Seeking better sleep without chemistry (Julie’s better-sleep experiment, Part 2)

Read Part 1

Julie A. Palm

Julie A. Palm, editor in chief

This post is the second in a series. I hope you’ll follow along in my quest for better sleep. If you haven’t read it yet, here is my first post, Julie’s better-sleep experiment, Part I.

There was a time when my friends and I spent most of our time talking about cute boys and shopping. (OK, that time was long, long ago.)

These days when we get together, we talk a lot about how we’re not getting any sleep. My friends are at different stages of life: Some have toddlers; some spend their afternoons and evenings shuttling school-age children from activity to activity. Some are experiencing perimenopause. Almost all work, trying to cram as much personally and professionally as they can into each day—and are frustrated by trying to do all that with only a few hours of sleep.

This week, an old friend I stay in touch with through Facebook posted, “Oh, insomnia. I do not like you”—and she quickly got a response someone else, encouraging her to try Ambien.

I understand the impulse to look for a quick fix to sleep problems. In my job as editor of BedTimes and Sleep Savvy magazines, I have access to a great deal of information about ways to improve sleep—starting with a quality, comfortable, supportive mattress, of course. I’ve tried several remedies for my own sleep problems, including baths, limiting caffeine, exercising, etc. But, honestly, I haven’t been methodical or disciplined about any of them except sleeping in a cool room and having a good mattress.

Recently, I’ve relied on an easy answer, taking a nightly Benadryl (an antihistamine that causes drowsiness; it’s the sleep-inducing ingredient in over-the-counter sleep aids like Tylenol PM.) My physician recommended Benadryl. I do sleep better with it, though it leaves me fuzzy-headed in the morning and I dislike that feeling.

Even though it helps me sleep, I don’t want to take medication every night. And that’s part of the reason I was interested in trying the cognitive behavioral therapy program for insomnia created by Dr. Robert Oexman, director of Kingsdown’s Sleep to Live Institute. His program emphasizes environmental and behavioral changes to improve sleep long-term, instead of relying on nightly drugs. I’m hoping that by the time I finish the six-week program, I can put the Benadryl back in the cabinet until hay fever season—and show my Facebook friend that she doesn’t have to turn to Ambien.