Heavy insomnia, do not want to use addictive drugs, what should I do?

[swckv]

I have not been sleeping right for the past 10 months.  I always wake up at the same time no matter when I go to sleep. For example I go to sleep at 10pm, I wake up at 3:00 am, 11 pm , same, 3:00 am. After that I can not sleep.  Right now I have headaches and stomache problems (i poop 5 times a day and always gassy) and I have heavy acid reflux.  How do I cure my insomnia naturally without addictive medicine? Can psychologist and accupunture do it?  thanks!

[updownleftright]

Meditate, 2-3 times per day for 20 minute session at first, and then once you start sleeping better you can cut down to 1-2 sessions. It truly is the best medicine for insomnia. Other things like diet, exercise, , no caffeine, and less screen time is a given, but you have to calm your mind if you want to sleep better.

[Paxiled]

But be careful about when you meditate -- assuming you learn to have good meditations, they can be more restful than sleep and leave you with a lot of energy, so you don't want to do it within several hours of going to sleep.  

[Paxiled]

You're right to be wary of sleep medications, as they become habit forming if not addictive and lead to a condition called rebound insomnia.  Once in a while is okay, but regularly isn't generally the best option if another option can be found.  A psychologist is always the first option for any mental problem because even if you do use medication it never fixes the problem, it just suppresses the symptoms, whereas on those occasions when therapy works, and there's no guarantee it will, you actually solve the problem.  As to your sleep cycle, you might be going to bed at the wrong time for you -- people have different times they best sleep.  You might be going to bed too early.  The best natural remedy for sleep is melatonin, a hormone that regulates our body clocks.  About 1mg is a good dose -- many people take a high dose and wonder why it doesn't work, but this substance works better at low doses.  A homeopathic remedy called Calm's Forte can be helpful as well, and it benefits by having no active ingredients so it either works or doesn't but no side effects.  Melatonin is also about the safest substance out there.  Chamomile is very mild, but does help some people.  Other herbs are stronger for sleep, and the most often used is valerian.  But there is a catch -- other than melatonin, which if it works will really help, natural remedies mostly help people fall asleep -- they're not necessarily as good at dealing with the problem of waking up too soon.  But you can take it when you wake up and see if it helps relax you back to sleep (you don't do this with melatonin).  Other factors can be whether you're getting enough exercise to tire you out and how soon before going to bed you're eating.  You're acid reflux suggests you're eating fairly soon before going to bed.  I commented on another post that you have digestive issues that natural medicine can be very helpful for, and these digestive issues might also be affecting your sleep.  You were more concerned about your sleep, which is fine, but the two might be linked.  Good luck.

[Kayannaboo]

It could be stress. Most times sleep medication is required to regulate the sleep cycle because we really need our rest to truly function. Sleep deprivation can cause a variety of issues in our daily lives. There are some over the counter drugs that are useful; Kalms, Unisom, even Tylenol PM can assist. However, if you are truly against medication there are natural remedies that you can try to help with the stress such as some natural herbs, chamomile has been known to help and yes acupuncture can help to relieve the stress as well as meditation and exercise. Seeing a psychologist can assist as you can get to root of the problem that is causing you to lose sleep in the first place. Talk to someone,

Good luck:-)

Anna