Help with DD's sleep

amother

Tue, Feb 09 2021, 8:42 pm

Age 14. She has a hard time falling asleep. She wakes up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep. Noise machines sometimes help and sometimes not, and same for a diffuser- she uses both nightly (except Shabbos.) Weighted blankets helps some- also nightly use. Books on tape keep her up. Meditation apps annoy her or ask her to do things or think about things, and focusing on them wakes her up. Progressive relaxation wakes her up for the same reason.

She gets extremely bored when she closes her eyes for sleep, and has a hard time relaxing herself- but all the techniques recommend wake her up when she focuses on them. She didn't react well to melatonin, and still became dependent on it, so she is afraid of medication. She can be very relaxed when she gets into bed, but when she can't sleep and gets overtired, she gets anxious and headachy.

Ideas?

amother

Maroon

Tue, Feb 09 2021, 8:56 pm

Gaba, l theanine, 5htp or tryptophan, Magnesium, lemon balm, valerian, Chinese skullcap. These help relax the nervous system and support neurotransmitters necessary for sleep. Methylated b vitamins early in the day, methylation is important for converting serotonin to melatonin. Diet makes a huge difference too, gut needs to be in good shape, most neurotransmitters are produced in the gut by gut bugs and if you don’t have enough your body can’t make melatonin. Honestly, melatonin is not habit forming, nor is there evidence of it being involved in a negative feedback loop. If she didn’t react well, try cutting back the dose.

amother

Tue, Feb 09 2021, 9:05 pm

amother [ Maroon ] wrote:

Thanks. She was taking half a milligram- when we gave less it did nothing. Before she started taking it, falling asleep was a problem but waking up at night wasn't. She had the effect some people get where you fall asleep well but then wake up when it starts to wear off after a few hours. And on nights when she was come exhausted and used to fall asleep fine, she started bot being able to fall asleep without it. So we stopped.

If you had to pick one of the interventions you mentioned to start with, what would it be? Looking for the most bang for our buck- so, least interventionist/side effect/too much effort (dealing with a frustrated teen), and will likely provide a noticeable change. And can you recommend a specific product? Extra points if whatever she has to swallow isn't too big.

And she's already taking magnesium.

amother

Maroon

Tue, Feb 09 2021, 9:10 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Someone I know swears by this https://www.amazon.com/Sensiti.....1ZQ==

There is also an adult version without any melatonin. It’s hard to say which intervention will work best because everyone’s different but magnesium footsoaks work really well, and gaba and l theanine also. Sounds like there’s anxiety going on too, so you might want to address that. Waking in the middle of the night sounds adrenal/cortisol related.

amother

Tue, Feb 09 2021, 11:59 pm

amother [ Tan ] wrote:

Does she have anxiety in general?

She's usually fine. But lack of sleep gets her anxious, and being exhausted triggers anxious feelings along with physical symptoms.

And the nights she can't sleep include many nights when she's fine and really tired and positive that she's ready to drop. And then she doesn't, which makes her upset.