Norah O'Donnell

Health
by Renee Sojcher
Natural Ways to Help You Get A Good Night’s Sleep
their medications. “They are worried about side
effects,”, says Dr. Saffran. Although Dr. Saffran
believes that Ambien is safe and not addictive,
he feels that it can still be habit forming.
Dr. Saffran focuses on establishing good sleep
hygiene in his patients. This includes positive
sleep-inducing behaviors such as; avoiding
stimulants such as caffeine late at night, developing
a relaxing bedtime routine, using the
bedroom only for sleep and sex, and getting
adequate exposure to natural daylight.
Dr. Saffran has observed that a large number
of patients who visit his practice are under
stress. “They can’t seem to turn off what’s going
on during the day.”
Dr. Donielle Wilson, ND, a naturopathic doctor
and current president of the New York Association
of Naturopathic Physicians agrees.
“Chronic stress can shift the body’s levels of
cortisol, our main stress hormone, and can end
up disturbing sleep because it can disrupt our
circadian rhythm,” says Dr. Doni, as she is commonly
known.
And it isn’t only cortisol that can be blamed
for insomnia. Other chemical “stress messengers”
in the body, include adrenaline and glutamine.
“Our bodies are constantly responding
to stress and if those messengers are still active,
you’re not going to sleep very well because
they keep stimulating your nervous system.”
Dr. Doni treats patients with insomnia by
measuring their levels of stress hormones and
addressing any imbalances using dietary changes
and natural supplements. “It’s amazing how
much of a difference it makes when someone
shifts to eating small meals, including protein,
every three hours throughout the day,” she
says, “Many times it makes people sleep better
right away.”
It’s important
to understand
the nature
of the sleep
problem before
recommending
a supplement.
14June 2013
Doctors everywhere are being advised to cut
down on the doses of Ambien that they prescribe,
especially for women. This recommendation
regarding the popular prescription
sleep aid was released this past January by the
Food and Drug Administration in response to
patients’ reports of morning drowsiness after
taking the drug, some of which have led to an
increase in automobile accidents.
Added to this implication, a 2012 Mayo Clinic
study linked Ambien to increased falls in hospitalized
patients, and another study reported
this past February, correlated it to a higher likelihood
of death. There have been so many reports
of bizarre night time behaviors brought
on by Ambien including sleep walking, sleep
eating, strange telephone conversations
and even sex, that a website forum
called ”I Do Crazy Things When
I Take Ambien” was created for people
to report their experiences.
Dr. Louis Saffran, MD, Co-Director
of the South Nassau Community
Hospital Sleep Center, reports that
although such bizarre behavior only
occurs in less than 5% of his patients,
the majority of those seeking treatment
do come in wanting to go off
When it comes to acute and chronic insomnia,
Dr. Doni views those conditions as a red flag
for inflammation. “When I hear chronic sleep
issues, it makes me think that there has to be
a lot of inflammation.” According to Dr. Doni,
inflammation can be due to various causes such
as food sensitivities, eating irregular meals, or
eating meals that contain high amounts of carbohydrate
or sugar.
Beth McDonald, MS, RD, CDN, an Integrative
Nutritionist at the Continuum Center for Health
and Healing, a multispecialty integrative medicine
clinic in New York City affiliated with Beth
Israel Hospital, uses natural supplements if, after
establishing healthy sleep behaviors, further
help is still needed.
“If someone is coming off of Ambien, supple-
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