I was on mitrazipine wasn’t the one for me, gave me a lot of dark feelings that id never have enter my head, see of you can try zolpidem instead im not sure if you have or not but they worked a lot better for me… But i understand each to your own also ask about beater blockers its somthing id never think off but they have helped more than any sleeping or benzo. Merry Christmas.
6 Likes
I have tried all those medications without success. I’ve had insomnia for 24 years, it just seems a way of life now tbh.
6 Likes
Hi, I tried tapping the other day and I actually think that it worked. I felt happy and a sense of relief from anxiety for most of the day which was amazing. I did the tapping I’m the morning. It was so nice. I really want to start doing it regularly but need to try and make more “me” time to fit it in. Also, Pukka tea, relaxing/calming ones are lovely to have before bed time. U also drink one called Valerian by Dr Stuart which is really good. Defo try the tapping though
9 Likes
I am definitely going to research tapping more and hopefully give it a go. Might get my daughter to give it a try too. 
3 Likes
I have had this done and I have to say it took it’s time to have a slight effect on me but at £50.00 a week it’s very expensive and the course is over 6 weeks but unfortunately it’s not had any long term help for me
I hope it works for everyone else
4 Likes
You can find many tutorials for it on YouTube that might work. That’s where I am going to start trying.
4 Likes
Thanks for all the ideas… I tried EMDR and unfortunately it had the opposite effect it was meant to 
it made my anxiety worse 
3 Likes
That’s a shame. Hopefully you will find something that helps soon
2 Likes
Hopefully yeah, all my drs are finally working together now to try help me but I just don’t want to be taking a load of lab made drugs to help me slept, would rather something a lot more natural and not as addictive and with less side effects
4 Likes
It’s exactly why we been working on sofi. We don’t believe that the lab stuff is bad or terrible … we are just worried about what it does in the long term - what it does in chronic use rather than say an acute headache … there’s also this idea that one our Scientific Advisory has @stephendahmermd where he believes that it is actually possible to use both modern medicine and plants in conjunction together so as to reduce entire reliance on the meds. But we are working on this @HayleyIoM ! You know sofi will always have to thread a very careful line in not making medical claims - but what we do know is that the plants we are looking to activate have a long history in human health (like valerian) and what we are really trying to understand now is to what extent if any it can make an improvement for @HayleyIoM … and if it doesn’t, how do we take that learning of none response and make the next recommendation for plan targeting the problem from a slightly different perspective (medical folks call them pharmacological pathway) … I really hope sofi can make a difference Hayley. We are working on it! xx
8 Likes
I really hope it can make a difference too because I don’t want to constantly be changing my sleeping tablets every two weeks and fulling my body with lots of stuff I don’t know about. I have high hopes for sofi and if it doesn’t work for me I can still say I have learnt a lot about different things to do with sleep and I have a plethora of things to try when I can’t sleep!
4 Likes
Thank you for the open door, @Kaveh! @HayleyIoM LOVE the spirit of exploration. What @Kaveh and I have discussed forms the basis of Integrative Medicine- using the best of all available therapies, ideally prioritizing those with lowest risk highest. Here is a nice link of sleep support ideas from where I did my fellowship - https://d2tcus0f51u522.cloudfront.net/8815?response-content-disposition=attachment;filename=sleepHandout.pdf
I like to think about how many of these best suggestions I already incorporate, which ones am in eager to try, and how can I make them a part of my regular night ritual in a way that I enjoy.
A relaxing tea, a deep breathing/calming exercise and some gentle aromatherapy (my new favorite is organic helichrysum - activated endocannabinoid receptors!) are three favorites that can support any sleep regimen (and do support mine!). Excited to see how our old friend Valerian might also contribute.
8 Likes
I rarely have trouble going to sleep - especially since finding the most boring game on the planet to spend a while on the iPad with. I know they say we should have time away from screens before sleep but it works the other way for me. What I do get is broken sleep, and waking up anxious or even annoyed if I have been dreaming. It isn’t the amount of sleep at all its what my brain has been doing whilst I am asleep that seems to be the problem.
7 Likes
The search for every more sleep and calm has been a topic of much interest us all here in the community. And we know that anxiety is not a perfectly separate bucket to sleeplessness. In fact they often share common “pathways” - sometimes someone believes their main struggle is lack of sleep but actually the underlying cause may not be insomnia but anxiety that is keeping them from chilling out and getting some rest. Well, from today we are beginning to broaden our community here to include Pioneers who are also looking for ever more calm. We are going to start inviting folks to our here who are looking to tackle the stress and feeling of being overwhelmed that sometimes results from an ever more hectic life. Our choice of our first few plants were particularly important as they have the ability to target shared pathways between anxiety and sleeplessness. More on this to come shortly (@alexwalkerjones) and we look forward to extending a warm welcome to our community here to folks looking for both better sleep and more calm. xo
6 Likes
A bit of background on the pathways targeted by valerian and why and how it works.
There are two key pathways of Valerian that explain its efficacy as a potential phytotherapy for sleeplessness and anxiety, GABA and 5-HT (aka the chemical name for the neurotransmitter, serotonin), of which we have another recent discussion in the treehouse on, where I look forward to hearing anyone’s thoughts! 
The GABA neurotransmitter is the major inhibitory molecule of the Central Nervous System (CNS) and plans an essential role in maintaining the balance between neuronal excitation and inhibition.
What this means is that agonists to the GABAa receptor — aka any chemical that binds and activates the receptor in order to produce a biological response — have the ability to decrease excited neurons in the brain, and trigger the sedative effects associated with sleep, reducing the experience of stress, anxiety, and fear as a result.
Valerian is one of these plants, providing a herbal hypnotic and natural remedy for insomnia (and those suffering from anxiety-induced insomnia, in particular). As a medicinal plant, Valerian modulates GABAA receptors, with valerian acid as one of its active compounds.
The effects of 5-HT, as well as chemical antagonists to 5-HT receptors, have been found to range from a reduction in the latency and onset of anxiety, to an increase in the duration of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, in some cases.
As a result, plant compounds that actively target 5-HT pathways are known to regulate the mechanisms used to combat insomnia, and are often used to mitigate the experience of stress.
For this reason, Valerian is our pilot: the first plant formulation we have chosen to activate on the sofi system and the therapy we’re launching with for our program of pioneers - both for better sleep and for better calm!
You can find the full article and its sources on the sofi blog following the link below!
3 Likes
Hi Kaveh, I hope you are well. This is very interesting and sounds amazing. I am really looking for natural ways to reduce anxiety and stress. I am in the process of having CBT therapy and have opted out of taking prescribed medication, preferring to use meditation, herbs/plants, reading and other alternative solutions. I absolutely adore the two pictures of floral/Natural heads - so, so pretty 
4 Likes
So delighted to have you here @Grootette … love to know how you get along with CBT … there are some posts on that in the community … did you see them? Would be great to have your experience there if and when you would like to share them. Hope you’re managing to get some rest! 
2 Likes