Sleep Aid

You CAN Get A Restful Nights Sleep Again! Even Without A Prescription Sleep Aid. Have you had trouble sleeping lately? Is it difficult for you to get sleep at night and even when you do, are you wakened often for no apparent reason? Guess What? You’re not alone! Insomnia affects millions of people – including me!

During a particularly stressful time in my life, I found myself wanting badly to just get a good nights sleep. I would lay in bed wide awake watching the ceiling fan spin and listening to the traffic outside. I tried everything I could think of to try and get to sleep, but nothing worked.

It seemed like the more I tried to sleep, the less successful I was. Other than accumulating some useless gadgets from late night television infomercials, I wasn’t accomplishing anything at night – much less sleep.

Normally, our bodies have been naturally programmed from birth to begin going to sleep as soon as we lie down and close our eyes, but when our sleep pattern has been badly interrupted by insomnia, it can be difficult to quiet the mind, and stop the constant barrage of thoughts running through our minds.

The longer our sleep pattern is interrupted by insomnia, the more difficult it is to get back to a normal restful sleeping pattern, much like a rut that gets deeper and harder to break out of. When you suffer from insomnia, it requires some effort to stop the cycle.

It’s true, there are some great medications available on the market that can help you get to sleep again, but many people don’t like to take pills for a problem they may be able to beat on their own. In fact, there are several ways you can get back to sleep without the use of prescription sleep aids.

Consider the following:

Light therapy

Meditation

Progressive muscle relaxation

Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Herbal remedies

Insomnia is often categorized by how long it lasts:

1. Transient insomnia lasts for a few days.

2. Short-term insomnia lasts for no more than three weeks.

3. Chronic insomnia occurs when the following characteristics are present:

* When a person has difficulty falling asleep, maintaining sleep, or has non-restorative sleep for at least three nights a week for one month or longer.

* The patient is distressed and believes that normal daily functioning is impaired because of sleep loss.

4. Primary chronic insomnia occurs when it is the sole complaint of a patient.

5. Secondary chronic insomnia is caused by medical or psychiatric conditions, drugs, or emotional or psychiatric disorders.

Following some of the suggestions noted here, you will notice a marked change in your sleeping. Additionally, you will always have this reference to refer to in case your insomnia returns.

The worst part of insomnia is wanting to sleep but being unable to. The mind races and is unable to rest and that makes you overly tired and barely able to function the next day. Sometimes insomnia simply lasts longer than just a few nights.

While there is no one cut and dried reason why some people can’t sleep, most experts agree that insomnia is brought on by stress, anxiety, medications, and/or caffeine – among other things. Transient and short-term insomnia has many causes. A reaction to change or stress is one of the most common causes of short-term and transient insomnia. This condition is sometimes referred to as adjustment sleep disorder.

The precipitating factor could be a major or traumatic event such as the following:

An acute illness.

Injury or surgery.

The loss of a loved one.

Job loss.

Temporary insomnia could also develop after a relatively minor event, including the following:

Extremes in weather.

An exam at school.

Traveling.

Trouble at work.

A number of questionnaires are available for determining whether a patient has insomnia or other sleep disorders. For example, the physician may ask the following questions:

*How would the sleep problem be described?

*How long has the sleep problem been experienced?

*How long does it take to fall asleep?

*How many times a week does it occur?

*How restful is sleep?

*Does the difficulty lie in getting to sleep or in waking up early?

*What is the sleep environment like (Noisy? Not dark enough?)?

*How does insomnia affect daytime functioning?

*What medications are being taken (including the use of self-medications for insomnia

  , such as herbs, alcohol, and over-the-counter or prescription drugs)?

*Is the patient taking or withdrawing from stimulants, such as coffee or tobacco?

*How much alcohol is consumed per day?

*What stresses or emotional factors may be present?

*Has the patient experienced any significant life changes?

*Does the patient snore or gasp during sleep (an indication of sleep apnea)?

*Does the patient have leg problems (cramps, twitching, crawling feelings)?

*If there is a bed partner, is his or her behavior distressing or disturbing?

*Is the patient a shift worker? 

According to a 1999 survey, about 30% of American women and 20% of men reported taking a medication to help them sleep at some time during the course of a year. Over half of these drugs were over the counter medications.

Why do so many people want to take sleeping pills for their insomnia? Many people experiencing sleep problems want a quick fix for their problems. Several of the treatments that are often successful are time intensive and require a lot of work on the part of the person experiencing insomnia.

The thought of a pill or medication that can solve the problem quickly and easily is very appealing. Unfortunately, the reality behind the use of sleep medications is that they don’t solve the problem, and can often prolong insomnia over the long term.

If you want to take medications to help you sleep because you are in a great deal of pain, are traveling or just need to get some sleep, pay attention to the type of medication you choose and try to use the medication only when you really need it.

If you are going to take a prescription sleep aid try follow these precautions:

Start with non-prescription medication.

If prescription hypnotics are required, start with as low a dose as possible.

In general, do not take either prescription nor non-prescription sleeping pills on consecutive days or for more than two to four days a week.

If insomnia is still a problem after stopping the drug and continuing with good sleep hygiene, this pattern can be repeated again, but for no longer than four weeks.

Medication should be withdrawn gradually and the patient should be aware of the possibility of rebound insomnia when stopping medication.

Alcohol intensifies the side effects of all sleeping medication and should be avoided.

Herbal remedies such as valerian root, kava kava, chamomile, lemon balm, St. John’s Wort, and passionflower have been used for insomnia for many years. Studies done on herbal remedies are often hard to interpret because they are inconsistent with standards of studies for regulated substances like prescription sleep aids. These natural cures are often the first things you should try before prescriptions, as long as you use the recommended dosage and consult with your physician first.

Insomnia is a common problem, especially with individuals who are suffering from pain or illness. Insomnia has been shown to be associated with a variety of health problems, including reduced functioning of the immune system, increased irritability, increased pain, difficulties with concentration and weight gain.

Fortunately, there are many effective treatments for insomnia. Some of the treatments rely on medications, while others involve the use of a variety of self-management techniques. Recent research has shown that self-management techniques for controlling insomnia in some cases can work even better than approaches using medications.

Sleeping, like all other body functions, is a natural 'program' that our own inner computer, our subconscious mind, runs - which means it can be restored very easily with natural means.

Insomnia is just a temporary program that runs while we are feeling overly stressed or fatigued, and so with some minor changes, natural sleep can be replaced very easily.