Insomnia is a sleeping disorder affecting over 60 million Americans alone, with women being affected more than men. It is unbelievably frustrating lying in bed at night tossing and turning looking at your alarm clock every hour.

There are many different types of insomnia which differ on how long they affect the individual, and their cause. If you only suffer for a few nights at a time then the insomnia is said to be transient, and is most likely to be caused by stress or a change in your sleeping environment. However if the insomnia lasts for a few months then the insomnia is said to be acute, and insomnia lasting for years is said to be chronic.

There are many different causes of insomnia including stress, anxiety, depression, medical conditions,shift work, other sleep disorders,hormone levels. Luckily there are a few treatments and tips available to enable people to get some sleep.

There are many things you can do in order to help you sleep without resorting to medication.

1. Use your bed only for sleeping. Do not eat while in bed or on top of the bed or watch TV in bed. These activites confuse your brain, and make it associate your bed with other activites as well as sleep.
2. Adapt a routine where you go to bed at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning. This is impossible for shift workers and is one of the main reasons they have problems sleeping.
3. Try and relax before going to bed. If you have been studying or doing exercise make sure you do an activity that lets you wind down before your head hits the pillow. Remove all worries from your head as these can cause you to stay awake.
4. Have a warm bath and some milk and a plain biscuit before lying down.
5. Avoid stimulants such as drugs,caffeine, alcohol,smoking and sugary foods before bed as these will keep you awake.
6. Exercise daily but not straight before bed. I sometimes do this and then have a warm bath to wind down before sleeping.
7. If you are tossing and turning in bed then get up and do something for 20 mins such as checking your emails or reading a book.

You daily diet affects your sleeping pattern quite significantly especially the foods you eat in the hours leading up to bedtime. It is a well know that some foods such as warm milk are thought to promote sleep. This is because they contain an amino acid called tryptophan, which helps induce the release of a mood booster serotonin and melatonin, which is another sleep hormone. Other foods such as turkey, figs, dates,rice, chocolate,yoghurts,egg, fish also contain tryptophan. You can also take this AA in the form of supplements.

You should modify your diet to include some more of these tryptophan containign foods.

If all of the above methods fail then it is time to consider some medical drug treatments. There are many different drugs on offer including :-

• Benzodiazepines such as Temazepam
• Non-benzodiazepines such as Zopiclone
• Anti-depressants such as Doxepine
• Melatonin including melatonin agonists
• Antihistamines such as diphenhydramine

As with any drug treatments there are advantages and disadvantages of each and every drug, and long term use is not recommended.