★★★★☆
Melatonin
Thank you very much for the thoughtful words! You said it correctly on things working for some and not others.
My main disappointment with melatonin is that not everyone is able to tolerate oral melatonin, but it seems that melatonin gotten through natural means seems to avoid this problem and most if not all side effects. I wrote about natural ways to get melatonin for this reason. I added other ways after I had posted the initial writing, so you will also have to read the replies to see a total of about 7 or 8 different ways to increase your melatonin levels naturally. Here is the link to that article :
https://www.earthclinic.com/supplements/how-to-increase-melatonin-naturally.html
Art
Melatonin
Melatonin
Thank you for the feedback on melatonin. Not everyone tolerates melatonin and I have mentioned this in previous postings.
While melatonin does not cause sleep apnea, it certainly can exacerbate an existing case of sleep apnea because it can relax the upper airway and throat muscles and this would make an early stage undiagnosed case of sleep apnea very apparent. Obviously anything with melatonin should be off your list of supplements.
Art
Melatonin
I have not had an actual diagnosis but the symptoms: waking up gasping for breath; heart palpitations; dry mouth; headache; slow breathing -- are all pretty much the prime definition of sleep apnea. I did not have these symptoms before taking melatonin, and once I discontinued the melatonin, they disappeared.
With all due respect, Earth Clinic is a site in which we note our symptoms, remedies, and side effects, and I feel fairly certain that were I lauding a benefit of melatonin, you would not be requiring a medical corroboration.
My experience is that, after a few months of taking melatonin, I developed nocturnal episodes of gasping for breath -- presumably through a relaxed/closed airway. When I discontinued the remedy, they disappeared. Take from that what you will.
Thank you,
Carola
Melatonin
Melatonin
Anecdotal evidence simply means 2 things: there were no scientific studies and probably never will be if there is no money in it and a particular remedy had a particular effect on a particular person.
Two examples:
- Valerian root benefits are tested by centuries, yet an allopathic medicine still says that its benefits are based on the anecdotal evidence.
- The best first aid for burns, other than severe burns, are foil and moist baking soda applied immediately. I found the advice here, on EC and it works even though it is based on the anecdotal evidence.
Melatonin
I don't know how long you have been here, but EC has always concentrated on peoples experiences for well over two decades now!
What scientific studies do show is how a specific molecule, such as melatonin reacts in many people as opposed to just one person. If it reacts similarly in 70 or more people, that is very useful information worth sharing. To only use or accept individual anecdotal reports or just homeopathy as your basis for decision making in health issues is very limiting, but when you also consider studies where possibly hundreds of people have similar beneficial experiences that completely broadens your potential for resolving many health issues.
Nothing works for everybody and melatonin and homeopathy are no exception. My preference is to consider all available options and not limit my chances for helping recovery from health problems because I arbitrarily decide that one or two options are the only viable options, when in reality there are many options at are disposal that we can chose from to try and alleviate what ever health issues we are dealing with or trying to resolve for friends.
Given the potential that all health modalities have to offer us to alleviate are ills, why would you want to arbitrarily limit those options?
Art
Melatonin
I get a paradoxical ( opposite from intended) effect from some medicine and supplements, including melatonin. That is why I switched to homeopathy and only read about people's experiences here.
academic research still doesn't take into account pharmacogenetics.
Melatonin
Melatonin is generally contraindicated in people who have sleep apnea because sleep apnea causes sagging of the upper airway muscles and melatonin can contribute further because of its muscle relaxing effects, but this is in people who already have sleep apnea. Melatonin does not cause sleep apnea, but it definitely can worsen existing sleep apnea in some people.
The test for sleep apnea requires being hooked up to equipment while you sleep at home or in a test facility. That is the only way to know for sure if you have sleep apnea. A doctor can not just examine you and know whether you have sleep apnea or not.
I have a friend who has been diagnosed with sleep apnea and uses a CPAP for his sleep apnea. He takes melatonin every night and told me it helps put him to sleep with no problems whatsoever and has done it for years now. He only uses 5 mg per night and says it usually puts him to sleep in 5 minutes or less, but I'm sure the CPAP is a mitigating factor in why he is able to tolerate melatonin at just 5 mg/night.
You said you don't have sleep apnea at all and of the three symptoms you mentioned, gasping, waking up and palpitations are typically seen in sleep apnea. Did you actually have a diagnosis of sleep apnea once you started getting these three symptoms? The following Mayo Clinic article discusses 10 common sleep apnea symptoms :
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/obstructive-sleep-apnea/symptoms-causes/syc-20352090
Here are 10 common symptoms they mentioned in the article :
Symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea include:
- Excessive daytime sleepiness.
- Loud snoring.
- Observed episodes of stopped breathing during sleep.
- Waking during the night and gasping or choking.
- Awakening in the morning with a dry mouth or sore throat.
- Morning headaches.
- Trouble focusing during the day.
- Mood changes, such as depression or being easily upset.
- High blood pressure.
- Decreased interest in sex.
The above list is what I have typically seen in people with sleep apnea as well as the symptoms you mentioned. Snoring is a very common one.
You may have a problem with the double supplement you are taking of magnesium plus melatonin because that combination can be very relaxing, but if it is sleep apnea you are experiencing, that is likely a preexisting condition that you may have not yet been diagnosed with. Not everyone can tolerate melatonin and that may be the case for you, but melatonin does not cause sleep apnea, but it certainly can help expose an existing condition of sleep apnea. You might talk to your doctor about this so he can test you for sleep apnea. Many people with sleep apnea are not even aware they have it until the symptoms become severe enough to realize there is a problem.
Art
Melatonin
★☆☆☆☆
What form of potassium do you use? chloride, gluconate, citrate, bicarbonate etc.?
Would you please share the brand(s) you use?
Thank you
Apple Cider Vinegar
★★★★★
Betaine Hcl With Pepsin
Dietary Changes
Magnesium Glycinate
Throat Strengthening, Mouth Guard
★★★★★
You either do exercises to strengthen the throat tissue or a second possibility that over time your teeth and jaw clenching at night has caused your teeth to close tight at night and so the throat aperture to be less open when asleep.
Use a mouth guard to keep your teeth apart 5mm and you should get more oxygen during sleep reducing the oxygen requirements for the body's organs and so a lessening n blood pressure also and no snoring.
just some out of the box thinking.
Vitamin C
Potassium
Potassium is pretty generic, and can be found in most any vitamin section of most any store. Tablets are limited to 99mg each. Start with 1, but I often pop 4 0r 5.
Bananas have about half the potassium they used to have. An apple a day used to do it, but not anymore. Farmed food in the stores is depleted. Fresh ORGANIC fruits and veggies are the best way to get potassium and magnesium.
Potassium
Dietary Changes
★★★★★
Tape Mouth
★★★★★
Potassium
Dietary Changes
★★★★★
also try Rife frequency
love Elsa
Potassium
CPAP Machine
Multiple Remedies
Since you can't find Lugol's locally, why not make your own at home? There are various sources on the web that have simple and easy to follow instructions. Obtaining the K and KI should be easy using a mail order chemical supply house or even eBay. Best wishes in health.
Potassium
Potassium
★★★★★
Making my rounds at work one morning I came across a cook sitting in a chair, slouched and looking like death warmed over. I asked if she was OK.
She said, "I have apnea, sleep with a machine, it woke me 150 times last night."
I said, "Oh yeah, I used to have apnea." She was incredulous. Used to???
So I told her my story. As a teen I had sleep apnea a couple of times a night. But unlike most, I would wake up during each bout. I would be totally paralyzed, even my breathing muscles. I would struggle until I was about to pass out. Then suddenly I would take a big breath, like somebody drowning.
One day I took a potassium pill, and that night the apnea was gone. A couple of years later I had a bad fever, which causes you to lose potassium, and the apnea came back. I took another potassium and it was gone. Now I take potassium now and then as a preventative.
The secret here is that potassium, along with magnesium, help to operate our autonomic muscle system, the ones we don't have to think about. These muscles keep our jaw shut, our posture straight, and keep us breathing while we sleep. And that's why potassium may help with snoring, bed-wetting, even crib death. If you eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies you probably get plenty of potassium. But most of us eat too much sugar and salt, which cause us to excrete potassium.
To make a short story long, next morning she was there again, still looking like death warmed over. She said, "I didn't sleep a wink again, but this time for another reason. I took a potassium pill before bed, and in the next 6 hours I peed away 8 pounds! " This lady had ankles as big as my thighs, - edema, and the potassium was making her lose that water.
Part b:
We had a secretary in our office that liked to run marathons. You could always when she ran a race because for the next week she would slouch and look exhausted. She overheard me tell someone about the cook, and she asked if potassium might help her. I told her it couldn't hurt.
That weekend I filled in for the night shift guy. Middle of the night I walked past the darkened office, and heard a high speed ticking sound. In the back of the office there was a single task light on, and this secretary, furiously typing about 500 words a minute. "What are you doing here?" I asked.
Her reply, "I took 2 of those pills, and now I have so much energy I don't know what to do with it."
"Cut back on the dose! " I said. Consequently her recovery time from marathons went from 1 week to 1 day.
Potassium
★★★★★
The basic problem is in your autonomic muscles, the ones that work without you having to think about them. When they don't work right you might have a slack jaw, limp wrists, slouching problem, snoring, bedwetting, edema, and apnea.
Minerals are the answer, but particularly potassium and magnesium. We eat mass quantities of salt and sugar, both of which make you excrete potassium. The little bit you get in a banana isn't enough.
My apnea stopped with a single potassium pill. It's a dirt-cheap supplement, won't hurt and will probably help. You might have to up the dosage for several days to get the sodium/potassium back in balance.
Sleep Apnea and A Fib
Sleep Apnea and A Fib
He said he cured his A-Fib using bentonite clay and probiotics, suggesting the problem lies in the gut with toxicity. I have not been officially diagnosed with A-Fib, but something was wrong and since it runs in my family I knew I should take the symptoms seriously, so I tried Ron's remedy in the form of Dr. Schulz's #2 Formula (LOL! ) which also contains charcoal, psyllium, and more. The symptoms subsided for me! Between all 3 ingredients I have felt better... Ron was very persistent to get the word out, so you may want to try this remedy...Good luck!
D3
By the way Mama to Many, thank you for all you contribute to here at EC! Best wishes!
D3
★★★★★
~Mama to Many~
D3
★★★★★
Tape Mouth
★★★★★
I had used a CPAP machine in the past, but never had good results with it.
Thanks again!
Sleep Apnea and A Fib
I go back and they will fit me with various breathing aids and see which one I need to not get into this state. Again, my advice to all is not to get old. Control what health problems that you can because those that you can't control will make your life about as interesting as you can stand.
========ORH=========
★★★★★
Betaine Hcl With Pepsin
Tape Mouth
I tried Googling for the causes and symptoms of sleep apnea and I am convinced that I have them. I want to try the various remedies for sleep apnea being recommended here in EC and I'll start with mouth taping. Aside from congestion, is there other health risk for mouth taping?
Eliminate Gluten
Eliminate Gluten
CPAP Machine
Dietary Changes
★★★★★
CPAP Machine
★★★★★
I am 45 yrs old and I have suffered from Sleep apnea since 2000. My weight ballooned from being 65kg to 104kgs in 2005. My dad had it really bad when we were young and unfortunately, all his six children inherited his illness. Life before I was diagnosed was an absolute nightmare. I was a walking zoombie for over 5 years until my brother told me I had it. I struggled for so long trying to get thru each day without falling asleep - Anyone with this illness knows exactly what I am talking about. My job suffered, my social life & homelife suffered. I chose to work night shifts as working days were a struggle as I couldnt get up early enough to get going. Normal people only need 6-8 hours - I needed 10-12 even 14 hours sleep to manage. If it wasnt for my brother, I would probably be 6-foot under or would have had a stroke by now. My husband & kids kept telling me to go see the doc. The doc wasnt much good as he never suspected sleep apnea with the symptoms I gave him. I found out what was wrong with me when several years ago the entire family went to a 1st birthday for my niece and we travelled a fair distance to get there. I feel asleep on the couch when we got to our destination while the others stayed up to prep for the next days cooking. My brother kept waking me up during the night because I had stopped breathing several times & they couldnt believe how loudly I snored. In the morning, he told me what was wrong with me and said to see the doc. The doc checked my blood pressure and told me I was walking dead because it was so high, he sent me to get tested and now I sleep with a CPAP machine and life has now been easier however no matter how much weight I try to loose, it always returned. I eat a balanced diet and am quite active however the weight just kept piling back on. Just by chance, I discovered by self diagnosis by surfing the net, I have what they call pneumoparotid - swollen parotid glands. Pneumoparotitis most commonly occurs in wind instrument players, glass blowers, and scuba divers. Those with sleep apnea will also develop this due to the blockage that occurs when the airways are blocked usually by the tongue, forcing the air into the parotid glands causing them to swell. I have looked like I had mumps for years! Even with my breathing machine, I couldnt get rid of the pneumoparotitis. To combat the embarrassing facial side bumps, I tired the ACV but couldn't stand the taste and smell so I suck on sour lemon drops & drink lemon water during the day and at night I drink baking soda water before bed (1 tspn in glass of warm water). The baking soda water is great for air and gas exertion - is working like a charm! I dropped 2. 5kgs in the first week (5wks ago) and have continued to loose the weight slowly, and as for the facial mumps - almost gone! I was told having the machine can help you loose weight and stabilize your HBP. My HBP stabilized some time ago but I do look forward to the day when I can throw the meds down the toilet because I wont need them anymore. I am looking forward to the day when my sleep apnea has been eliminated forever. My dad was not an overweight man however he got it from his dad and it didnt help that he smoked a pack a day, stressed and from being a workaholic and sadly died too young because of it. I still have all my siblings alive but I don't want any of us to pass the way my dad did - a massive heart attack.
★★★★★
Sleep apnea is a matter of life and death, remedies should be flourishing on YouTube, etc but we hardly have them. Except for the YouTube video on SA Ayurvedic cure - I watched it and was wondering where the hell I was going to get those ingredients from and if they would actually work? I once watched a TV program where a woman used a pet for her apnea - weird eh? She said when she wasn't breathing, her parrot would perch on her till she wakes up. That isn't practical for most of us who are allergic to pets, feathers, ticks and so on. I have researched many ailments and found cures but this one beats me. I will study the full Earth Clinic page on Sleep Apnea and see if there is anything I can try. Doctors just keep you bound to their prescriptions and gadgets so I don't even want to talk to them. There is research and some upcoming cures on deadly diseases like cancer, HIV, diabetes, etc. Somebody somewhere needs to help us with sleep apnea because I don't know if some of you have noticed that some kids seem to have this ailment, then it progresses. Yes, mine started as a Sleep Disorder - Insomnia.
I had a clear case of Insomnia when I was pregnant and the child snored from age 5 or earlier. My other child does not snore but clearly has a SD and HBP! I need a cure for myself and my family. People of EC, help! There are many people suffering in silence. Let's all come out of our shells here, discuss the good, the bad and the ugly of this thing sucking out LIFE GIVING OXYGEN FROM US and get our normal breathing back. I watched 'Fat Sick and Nearly Dead' on YouTube and another movie on how Diabetis got cured with eating raw food. Has anybody seen any inspirational thing on natural cure for Sleep Apnea? I want to know. In conclusion, stop suffering in silence, do a post here. A problem shared is half solved.
Vitamin C
★★★★★
I have not have anymore occurances of apnea ....
Many, many thanks to Earth Clinic and the large family of contributors, I no longer have this problem!
Apple Cider Vinegar
Betaine Hcl With Pepsin
★★★★★
I started taking Betaine HCl with Pepsin, a long time ago, but only took one or two with each meal. Well I got frustrated, because my digestion didn't seem to be much better, so I started increasing slowly, adding one or two additional capsule each day. Finally, my digestion got better, my reflux WENT AWAY, and guess what else happened? Yes, MY APNEA WENT AWAY TOO. I no longer snore loudly and wake up hundreds of time a night. Most mornings I wake up in exactly the same position I went to sleep in, and I remember my dreams. I won't say how many capsules I take, because everyone is different, but I will say it looks like I had ZERO stomach acid of my own. Also my yeast symptoms have gone, and I no longer crave something all the time. I finally feel satiated, and have lost 10 pounds. I feel better in so many ways I can't list them all.
I am so urgent to share what I have learned, but really don't know how to get the word out there. I guess I could write a book, lol. I want to shout this from the rooftops, but then they'd put me away.
★★★★★
Iodine, Dessicated Thyroid
★★★★★
https://www.earthclinic.com/cures/lungs.html
The post:
06/12/2010: Bill from San Fernando, Luzon, Philippines writes: "The Thyroid, Iodine and Asthma
Here is an article which might help people suffering with lung problems in general. This interesting article is by Dr David Berry who specializes in the use of dessicated thyroid and lugol's iodine with respect to asthma and lung problems and whose research, experience and advice in this area is extensive and is, perhaps, a good illustration as to why adequate amounts of iodine are so necessary and important in our diets.
Here is what he has to say:
"In the mid 1980s I had a chronic asthma patient who developed an inflammation of his thyroid. After consultation with an endocrinologist he was put on Eltroxine (T4). One day when the patient came in later he mentioned that the thyroid treatment improved his asthma considerably. At the same time, my office receptionist had severe asthma since the age 12 requiring constant medications and multiple hospital visits. She knew about the results on this patient, she asked if she could try thyroid as well. I started her on 180 mg of desiccated thyroid and within a month raised her to 250 mg. This was in about 1986. She has been free of asthma symptoms since then. She still takes some medication occasionally but has not been in hospital for asthma since.
Encouraged by these results, I proceeded to work my way through all of my chronic asthma patients. At the time there were 22 severe asthmatics who came into my office on a regular basis for asthma attacks. Some came into the office once a month (or more often when in trouble) and some twice a year. Over about a 2-3 year period I gradually put all of them on desiccated thyroid. All patients improved tremendously. I would not say all of them were completely cured but the improvement was striking. Two things followed from this. By 1990 all asthma patients were on thyroid and thus from 1990 to 2002, I did not see another acute asthma attack in my office and none of these 22 patients came in for their asthma. The other slightly embarrassing problem was for a few months my waiting room became quite slow because of the absence of these asthma patients. From there I went on to learn what other benefits thyroid medication might have.
So it is my impression asthma is a low thyroid problem which can be better controlled and dealt with by thyroid treatment. Two patients who have been on these doses of thyroid for more than 15 years have had bone density tests show their bone density was completely normal. Prednisone (cortisone) used for acute severe asthma attacks has more serious potential for causing bone problems. Thyroid treatment, especially with supplementary iodine (Lugol's one drop daily) does not alter bone density short term or long term.
The only literature I can find on asthma and thyroid hormone was from the early part of the last century when many physicians found thyroid improved asthma. One 1911 study in a large Paris asthma clinic found thyroid treatment effective treatment for asthma. (1) However, adrenaline was discovered at the same time. Consequently all severe asthma patients went on daily injections of adrenaline for many years. The potential for using thyroid to help asthma was gradually forgotten. There was a study in 1968 in which they used growth hormone and thyroid to treat asthmatic children. They attributed the improvement to the growth hormone not the thyroid. (2) It has been noted repeatedly that asthma incidence is increasing in all age groups. I feel this is the result of a lower intake of iodine occurring in many families from decrease consumption of table salt. (3-6) The lower intake of iodine tends to make thyroid glands work poorly and cause hypothyroidism and thus increase the chances of asthma in those who are susceptible.
We know that by tracing radioactive thyroid hormone injected into animals shows the hormone concentrates in the aveoli of the lungs. These are the lower air sacs that we have to exchange oxygen with. Also for a good 100 years iodine preparations have been used on chronic chest problems and asthmatics. Iodine is excreted in the lung mucus. In fact iodine in excreted in all mucous secretions such as the mouth(saliva) stomach, bowels, cervix, and lungs. The iodine in the mucous likely helps to kill any bacteria or viruses. Thus both iodine and thyroid hormone are involved in lung physiology. For example most, if not all, sleep apnea patients are fixed with adequate doses of thyroid. Chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) also is helped by thyroid hormone treatment.
The amount of iodine in the lung mucus possibly explains the paradox that the Japanese who are amongst the heaviest smokers in the world also have one the lowest lung cancer rates. It is likely the high levels of iodine in their blood is excreted in the lung mucus. This iodine then by apoptosis (natural cell death)could be killing off any abnormal cells as they develop that are caused by the cigarette carcinogens. In addition iodine reacts directly with carcinogens and chemical to render them inactive. (7) The Japanese have had an average dietary iodine intake of about 10 mg for many centuries. If the level of iodine intake is above 2-3 mg daily then the thyroid gland becomes saturated within two weeks and does not take iodine up anymore. Thus the most of the iodine can then go to the other parts of the body to carry out iodine's mulitple important functions. The most important of these is relataed to killing off of pre-cancerous abnormal cells. Our intake of iodine as laid down by the WHO is around 15-200 micrograms. This is about one tenth the needed dose to saturate the thyroid gland. So most iodine or a large part of the dietary iodine in Westerners goes to the thyroid gland. This leaves less than optimal amounts going to the rest of the body."
★★★★★
Vitamin C
Hi, you said you would try those herbs for the apnea. How did that go? Have you learned anything new since posting? Thank you!
Tape Mouth
AND
@ Francisca from Michelbach-le-bas, Alsace, France
OMG - Wow! How do you know you won't die? What if you develop sinus congestion overnight and have no open nasal passage to breathe with? Tell me more, please!
Thanks!
Vitamin C
Vitamin C
Anyway, I have found out, that when I drink a multivitamin, my problems seem to dissapear. Doctors laughed me out with that and told me it's a placebo effect. I have since tried the vitamins separately, and although I haven't yet settled on a single vitamin, C doesn't seem to help by itself. My guess is B. If it was a psychological / neuro problem, B, from what I know about vitamins, would be logical.
Now I was never a much of a believer in any sort of medicine... Natural or prescription based. I have felt that most pills simply don't help me that much and if I think I can get through any illness without them, I do. But in the last few years, I have actually found, that vitamins and some natural remedies do in fact affect me. Not much, but if nothing else they definitely work pretty well as a prevention. I have always suffered from common colds and various other minor diseases, but I have not had a single problem for last two years in that regard. As to why, beats me. I think I am a pretty rational person. 22yrs old, studiyng robotics and cybernetics, strong believer in science. It however seems only logical to fight ilnesses by supporting natural immunity (I have been diagnosed with minor cell imunity deficiency inherited from my mother in that regard) instead of surpressing the symptoms, which is what most pills do.
Anyway, just my two cents worth of experience. I will try some of the suggested herbs as well and see what it does.
Tape Mouth
