[olsen]

http://www.earthing.com/product_p/hsk.htm

Friend gave us an Earthing half sheet purporting to "connect one to the earth" (and I think it may counter "stray electromagnetic current"). The acupuncturist whom we consult infrequently is adamant that present day environment contains too many electrical apparatuses resulting in bombardment of stray electromagnetic current, greatly upsetting our Chi, especially the third eye chakra. He prompts us to remove our television from the bedroom, along with digital clocks, any computers, etc. and to connect to the ground.

I finally put the Earthing half sheet on our bed and hooked it into the grounding part of our electrical outlet about 8 days ago. Our night time health care helper asked me this AM what we were doing differently for my husband--had his meds or exercise routine changed--because he was sleeping so much better. Prior to use of this device, my husband needed to get up at least 6X/night, and much of his sleep was accompanied by shouts, jerks, mumbling throughout the night. He still experiences some of this behavior, though not throughout the night as he did before. And he is only getting up 2 times/night. I can now remain in the room most of the night whereas before I had to leave by 11PM in order to get any sleep.
I am so reluctant to post this information. I did not tell my husband I was utilizing this "half sheet". and I did not tell the health care workers we have employed. Thus, I do not think this is a placebo effect, since I am the only one who knew about its application.
I am sharing the info because who knows, it might help ( which i think it did for my husband--my sleep is much improved, also), and also because the company is having a 2 for 1 sale (which I hope does not mean they are going out of business at any moment).
I have no stake in this company; know nothing about them or their product beyond what their web site and references expound and our personal experiences.
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jeph/2012/291541/

[mrsD]

There is a post here about a hospital type bed causing problems like you describe:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...120#post917120

There have been a few posts over the years about "grounding",
but not many. I am open to most things like this but I have never tried this.

But I do have very strong magnets I sometimes sleep upon, that seem to "readjust" my pain levels. I've made them into a pad with 3 very strong 1 inch diameter neodymium mags. I have two long 3 mag ones I put over painful areas and they really work for me better than drugs. (PN issues, and arthritis).

I think I saw the grounding posts on RSD and PN years ago.
You can search "grounding" or "ground" and find them.

One would think if they are really really good, we'd have heard more by now. So maybe it is an idiosyncratic type response.

[reverett123]

1. J Altern Complement Med. 2004 Oct;10(5):767-76.

The biologic effects of grounding the human body during sleep as measured by
cortisol levels and subjective reporting of sleep, pain, and stress.

Ghaly M, Teplitz D.

Comment in
J Altern Complement Med. 2004 Oct;10(5):735-6.

OBJECTIVES: Diurnal cortisol secretion levels were measured and circadian
cortisol profiles were evaluated in a pilot study conducted to test the
hypothesis that grounding the human body to earth during sleep will result in
quantifiable changes in cortisol. It was also hypothesized that grounding the
human body would result in changes in sleep, pain, and stress (anxiety,
depression, irritability), as measured by subjective reporting.
SUBJECTS AND INTERVENTIONS: Twelve (12) subjects with complaints of sleep
dysfunction, pain, and stress were grounded to earth during sleep for 8 weeks in
their own beds using a conductive mattress pad. Saliva tests were administered to
establish pregrounding baseline cortisol levels. Levels were obtained at 4-hour
intervals for a 24-hour period to determine the circadian cortisol profile.
Cortisol testing was repeated at week 6. Subjective symptoms of sleep
dysfunction, pain, and stress were reported daily throughout the 8-week test
period.
RESULTS: Measurable improvements in diurnal cortisol profiles were observed, with
cortisol levels significantly reduced during night-time sleep. Subjects' 24-hour
circadian cortisol profiles showed a trend toward normalization. Subjectively
reported symptoms, including sleep dysfunction, pain, and stress, were reduced or
eliminated in nearly all subjects.
CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that grounding the human body to earth ("earthing")
during sleep reduces night-time levels of cortisol and resynchronizes cortisol
hormone secretion more in alignment with the natural 24-hour circadian rhythm
profile. Changes were most apparent in females. Furthermore, subjective reporting
indicates that grounding the human body to earth during sleep improves sleep and
reduces pain and stress.

PMID: 15650465 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

[ol'cs]

One of those posts that mystify me. "Grounding" suggests conduction of electrical charges, which shouldn't be caused by any increase of charged particles in the atmosphere around ones immediate surroundings, due to the presence of all the low energy, non ionizing radiation that is ever more saturating our surroundings. For millennia, we have been unwittingly exposed to a background radiation which is natural, and caused by radioactive elements all about us. Plus we are also the recipients of much cosmic electromagnetic radiation, some as energetic as the ionizing cosmic rays from space, through damaging ultraviolet radiation from a component of sunlight, to the background microwave signature, to great fluxes of just wisps of elementary particles such as the gazillions of neutrinos that flood our bodies without interaction with our biology.Truth is watch out for such claims for products which have "claims" which are easy to expound upon, but very difficult to qualify or quantify on a scientific basis.
Cortisol is being looked at, much as melatonin was, as a target for sleep control therapy, 'cause its obvious that "sleeping pills" are just not the answer.

[moondaughter]

for what its worth I just slept in a hotel that had a light down comforter sandwiched inbetween a top linen sheet and bottom cotton sheet - it felt very grounding -so much so I'm now shopping for fine linen sheets....

[lurkingforacure]

Thanks for posting olsen, I am open to anything that might help as well and will look into this.

I originally thought that perhaps the dozen communications antennae near our house might have had an impact, if not in fact caused, our PD, but we have a metal roof and I was told if there were any EMF's coming our way our roof would knock most of them off. But what about all the windows? One wonders....

We are giving the Magnesium drink, Calm, a go and for the second night it seems our sleep is a bit better....at first....seems like that rough patch after 1am still needs tweaking.

[reverett123]

Lurking-
One AM is about when our bodies switch over to start makng adrenaline, cortsol, etc in anticipation of the new day. A beta blocker called Inderal has helped me on this one.
-Rick

[lurkingforacure]

Well, I ordered one of these things mainly because our sleep is quite bad and the 2 for 1 got me!

I wonder what would happen if the house were hit by lightning when you were sleeping under this thing? Maybe we'd wake up smart enough to figure out a cure for PD...the irony

[wxxu]

Hi Olsen, do you still use the grounding sheet? I found this from Dr. Mercola's letter a few days ago - Grounding Helps Thin Dangerously Thick Blood and Fights Inflammation and Disease. It tells some science behind Grounding -

When you walk barefoot, free electrons are transferred from the earth into your body, and this grounding effect is one of the most potent antioxidants we know of.
Inflammation thrives when your blood is thick, and you have a lot of free radical stress, and a lot of positive charges in your body. Grounding effectively alleviates inflammation because it thins your blood and infuses you with negatively charged ions through the soles of your feet.
Surfaces that allow for proper grounding include sand, grass, bare dirt, and untreated concrete, brick and ceramic tile. Leather-soled shoes also allow you to ground while walking, whereas rubber-soled shoes disconnect you from the earth and block beneficial electron transfer.
Grounding helps thin your blood by improving its zeta potential, which means it improves the energy between your red blood cells. Research has demonstrated it takes about 80 minutes for the free electrons from the earth to reach your blood stream and transform your blood.
Grounding is contraindicated if you take Coumadin, as it may thin your blood too much.

Plus the interview video - http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...paign=20130804
Very interesting!

[lindylanka]

Grounding as described in the previous post, I absoLutely agree with . There is nothing like walking on grass. Really. If you don't do it you should, and if you are like me and have a garden that is like a thicket, then you need to attend to it. I am only joking a tiny bit here. Better still if you can do yoga, standing meditation, chi gong, tai chi or any variants with bare feet on grass, so so.

Of course I hav no empirical evidence for this, but try it and you will feel it right away.