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

you should try to get a good night's sleep two nights before the race

I completely agree.

on recommendation is to write down anything thats in your mind saying "you've got to remember this". once its on a piece of paper its out of your head and you can forget about it. must remember to send x to a client- write it down must remember to get x from the supermarket - write it down its amazing how many things float about in your head annoying you. i keep a single small notebook that goes everywhere with me and i write everything in. since starting doing it i can relax more thoroughly and i sleep much better. (oh and by the way i agree about the good nights sleep being more important 2 nights before a race)

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.

Wow, wow - let's back off here a little bit. I am not afraid of pharma/science. I am a nurse and work in the pharma-industry. I am not depressed. I don't deal with insomnia all the time - ONLY on business trips. Especially now, since the job is still new to me. It is hard to drum up a cup of warm milk with honey in your Mariott room at 2am ... I went to my pharmacy and asked my pharmacist what to do in my specific situation. He recommended Calms forte to try. I personally feel better with something that makes me feel like my thought processes slow down in stressful situations and I can rest. Reading about Ambien and potentially halluzinations and people not remembering what they did ... studied or not; I don't feel like trying this. I hardly take anything at all (herbal and non-herbal) and every medication seems to be VERY effective with me. No, I am not a holistic herbal nutcase Just a lightweight that can't sleep on the first couple nights of a business trip.

Yep. And many studies have found that many nutritionals are in fact harmful. I am not sure I understand why people who happily take such nutriceuticals (which are, in fact, drugs) but won't take medications that have been tested more rigorously. I understand that Big Pharma is out to make money and has a tendency to invent diseases. But at least there is some semblance of safety testing in place. And these nutriceuticals also exist so somebody can make a buck.

Studies are no safety guarantee either - i.e. Vioxx was studied before it was used on the market and then recalled. Studies also tend to be influenced a lot by who pays the money for it. Not to say that there are not a lot of good, valid studies out there.

Studies are no safety guarantee either...influenced a lot by who pays the money for it.

Amen. But a rigorous study with FDA oversight is far more likely to come up with answers than what my neighbor thought when taking something. Sure, Merck hid a major problem and that is criminal. But because of rigorous testing, the data existed to find the problem once an objective researcher went looking.

And I still like pRED's suggestion best, even though there is no science to support it

And I still like pRED's suggestion best, even though there is no science to support it

I had to re-read PRED's suggestion. Agreed ... *throws Calms Forte away*.

RG. Actually, I think we are not arguing I think we mostly agree. I think we both take knowledge with a grain of salt, whether it be big pharma science or nutriceutical info from our neighbor. I only express concern that, as a society, we seem much more comfortable taking pills based on beliefs than based on science. Plus scientific tells us what is a high dose of benedryl, but for CF is it all guesswork. ZZ. You do know that belladonna is closely related to tomatoes and potatoes don't you...