Hypnotherapy for Sleep Disturbance

[Jules]

Hello everyone
I have never posted anything on here before but I do log in regularly to see what's going on. I only joined a year or so ago. I have one APOE4 and am trying very hard to prevent it's expression down the line (I'm 53 now). I think I pretty much manage 90% of the time to adhere to the diet and lifestyle recommendations but what I cannot seem to fix is my sleep. I have probably 4-6 hours a night on average which, to be honest, I manage quite well with but I know I MUST try and get more as sleep is one of the cornerstones of Alzheimer's prevention. I can get to sleep with little problem mostly but cannot stay asleep and I can either be awake from 2-4 hours once or wake every couple of hours for 30 mins to an hour or so. Has anyone tried hypnotherapy for sleep problems? I have searched this here and didn't find anything so apologies if it's been covered. I have seen some of you talking about the benefits of acupuncture but several people I've spoken to didn't find this helpful at all for sleep, hence thinking about hypnotherapy. Any feedback would be fab, thanks! Btw, I have tried melatonin, Phenergan, meditation, a couple of apps and all the usual recommendations about how to sleep well but nothing has yet worked. I cannot get my brain to shut up!

[SusanJ]

I cannot get my brain to shut up!

Haven't used hypnotherapy, but I'd like to put out there my recent experiments.

Switching from Daylight Savings time was really rough for me this year. Never really been a problem in the past. I usually fall asleep quite easily, but since the summer, I've been waking up at 3:30 or 4:00 with a busy brain. Tried adjusting supplements (B's in particular), more bright light early, all the usual hacks. Then when DST went off, I just couldn't make the switch. I'd get really sleepy by 8:00 and wake way too early. Frustrating.

Then I stumbled across this article Awake at 4 a.m.: Treatment of Insomnia With Early Morning Awakenings Among Older Adults and this passage stood out for me.

Why don’t we order a light box for you. When it arrives, we’ll take a look at your sleep diaries and determine when you should use it. You’ll need to sit in front of it for about 30 minutes each evening, probably near your bedtime. You can read or watch TV while using it. How does that sound?

Yes, sitting in front of a light box, in the evening!

Then it hit me. Last year, I ordered blue blocking glasses for me and the hubs. Been using them religiously and in thinking about the timing, my sleep has actually degraded while using them. (My hubs, on the other hand, is doing much better with them.)

So, my recent experiment has been, no blue blocking glasses, normal lighting and more engaging activity in the evening (scanning old negatives, laundry, anything mildly physical, instead of my normal reading where I would fall asleep on the couch). And guess what? I now stay up until a little after 10:00 pm and wake up 5:30-6:00 am.

My experience seems to suggest that if you normally fall asleep easily most nights, then the blue blocker glasses might be messing a little too much with your normal circadian rhythm.

[Lucy5]

Hi Jules and welcome!

I'ts good to hear that you've already done such great job optimizing your diet and overall lifestyle. Sleep IS a tough one though; a moving target for many and so individual in terms of what's driving the problem and which interventions may work short/long term.
Since you've been following discussions here for awhile, I'll assume you're already familiar with our site Primer and Wiki along with the sections in both covering suggested strategies to achieve a good night's rest. Sleep issues/solutions are also frequent forum discussions, but after doing a quick search, I haven't found one regarding the use of hypnotherapy for that purpose. If you haven't already, you may want to search more thoroughly than I did by using our magnifying glass search function found along the top of this page. A side note, our How-To-Guide has some great tips to navigate our website quickly & effectively.

In my n=1 case, the middle of the night wake-ups started during my menopausal years. Like you, I would lie awake for hours and it became a huge problem for me. What finally seemed to work was a combination of very low dose (500mcgs) melatonin, 300 mgs of high quality ashwagandha along with magnesium L-threonate at bedtime. Early on I did try tryptophan which was helpful but left me a bit too groggy in the morning. Now when I do occasionally wake up and can't get back to sleep, I'll take an additional 500mcgs of melatonin, but only if it's 4 hours or so before I need to get up. I should mention that I also began meditating daily, so it's hard to tease out which intervention(s) was key.

Since sleep is such a priority for us, no doubt other members will join in soon and share any information they may have regarding hypnotherapy or other protocols that worked for them. In the meantime Jules, feel free to continue asking questions of the group as they come up!
warmly, Lucy

[mike]

I cannot seem to fix is my sleep. I have probably 4-6 hours a night on average which, to be honest, I manage quite well with but I know I MUST try and get more as sleep is one of the cornerstones of Alzheimer's prevention!

Welcome to the site Jules! Out of curiosity, have you ever been tested for Sleep Apnea? If you snore, then I would look into it...

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-con ... c-20377631

[GLS18]

Hello everyone
I have never posted anything on here before but I do log in regularly to see what's going on. I only joined a year or so ago. I have one APOE4 and am trying very hard to prevent it's expression down the line (I'm 53 now). I think I pretty much manage 90% of the time to adhere to the diet and lifestyle recommendations but what I cannot seem to fix is my sleep. I have probably 4-6 hours a night on average which, to be honest, I manage quite well with but I know I MUST try and get more as sleep is one of the cornerstones of Alzheimer's prevention. I can get to sleep with little problem mostly but cannot stay asleep and I can either be awake from 2-4 hours once or wake every couple of hours for 30 mins to an hour or so. Has anyone tried hypnotherapy for sleep problems? I have searched this here and didn't find anything so apologies if it's been covered. I have seen some of you talking about the benefits of acupuncture but several people I've spoken to didn't find this helpful at all for sleep, hence thinking about hypnotherapy. Any feedback would be fab, thanks! Btw, I have tried melatonin, Phenergan, meditation, a couple of apps and all the usual recommendations about how to sleep well but nothing has yet worked. I cannot get my brain to shut up!

Hi Jules and a warm welcome to our community!

Thanks for posting, as sleep is such an important topic and one that is challenging for many of us. There are fantastic suggestions on this thread already. As we are all unique individuals, what works for one in terms of insomnia or any other health concern, may not work for another. Additionally, the reason/s for developing insomnia may vary from person to person. For example, psychophysiological insomnia stems from preoccupation/worry about something or someone in your life, while mycotoxins and/or heavy metal exposure can also trigger insomnia. What do you think may be a possible cause of your insomnia? Though acupuncture did not work for me in this regard, I do know of others that were positively impacted. It can also take a significant amount of time for a specific treatment protocol to take effect. Similar reasoning applies to meditation. There are many types of meditation, corresponding apps, etc.

You may find the work of Jose Colon, M.D., MPH helpful. While I did not find any information on hypnotherapy, I hope that you glean useful information from his website.

Sweet dreams and please keep us posted:)

[Jules]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply to my message. I am very grateful and will be trying some of the suggestions made! If I do try hypnotherapy as a last report, I will certainly report back! Thanks again. Julia

[CarrieS]

Yes, sitting in front of a light box, in the evening!

Then it hit me. Last year, I ordered blue blocking glasses for me and the hubs. Been using them religiously and in thinking about the timing, my sleep has actually degraded while using them. (My hubs, on the other hand, is doing much better with them.)

So, my recent experiment has been, no blue blocking glasses, normal lighting and more engaging activity in the evening (scanning old negatives, laundry, anything mildly physical, instead of my normal reading where I would fall asleep on the couch). And guess what? I now stay up until a little after 10:00 pm and wake up 5:30-6:00 am.

My experience seems to suggest that if you normally fall asleep easily most nights, then the blue blocker glasses might be messing a little too much with your normal circadian rhythm.

Interesting Susan! The light box at night makes a lot of sense. Your experience with the blue blocker glasses really brings home how individual we are and why being mindful can really pay off when trying to figure things out.

[circular]

... Btw, I have tried melatonin, Phenergan, meditation, a couple of apps and all the usual recommendations about how to sleep well but nothing has yet worked. I cannot get my brain to shut up! [Emphasis added]

Hi Jules,

I don't mean this lightly because I've been there with chronic, horrible insomnia over a long period (much improved overall). But this line of yours, which so many of us can relate to, along with your interest in hypnotherapy, got me to thinking that what I would try is using hypnotherapy to explore why you can't get your brain to shut up. It would be fascinating to do this in particular! Then the rest might fall into place and daytime mindfulness may increase as well

[Robhypno]

I am a hypnotist and when I was working professionally I produced mp3 hypnosis suggestion audios. Hypnotherapy helped many with sleep issues. Happy to discuss by pm rather than overload this thread