chiropractic, because my energetic/emotional self had become a lot more even and I felt the hands-on deep tissue work would be more advantageous, and it was. My chronic insomnia had improved although not abated.
And now, I am again in upheaval thanks to the utterly unexpected and abrupt death of my spouse very recently. Not due to the 💉 thank God.
Only less than a handful of times have I fallen asleep or been close while on the acupuncture table. The best times I have had as far as relaxation have been under the weighted heat packs that my chiropractor uses before his treatments.
Everything in this article is good. Including the time chart which I have seen before. My current wake time very much corresponds to lungs/grieving.
But what else is there for people in my situation?
In the late evening, I take 83 mg of magnesium citrate and 0.5 mg of melatonin. Very mild, but it is helpful. On the other hand, 67 degrees is just too cold for me, even with a heavy blanket.
Also please help our country stay on Standard Time. It’s a federal thing and you docs could really help! Thank you! 🕰️⌛️🕯️
I fall asleep easily after meditating for 20 minutes. I go to bed between 10 and 11 P.M. because I rarely feel tired. I'm 73 years old. I never touch coffee or other stimulants and I don't drink alcohol.
I ALWAYS wake up between 4 and 5 A.M, no matter when I go to bed. At that point I'm wide awake and don't feel tired again until the next day. I've tried sitting in the living room and reading a book or doing puzzles but I remain wide awake.
My doctor told me it's very common for people in their 70's to wake up at 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning.
Your recommendation not to eat before bed is the opposite of what I've discovered. The MORE I eat before bed, the better I sleep. But it's not a cure. BTW, I don't have sleep apnea.
I do have epilepsy and I take an anti-seizure medication (Keppra) twice a day. It doesn't affect me one way or the other, and it prevents seizures 100%. I will continue to take that it for the rest of my life.
If you have any suggestions regarding a natural remedy that I could add to my regimen and that doesn't have a negative interaction with Keppra, please let me know. Thank you very much.
Well I am breaking about every sleep hygiene suggestion.
Can anyone speak to a hormone connection? Hubby and I are trying everything to not much avail, but we're 56 and have been told it's "just hormones". Neither one of us does any kind of replacement, just natural lifestyle remedies. Would welcome input.
Good article. Thank-you. One thing not mentioned is sleep apnoea. Especially since the ramping up of the attacks on us, many people have weakening of the tissues of the upper airway with resultant snoring and apnoea. It is partly genetic too. Snoring and stopping breathing is not benign! Some people have had good results with the simple Iqoro device. Mary Talley Boden has a sleep clinic in Texas. I am not affiliated to either of these, but mention them because it is important to choose a good sleep clinic if you go this route because mostly it's a bandwagon and the quality if diagnosis and treatment variable.
Since i learned how to turn off the stream of thought, I've been able to sleep at will. Maybe everyone has to learn this in their own way. My experience was, I put in three days of focussed effort, and after that, it got pretty easy.
well, right this red-hot minute it's about 3 am and i've been awake an hour. Tried manfully (can i say that?) to focus on focussing, with some success, (it's much easier sitting than lying) but sleep didn't come, so my apologies for sounding cocky! (can i say that?) I got up, happily, and hunted snails in the cabbage patch, etc., which is weather-dependent, but it's a fine, warm night, summer here. Luckily i don't any longer need to get up early, being 72 in a nice semi-socialist country. (I'm sure that's risqué, verging on red flag?)