I have a really irritating situation developing at work. 2 woo heads have taken it upon themselves to solve my insomnia woes. For one, my insomnia is not completely chronic, it comes and goes and mostly I “manage”, sometimes begrudgingly, but I’ve always been resolved never to take to sleeping tablets, etc. to just cover up the issue.
Now, I’ve been this way a long, long ass time, and my whole life people have peppered me with possible solutions that were “sure to work”, but never did. So for the last couple of years I’m just dealing with whatever effect there may be and adjusting my lifestyle accordingly. Oh, and ignoring all the remedies I’ve tried before.
But now the 2 homeopathic nuts in the office are hard-punting “Tissue salts” at me all day. I’ve already clarified for them that I’m not interested in any homeopathic remedies whatsoever and we’ve had the requisite protracted difference-of-opinion on the matter. But they still claim that the cell salt thing is legit even if I don’t believe in homeopathy. I beg to differ, as one of the few things I can find online about the matter is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biochemic_cell_salts
However, searching for cell-salt skepticism is not really giving me much results. So I’m hoping someone here can point me in a direction that’ll bear fruit. Some kind of (scientific) study must be out there on the matter?
Normally I’d brush this off, but now I’m hearing these guys gossiping around the office that I’m being such an idiot for not taking their salts, and I’m refusing their help, the salts CLEARLY work, etc. (Stuff I wouldn’t normally ascribe to intelligent adult men, but hey, what do you do?)
I just want some kind of confirmation, from the wiki article it seems like just another batshit crazy theory gone out of hand, but if there’s anything to it, I’d like to know.
I’ve put out some feelers but there’s precious little reliable information out there that is readily accessible. As and when I get useful feedback, I’ll post it here.
The Wikipedia article even says, “No peer reviewed scientific clinical trials have been conducted on tissue salts, and they are less well known to the public than some other complementary therapies.” This means that your promoting colleagues probably can’t present you with persuasive and trustworthy evidence that their latest favourite therapy actually works. Perhaps this should be pointed out. If, as is likely, they’ll cite you a litany of anecdotes, you can tell them that there’s much, much more anecdotal “evidence” that powdered rhino horn is an all-round salubrious tonic that also alleviates low libido, and ask them if they believe that it does.
Still, here’s a start:
The point to note, I think, is that since this therapy has been around for more than 100 years, it is quite a mystery why it still remains so obscure if it is supposed to be so effective.
Aye, like I said, we had the protracted discussion about homeopathy in general. The wall of ignorance went up when the guy said “Science is not advanced enough yet to understand homeopathy”. At that point there’s no argumentation really, even my pleas that “even if you can’t explain it, you should be able to show that it works, if it works” were brushed off quite casually.
That’s prob. why they believe this woo is stronger, since it has no evidence either way I can use to justify my position.
Yes, sadly I do understand. And it’ll be just as pointless pointing out that such a position is obviously and ridiculously perverse. The slipperiness of the committed woo-woo acolyte knows few bounds. It’s like a religion. In that case, your best option might be simply to do your best and ignore the ribbing as inconsequential and without merit. You don’t need to stick pins in your eyes to be sure that doing so is not a good idea. That’s a blunt way of saying that you don’t need to try every suggested therapy before dismissing it as unproven and very probably ineffective. It’s up to the proponents thereof to prove that it works.
My insomniac significant other DID try it (desperate times and all that), it didnt do an iota for him. So throw it on the scrappile.
As for advice (unsolicited I know) for it, the only thing that really helps my S/O is a joint. It does wonders for his mood for up to a week as well. He usually smokes his “sleeping muti” on a Sunday evening and he sleeps like the dead that night. Although not an agressive man, he’s highly strung, and since he started this regime a couple months ago, he’s much more in control (and rested).
How many of us here are insomniacs I wonder? I have periods which thankfully passes relatively quickly. Its hell to experience.
i have a stupid little ritual that i picked up in my shaman/native american years.
i visualise a horse running on the beach. i try and envision each hoof striking the wet sand in turn. in slow motion of course.
that sends me off to lala land soon. it gets your mind off whatever is running through it, and creates a rhymn that your breating eventually aligns too.
In my sport years I practised self-hypnosis and visualisation. When I couldn’t sleep I would start a relaxing technique from the toes up, breathing in/out slowly and before I got to relaxing my neck I would be in lalaland…for what it’s worth.
Hehe, like I said, I’ve tried everything. Visualisation, counting sheep, self-hypnosis (I’d just come out of it at a point more awake than before), sleep deprivation (BAD experiment), “good bed hygene”, my mom even made my try aroma-therapy (my disbelief may have thwarted the placebo on that one), etc. etc. I even occasionally do:
As for advice (unsolicited I know) for it, the only thing that really helps my S/O is a joint. It does wonders for his mood for up to a week as well. He usually smokes his "sleeping muti" on a Sunday evening and he sleeps like the dead that night.
Yes, mary jane does the job, but I feel a bit “slow” the next day at work. Also, I don’t want to use the stuff with frequency, so I keep it to a bare minimum. If the episodes get bad and say, for a week I don’t get much shut-eye, I roll a fattie, get some snax, and light up.
Here is some more unsolicited sleep advice. Carbohydrates release an enzyme into your blood to put you to sleep. This is because carbo’s are converted to useful stored-up energy while you are sleeping (ask any marathon runner why they carbo-load the night before a big race). This is one of the reasons people who have carbo’s during lunch (at work) will be asleep on their desks by 2.00 o’ clock, and also why people who stop for a burger and chips on the way to their holiday fall asleep behind the wheel.
If I can’t sleep, I grab a slice of bread and within 15 minutes - fast asleep. If you have carbo’s just before going to bed, then have fruit for breakfast (fructose is the best release-agent for the stored-up energy) and you won’t put on weight. Mefi may want to confirm all the science and clever-stuff on this one.
