"What do you do the night before the race to get a good nights sleep." (Read 793 times)

The only ingredients are plants.

Tell that to Socrates.

Tell that to Socrates.

Yeah...my only problem with the whole "natural" argument is that lead and arsenic are both natural, but I'm not about to ingest either. I feel safer taking a drug that has been thorougly tested (that's not to say that there still cannot be problems, of course), rather than take something under the guise of naturopathy--something that has no clinical trials to back it up. Plus there's no way of knowing if natural stuff might have weird interactions with other things I take. Better safe than sorry when it comes to drugs--prescribed, OTC, or natural. And I tried melatonin, kava kava, valerian root, and a host of other "natural" meds years ago...nothing worked nearly as well as Ambien or Unisom. k

ooops!

Oh and is it Ambien that I've so many people talking about making them hallucinate? I can't remember if that is it or not, with so many "sleep aids" out there.

Oh and is it Ambien that I've so many people talking about making them hallucinate? I can't remember if that is it or not, with so many "sleep aids" out there.

I think some people have that issue...I get sorta "drunk," only without the bedspins or hangover. Mostly it helps me shut my brain off so that I can sleep. k

Socrates took his natural beverage on a recommendation. There is a cultural distrust / fear of science and pharma. I do no understand why. Regardless, an untested, nonstandardized nutraceutical that has a friend's recommendation at best may or may not help, and at worst may harm you. It may also cover up a serious and potentially life-threatening problem. Take insomnia, for example. There are lots of non-nutraceuticals that work fine, such as warm milk. This will not cover up anything. If your insomnia is due to depression (one of highest causes of death in this country, ahead of breast cancer I believe), warm milk will not help. Ambien requires a prescription, which in theory comes with a professional evaluation for your insomnia to make sure that it is not due to depression (yes, even if you do not feel depressed). This calme-forte may help you sleep, but does not come with a professional evaluation. So you go to sleep, remain depressed, and then one day go kill yourself. No. I do not exaggerate.

So you go to sleep, remain depressed, and then one day go kill yourself. No. I do not exaggerate.

That kind of stuff makes me sad (not depressed, heh). did has a great uncle who committed suicide. Guy was uber smart, but was of the generation of men who did not seek medical care for depression. Very sad. I know my insomnia is more of the variety of "what ifs" thinking. I tend to lay in bed and start to obsess over stupid stuff that I have no control over. My mom does the same thing, so maybe it's genetic. I envy did--he's mostly able to turn his brain off at night. Nighttime is when my brain often goes into overdrive and I start to analyze the events of the day and think about things in the future...then I get the "oh, if I don't fall asleep now I will only get x hours of sleep and feel like crap tomorrow." Of course this just stresses me out and keeps me awake. k

I'll go out on a completely different limb and say, "Don't worry about getting a good night's sleep the night before a race." Instead, you should try to get a good night's sleep two nights before the race (assuming that it is a morning race.) Your body's level of rest usually lags about 36 hours from when you got it. For a Saturday morning race, getting a good night's sleep on Thursday is more important than getting one on Friday. If you want to improve how you sleep, though, the best thing that you can do is get yourself on a schedule. Go to bed around the same time every night, and even if you can't do that then get up at the same time every morning. I get up at 5:15 every morning whether I need to or not. I have been sleeping much better since I began doing that. It can feel strange if I am meeting somebody for a late run (late being 8:30 am) and I've already had 2 breakfasts, but so it goes sometimes. Some other advice that I can give is to avoid watching television before going to bed, avoid thinking about anything overly stressful, read a book or do a puzzle if you have trouble sleeping and then go back to bed and try again, and to eat something small if you are hungry around bed time. Sleeping on an empty stomach or one that is really full can both lead to fitful sleep. Also, don't be afraid to exercise in the evening if you have trouble sleeping. It may help you fall asleep a little easier. I'll also need to add that sex is a great way to get a good night's sleep, as long as you don't have to spend half the night looking for it. Even masturbation can help quite a bit. I avoid drugging myself any more than absolutely necessary. If I have some sort of infection, if I need antibiotics, or if I am having a particularly bad migraine then I will take drugs. Now and again, I might take some ibuprofen if something is sore near the point of injury. Otherwise, drink a lot of water, eat a healthy diet, and maintain a regular sleep schedule.