Juliette, sorry to hear about your problem. Have you tried giving melatonin a try? Your body naturally produces melatonin to regulate your sleep cycle but you can also buy it as a supplement in almost every health store. It is regularly used to treat insomnia.

Is there something in your life that is causing you to worry or feel anxious? Are you under a lot of stress? Anxiety can get in the way of restful sleep. I get very anxious around exam time which causes me to lose sleep and to get around this I meditate, do yoga, or even pray before bed. Getting all your worries out before bedtime really helps. Also, only use your bedroom for sleep and sex... Don't do work, go on your computer, watch TV, or anything else in the bedroom. Make sure you have a good environment for sleeping - pay particular attention to the lighting, temperature, noise level, and comfort. Don't do anything an hour before bedtime - no reading, watching TV, or anything that will keep the mind going. Make that your relaxation hour. I know it's difficult, but try to adhere to a regular sleep schedule.

If you have a bath, try adding epsom salts with lavender (I recommend the "Dr. Teals" brand that you can find at Walmart or Target). The combination of the magnesium, heat, and lavender makes me really sleepy.

Also, if you have an iPhone, you can download a number of "hypnosis" apps for relaxation and anxiety relief. I highly recommend the "Relax" app by Andrew Johnson. His soothing voice never fails to put me to sleep!

I wish the best for you and hope that you recover soon.

All the best, Jennifer

I take tryptophan a couple of hours before going to sleep. It is the only thing that has ever worked for me, including prescription drugs. I take 2,000-3,000 mg nightly. Good luck!

I feel for you and suffered the same exact way for may years. Sounds to me like your adrenal glans have been stressed and that has affected your hormones. I was also at a point where I slept only two weeks out of every month. I still have a few days of insomnia before my period. I believe it has to do with a drop in progesterone. I couldn't take anything without getting over stimulated. I always ate what I thought wa sa healthy diet but one of the things I changed was I started eating more good fats. I started eating more butter and coccunut oil etc. There is alot of literature that eplains fat is actually very good for us. Especially if you have a stressed out hormone system for what ever reason.

I take brewers yeast tablets every night before sleep and I sleep now. With out it I sleep bad. One other thing that helped me tremedously was drinking the life long cocktail by Anne louis Gittleman. Look it up alot of people got rid of there insomnia driking this simple concoction. Psyllium seeds, cranberry juice unsweetened.

Best wishes

Hi Juliette, I know this pattern well, and would suggest you start working specifically with your hormones. It is not uncommon for women to experience insomnia in the two or so weeks prior to their cycle, a time when our hormone levels shift (especially our progesterone levels) or even during our cycle.

When hormones are the issue, it is really important that the natural items you take are specifically helping your hormones. A great diet, natural supplements as you mentioned, etc. are all great but if they are not addressing your unique hormonal needs, they won't help you sleep.

There are many great books out there about natural hormonal supplementation (herbal, bioidentical, etc. ) which help explain why we have different hormonal needs at different times of the month and how you could possibly address them. It's so important as women that we understand this aspect of our health because it affects so many areas of our lives... How we feel physically, emotionally, the quality of our day to day lives.

As I've gotten older (I'm in my 40's now), I've been so helped physically by coming to understand my own body in this way more and more. And, as we age what we need hormonally continues to shift, so having a greater understanding of our hormonal health goes a long way to helping us help ourselves through the inevitable hormonal changes that are going to be part of our health and lives. The more we know, the more we can take care of ourselves and make these hormonal shifts easier for ourselves.

Items like Evening Primrose Oil and Black Cohosh, taken from two weeks before my cycle until my cycle arrived helped me for a long time. At a certain point my body changed and I needed new things. Maybe start reading up on female hormones and how to address them naturally to begin finding what works for you and how/when you need to take them.

You can of course also meet with a good naturopath or holistic practitionerr who can guide the process as well. They can also offer you a good saliva test to see what is happening with your hormones if you want to see the information on a concrete test of some kind.

Last, Marcelle Pick's Core Balance book is an excellent reference for help with hormones naturally via diet and supplements. You might want to start there.

Good luck!

Sorry to hear about the insomnia. Few things that help me are...

1. Natural Calm (magnesium supplement) 2 tablespoons 1 hour before bedtime.

2. Soak in epsom and sea salt combo with lavendar oil.

3. Min-Tran (food natural supplmentation) made by Standard Process. I take 4 at about 6pm, then another 4 at 9pm, and I sleep at 11pm.

4. Rubbing blue chamomile oil on the front and back solar plexus and navel chakras.

I work out first thing in the AM to prevent this from disrupting sleep later on.

Hope this helps, T

warm soy milk and a tablespoon of blackstrap molasses near bedtime. Works for me.

Hi Juliette, Two things that work great for insomnia: Quietude by Boiron (homeopathic remedy) and Rescue Remedy, floral essence. Both harmonize you and are not habit forming.

Juliette have you tried Lydia Pinkham Tablets?

This is an old herbal remedy but it works! But you must take these tablets every day for 2 weeks to feel the great effects! Your pharmacy will order these for you or you can order them on line. These tabs saved so many women's lives in the early 1900's and on.