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Sleep better with Lullaby

Struggling with insomnia?
Tired of feeling so tired?

Our comprehensive sleep services encompass sleep physician consulting, sleep investigations (home sleep testing) and a full range of sleep medications such as alternative medicine.

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Sleep better with Lullaby
Sleep is, indeed, vital to your health. It supports your heart, metabolism and memory, improves your mood and helps your body repair itself.

But it’s not always easy to get a good night’s sleep. Many different health conditions can make it hard to fall asleep, stay asleep or sleep long and deeply enough to feel refreshed when you wake.

Sleep apnoea

You stop breathing for brief periods while you’re sleeping, which affects the oxygen levels in your body.

Signs and symptoms include heavy snoring, daytime tiredness and headaches and high blood pressure.

Insomnia

A very common sleep disorder that means you may struggle to fall asleep or stay asleep for long enough to wake feeling refreshed. This may be due to medical causes or to lifestyle.

Tiredness and fatigue

A persistent exhaustion that saps your energy and limits your activities. It’s important to identify the underlying causes of fatigue, which may be a medical or psychological condition or relate to lifestyle factors such as shift work.

Restless leg syndrome

A strong urge to move your legs, which often kicks in just when you’re going to bed and makes it hard to settle.

Mental health and PTSD

Mental health conditions can worsen sleep – and poor sleep can, in turn, affect mental health.

Bruxism

You may grind your teeth while you sleep, leading to jaw pain and stiffness in the morning.

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Insomnia

A closer look at insomnia

At any given time, around 10% of us are probably dealing with mild insomnia. Insomnia gets more common as you get older and tends to affect women more than men.  If it lasts for more than 3 months and impairs your daytime functioning, then you may have chronic insomnia.

Sometimes, insomnia can be traced back to an underlying issue with your physical or mental health (such as anxiety or depression) or to your lifestyle (such as shift work, stress or alcohol consumption).

Often, these issues are interlinked – for example, living with an ongoing health condition (whether physical or mental) may complicate your life, increasing your anxiety levels and causing stress.

While more research is needed, Australian researchers have found that alternative medicine may improve sleep quality among adults with insomnia. It’s one of several treatment options your doctor may consider to improve your sleep.

Investigating sleep struggles

An investigation of your sleep struggles may include:

  • Consulting a sleep physician
    • Listen to your symptoms and experiences
    • Review your medical history
  • Completing a home sleep study (bulk billed)
    • You go to bed wearing a special head device and chest belt that records your brain activity while you sleep. It also records your oxygen levels, heart and breathing rates, snoring and some body movements.
  • Assessing whether alternative treatments like alternative medicine could help you. 
  • Reviewing test results and sleep study findings with your sleep physician and following recommended treatments to manage an underlying condition or improve your sleep.
Investigating Sleep Struggles

Treating sleep difficulties

The right treatment for your sleep difficulties depends on their cause. It might include: 

  • Developing better sleep habits
  • Following the appropriate treatment for any underlying conditions affecting your sleep 
  • Using psychological treatments like cognitive behavioural therapy to manage stress or anxiety with help from a psychologist
  • Taking medications or alternative treatments such as alternative medicine 

Using a CPAP machine– constinuous positive airway pressure – to keep your airways open while you sleep. This is the most common treatment for sleep apnoea.

Other sleep services

Lullaby Health’s sleep services also include: 

  • Driver sleep assessments
    • Driver’s licence renewal for patients with a sleep disorder
    • Sleep apnoea test screening for commercial licenses
  • Corporate sleep assessments
    • Contibute to improved morale and productivity by including sleep physician consultations, educational talks and sleep testing as part of your staff OHS medical reviews.
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Meet our sleep physician

Dr Dev Banerjee
Dr Dev Banerjee

MBChB BSc Hons MD FRCP (UK) FRACP

Dr Dev Banerjee (MBChb BSC Hons, FRCP UK, FRACP)

Dr Dev Banerjee is a specialist sleep physician with over 20 years’ experience, including roles as:

  • Sleep Physcian with Service Lead in Birmingham, UK
  • St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney
  • Woolcock Institute University of Sydney
  • Medical Director at Lullaby Health in the Central Coast NSW.

He is very aware of the influence of conditions such as PTSD on sleep, having worked with first responders for over a decade.  He is able to prescribe a range of treatments for sleep disorders, including alternative medicine.

Book a consultation (referral needed)

Frequently asked questions

Just like any other medication, alternative medicine products can have side effects that affect people differently. These may include fatigue and sedation, vertigo, nausea and vomiting, fever, confusion, appetite increase or decrease, dry mouth and cognitive distortion (hallucinations and untrue thoughts).

Generally, people with an active or previous psychotic or active mood or anxiety disorder, women who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant or breastfeeding and people with unstable cardiovascular disease are generally not recommended to begin treatment with alternative medicine.

If taking alternative medicine, you should not drive or operate heavy machinery if tired or sleepy.

Often detecting impairment depends on things such as:

– Dose

– Genetics

– Metabolism

– Length of treatment

– Type of alternative medicine

– Type and sensitivity of drug test

Your doctor and you will need to follow a special process to give you access to alternative medicine. Generally, the following steps are involved:

  1.  If you are suffering from insomnia, ask your GP or specialist to refer you to Lullaby Health
  2. Have a specialist consultation with one of Lullaby Health’s Doctors. They may recommend a sleep test to rule out common causes of sleep disturbance such as sleep apnoea or to measure how severe your insomnia is 
  3. Discuss the correct insomnia solution including the role of clinical psychology, and therapies for common causes of insomnia such as treatment for sleep apnoea, restless legs, circadian rhythm disorder, and also the role of alternative medicine
  4. Please note, currently there are no PBS-subsidised alternative medicine products.
  5. You will be required to undergo regular reviews by the Doctor and their team.

Sleep Tests at many Sleep Clinics can cost upwards of $400.

At Lullaby Health, if you meet the following criteria, you are eligible for a Bulk-Billed (no cost) Sleep Test.
To be eligible for a Bulk-Billed sleep test, you must be:

  • 18 years or over
  • Hold a current Australian Medicare or DVA card.
  • Not had a medicare claimed Home Sleep Test in the last 12 months. (if you had a hospital sleep test, means you are still eligible for a home sleep test as well).
  • Provide minimum 8 hours recorded data
  • Have a valid referral from your Primary Doctor (GP/Family Doctor), Dentist or Specialist Doctor (e.g. Cardiologist, Psychiatrist, etc)

The test can also be paid for privately, or for people who are not eligible to claim a Medicare Bulk Billed test (e.g 14 years and over or already had a medicare sleep test within the last 12 months).

Tests can be picked up from our Clinics, or we can arrange for the test to be sent to your home or work.
(If you like to have your sleep test posted to you, there is an administration and postage fee does apply approx $99. This covers postage to you and return to us, and insurance during postage.)

As part of the Medicare Bulk Billed eligible critera, a referral from medical healthcare professional is required. Such as your primary doctor (GP/Family Doctor), Dentist or Specialist Doctor (e.g. Cardiologist, ENT, Psychiatrist, etc.)

Please note referrals from Dietitians, Chiropractors, Psychologist are not recognised by Medicare, and you will need to visit with your primary  doctor (GP/Family Doctor)

Electrodes on wires are attached with paste to your head and body—the process is completely painless—to monitor your brain waves, rapid eye movements, oxygen levels, breathing patterns, respiratory efforts, snoring, heart rate, and more.

Our goal is to collect the best data we can about you while you sleep. To do this, we will want to see you sleep in your usual positions.

If your doctor suggests you undergo a sleep test (or as it is called a polysomnography), you may be wondering what is involved in this test and what to expect. Sleep tests help doctors diagnose sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, periodic limb movement disorder, narcolepsy, restless legs syndrome, insomnia, and nighttime behaviors like sleepwalking and REM sleep behavior disorder. Often these disorders cannot be identified with a normal office visit—your doctor needs to gather more conclusive evidence while you’re asleep.

A sleep test is a non-invasive, overnight exam that allows doctors to monitor you while you sleep to see what’s happening in your brain and body. For this test, you take a kit home and set up the Sleep test leads on you and sleep in the comfort of your own bed.

The data from your sleep test will usually be taken by a technologist, and later evaluated by your doctor. This may take up to two weeks, when you’ll schedule a follow up to discuss the results.

Disclaimer

Lullaby Health is not promoting the use of medical cannabis. Medical cannabis does affect every person differently, due to factors such as size, weight, health, dosage, tolerance, and age. Medical cannabis might not work for you, and you might experience side effects. Information provided by Lullaby Health is for educational and informational purposes only. For medical advice, please refer to your doctor. Medical cannabis in Australia is regulated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration and details about cannabis as a scheduled drug can be found on their website.

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Servicing patients in clinic and Australia wide via Telehealth.

Head office:

Erina Fair Shopping Centre,
Shop 2, Terrigal Drive,
Erina NSW, Australia 2250

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Everything you and your doctor need to know about plant medicine
Everything you and your doctor need to know about alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is still relatively new in Australia meaning that you (and your doctor) may have questions about it.  Lullaby Health’s doctors are highly experienced prescribers of alternative medicine. Here, we answer some of the most common questions we’re asked about it.   

Is it legal? 

Yes. In 2016, Australia legalised the use of alternative medicine on prescription.   

Can any doctor prescribe alternative medicine? 

Yes…but it’s a little more complicated than prescribing other medications.  Only a couple of alternative medicine drugs are included in Australia’s register of therapeutic goods. That means most alternative medicine is currently classed as an ‘unapproved therapeutic good’ and doctors need special permission to prescribe it.  They can do this in two ways: 
  • Applying to the Special Access Scheme for each patient they treat
  • Becoming an Authorised Prescriber, meaning they have received permission to treat patients as they see fit and don’t need permission for each individual patient (Lullaby Health doctors are authorised prescribers). 
 

Can’t I just buy some online? 

We understand the temptation but no.   Firstly, self-diagnosis is problematic. Your doctor is trained to assess your condition, consider all the available treatments and recommend a way forward that meets your needs and your broader situation (such as your job requirements). In rushing to diagnose yourself and obtain the treatment you think best, you may easily miss something.  Secondly, as you’ll be ordering from overseas, your package must go through customs – who are authorised to seize it as it can only be imported by licensed doctors, not consumers. You’ll probably just lose the money you’ve paid.   

How is it different from street versions? 

In so many ways. All medicines – including alternative medicine – are highly regulated and subject to strict quality controls. That’s vital to ensure consistency and stability so that each dose is the same.  None of those safeguards exists for street versions. They may be contaminated by pesticides, fertilisers or heavy metals found in soil and they may vary considerably in their strength, which may cause more intense effects than you anticipated.   

What might alternative medicine help with? 

Alternative medicine aims to complement the mainstream care you’re receiving for your health needs.  Mainstream treatment tends to have a stronger evidence base and a longer history of clinical use, giving us greater confidence in its effectiveness. However, some patients may find that they’re still battling troublesome symptoms or that the mainstream treatment itself causes unpleasant side effects.  This is where alternative medicine may play a role. It may help to alleviate some of the symptoms that still trouble you, such as sleep difficulties or nausea.   

How does alternative medicine work? 

Alternative medicine interacts with a vast network of chemical signals and cellular receptors densely packed throughout your brain and body. This network helps to regulate many important aspects of your life, such as your appetite, temperature or alertness, for example.  The active ingredients in alternative medicine bind to some of those receptors, influencing aspects such as pain or sleep.  

How do you take alternative medicine? 

While street versions are usually smoked, legal alternative medicine is often taken by mouth in the form of oils, pills or dried flower products.    

What’s the difference between CBD and THC? 

CBD and THC are the two most common active ingredients in alternative medicine. THC is the chemical that gets people high. CBD does not cause intoxication.  

How pricey is it? 

The vast majority of alternative medicine products have not been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration and so are not covered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).  If you have private health insurance, your fund may cover your treatment but may set an annual limit or a maximum rebate per prescription.  So, yes, you’re likely to have some out-of–pocket costs for your treatment. At Lullaby Health, we explain your likely costs before you decide to proceed with treatments so that you can make an informed financial decision.   

Are there any side effects? 

All medicines have side effects that some patients may experience. Common side effects of alternative medicine include:
  • Fatigue
  • Vertigo
  • Nausea 
  • Fever
  • Changes to appetite
  • Dry mouth
  • Diarrhoea. 
In addition, THC may cause:
  • Convulsions
  • Highs and lows
  • Depression
  • Confusion
  • Hallucinations or delusions
  • Psychosis
  • Thinking things that aren’t true (cognitive distortions). 
 

What about driving? 

The Alcohol and Drug Foundation states that, if your medicine contains only CBD, you can legally drive – as long as your ability to drive is not affected. That introduces a grey area so it’s important to be aware of the laws in your state. It is illegal to drive with any amount of THC in your system. THC is intoxicating.  It can impair your driving ability and create a sense of being high. In fact, even if you don’t feel high (CBD can moderate that), you can still be impaired.  Be aware that THC can stay in your system for a long time. THC can be detected in your saliva for 6 hours-3 days after use and in your blood or urine for up to a month.   

How can Lullaby Health help? 

At Lullaby Health, we aim to help you find a solution for the difficulties you face. Unlike many other clinics, we offer a high level of ongoing support as you adjust to alternative medicine.  With us, you have access to experienced doctors who can help you understand how alternative medicine works and how it may help you. Our goal is not simply to dash off a prescription but to help you find a way through the difficulties you’re facing.  Please contact us to find out more.    Disclaimer Lullaby Health is not promoting the use of medical cannabis. Medical cannabis does affect every person differently, due to factors such as size, weight, health, dosage, tolerance, and age. Medical cannabis might not work for you, and you might experience side effects. Information provided by Lullaby Health is for educational and informational purposes only. For medical advice, please refer to your doctor. Medical cannabis in Australia is regulated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration and details about cannabis as a scheduled drug can be found on their website.

References

  Compliance information In Australia, healthcare advertising is regulated by AHPRA (practitioners and services) and the TGA (therapeutic goods and medical devices). Specific restrictions apply to advertising alternative medicine products.   We seek to provide you with compliant copy but remind you that compliance remains your responsibility. We ask that you review this copy carefully to check that you have met your compliance obligations.  That includes checking any links or references provided. We aim to verify claims by citing reputable sources such as studies, professional groups or major health organisations and charities. Please ensure you are happy with the sources used to verify claims made in your copy (if not, please provide an alternative source)