Is your sleep disturbed? Are you tossing and turning, or maybe having a hard time falling and staying asleep? Are you feeling more stressed out than normal? Do you feel depressed but don’t know why? There are many factors that cause insomnia, depression and anxiety, but one of the most overlooked causes is allergies. While taking an antihistamine can treat runny nose and itchy eyes, long term use can exaggerate sleep disturbances and mood issues.
What are histamines?
Histamines are stimulatory neurotransmitters (brain chemicals). Our bodies naturally have histamine circulating, which helps control energy levels, motivation, and the sleep-wake cycle.
Histamine is an important neurotransmitter but when it increases due to a toxin or insect bite, other neurotransmitters such as epinephrine (adrenaline) may be affected. Epinephrine helps lower large increases of histamine. While allergies often present as itchy eyes or sinus congestion, anxiety and insomnia are also common symptoms due to the increase of adrenaline.
Natural Allergy Treatment
In Western medicine, an allergy is an inappropriate response by the immune system to a substance that normally would not be harmful. Allergies are treated with antihistamines that block histamine release. While this is an affective method for treating intrusive and irritating allergy symptoms, overtime anti-histamine use can manifest as chronic fatigue, insomnia or depression.
From an Oriental Medicine principle, an allergy can also be caused by a blockage or imbalance in the energy flow of the body. NAET® (Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Technique) is a gentle, non-invasive allergy treatment that uses a combination of Eastern acupressure techniques along with physics and has been shown to alleviate allergies. A clinical trial using this gentle, acupressure treatment was shown to help insomnia. Read the abstract.
Treating allergies with NAET may help with congestion and skin problems, and may also help with anxiety, insomnia and depression.
Understanding this connection can be a game changer in promoting your over-all health and happiness.
Dr. Melanie MacLaren
Dr. Melanie MacLaren is a naturopathic doctor and registered yoga teacher who is passionate about natural health and the individualized needs of each of her clients.
Call 317-818-1800 to learn more about Dr. Melanie or request an appointment.