Insomnia - By: michael russell

You know the story: It's 5:00 A.M., and the first traces of dawn have begun to appear in the nighttime sky. You've been awake since 2:00 A.M. and are beginning to feel hopeless about ever getting back to sleep. How will you function at work tomorrow (today)? How will you cope with your presentation at the board meeting? How will you keep yourself from yawning through that dinner with your boss? How will you make it through another day after yet another night without sleep.

Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder in North America and in Europe. A whopping one third of the U.S. population cannot sleep well enough to function well during the day. One half of those people have only one or two bad nights a week. The other half spend countless sleepless nights tossing and turning, staring at the alarm clock, and feeling miserable. They also spend countless days exhausted. Insomnia is also one of the least understood sleep disorders. German Nino Murcia, M.D., founder and medical director of the Sleep Medicine and Neuroscience Institute in Palo Alto, California, talks about the frustration he feels at not being able to help more patients who suffer from sleepless nights. Ten years ago, when I was the director of Stanford University's Sleep Disorders Center. I couldn't do a thing for a quarter of the insomniacs I saw, he says. Twenty five percent, after treatment, said they weren't sleeping any more than before they first sought help.

Luckily, after many years of study, sleep experts have come up with many tried and true strategies for putting an end to insomnia. The results of their work appear in the tips that follow. Try them out, and see what works for you. If nothing has helped after six months if you're still struggling to get a decent night's sleep consult your doctor for a referral to a sleep clinic near you, or call the ational Sleep Foundation at 213-288-0466 for a referral to a sleep specialist.

Make it as Nonpunishing as Possible : The worst thing that an insomniac can do is to lie in bed tossing and turning, says Peter Hauri, Ph.D., a professor of psychology and director of the Mayo Clinic Insomnia Program in Rochester, Minnesota. Hauri, one of the country leading authorities on insomnia, is coauthor of the book no more Sleepless Nights. Pass your time reading in bed or watching television, rather than lying in bed frustrated, he says. This goes for everyone. If you are lying in bed, even if you are not sleeping, your body will still get the same amount of recovery as if you had slept. Although your brain doesn't get any recovery, you'll still be better off than if you spend the time watching the clock, tossing and turning. Hide the clock, put it out of view. You'll only watch it getting later and later and get more and more tense.

Don't Nap : Napping tends to make matters worse for the chronic insomniac, says Karl Doghramji, M.D., director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. The concept is similar to the reason you shouldn't stay in bed late the morning after you had trouble sleeping you'll have more trouble getting to sleep the next night, thereby compounding your insomnia. It's best to let yourself get good and sleepy so that it will be easier to get to sleep the next night.

Change Your Interpretation of the Problem : Several misconceptions about sleep can make people overly concerned about their insomnia and can actually keep them awake, says Nino Murcia. One example is when people wake up out of what seems like a deep sleep and feel wide awake. They think that because they feel so alert that they will never be able to get back to sleep. However, says Nino Murcia, this is not the case. What happens is that if insomnia wakes you from your REM stage REM stands for Rapid Eye Movements, the stage of sleep in which you dream], you will be very alert. However, all you have to do is wait for 30 minutes and you will easily fall back to sleep. The key is to understand that your awakening is natural and that you just have to wait it out, he says. Another instance of mistaken perception is that when people wake, they often have the feeling that they were never asleep at all. But most people sleep much longer than they think, according to Nino Murcia.

Try earplugs : Sometimes, insomnia is caused by being awakened repeatedly by loud noises. Often, the sleeper is not aware of what awakened him or her, according to Doghramji. The classic case is a person who lives near an airport, he says. He suggests minimizing ambient noise as much as possible and, failing that, investing in a good pair of earplugs.

Try a sleeping pill : You're not admitting defeat by asking your doctor for a prescription sleeping pill or trying an over the counter remedy, says J. Christian Gillin, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at the University of California at San Diego and an adjunct professor in the Department of Psychology at San Diego State University. However, prescription pills should not be used for more than a month at a time, says Gillin. They should also not be used for insomnia at high altitudes, since that type of insomnia may be caused by trouble breathing and a lack of oxygen. Taking sleeping pills at high altitudes may slow your breathing rate even further and may be dangerous. (If you often suffer insomnia at high altitudes, ask your doctor for a prescription drug called Diamox, says Gillin. It may make sleep easier.) Some doctors don't endorse over the counter sleeping pills, however, since they can cause side effects such as drying out your mucous membranes (they often have antihistamines as ingredients) and can make you drowsy the next day. Of course, if you are pregnant, are nursing a baby or have a serious medical problem, you should consult your doctor before taking any drugs. Sleep medications may also worsen snoring and sleep apnea, a dangerous condition in which breathing is labored during sleep.

Never Take Sleeping Pills Throughout The Night : If you do choose to take medication to help you fall asleep, make sure you only take your dose before you go to bed, says Nino Murcia. If you take the medication when you wake in the middle of the night, it won't have a chance to wear off before morning, and you're likely to end up being sleepy during the day, he says.

Get a Comfortable Bed : Sleep may also be disturbed because the individual is uncomfortable in his or her bed, says Doghramji. In this case, the sleeper will probably be unaware of why he or she was awakened. Soft beds are usually better for sleeping than firm ones are, he says.

Don't drink Alcohol : Although alcohol can make you feel drowsy and may actually put you to sleep, it has the unpleasant side effect of waking you up later on in the night, says Gillin. After drinking alcohol, people often wake up in the middle of the night because of headaches, a full bladder, or gastric upset, he says. In addition, once alcohol's sedative effect wears off, there's a rebound effect that actually makes the individual more likely to have trouble falling back to sleep. So skip the nightcap for a better night's sleep.

Cut Down on Caffeine : We all know that too much coffee, tea or soda with caffeine can impede the ability to go to sleep at night. But how much is too much. Hauri recommends no more than two cups of coffee or other caffeine containing beverage in the morning and none after noon.

Don't Switch Beds or Move to the Couch : It is important to associate your bed and only your bed, with sleep, according to Doghramji. We are all creatures of habit, he says. Regularity has to be enforced to facilitate sleep. Even animals tend to sleep in the same place every night.

Try to Maintain a Normal Schedule: Perhaps the most important rule for people with insomnia is to keep a strict sleep wake schedule, even on weekends, sleep specialists agree. Many insomniacs become so desperate that they'll go to sleep any time that they can, says Gillin. If you can't sleep one night, simply get up at your usual time the next morning and don't take any naps. Chances are, you'll be ready for a sound sleep by the next night, he says.

Confine Work to the Office : For the same reason that you shouldn't switch beds or move to the couch every night, you shouldn't do work in bed, says Doghramji. It's important to associate your bed with sleep, not with unpleasant things, like work. Relaxing activities, like reading a novel or watching television, are ok bedtime activities. It's also ok to have sex in bed.

Take a Hot Bath : A hot bath taken two hours before bedtime is a wonderful way to relax your body and make it ready for sleep, says Hauri. for most people, taking a bath closer to bedtime may be stimulating and may delay sleep (of course, there are always exceptions, he says, so be your own guide). Hauri recommends making the water very hot, like a hot tub, and staying in it for at least 20 minutes. Do not bathe in very hot water, however if you are pregnant or have any significant health problems, ask your doctor if you are unsure.

Establish a Bedtime Relaxation Ritual : When parents bathe their children or read to them every night before bedtime, they are reinforcing a signal that it's time to settle down and get ready for sleep. Establishing such a ritual may also be helpful for adults, says Doghramji. Learn how to relax, he says. You can try systematic muscle-tension and relaxation exercises. Tense all of your muscles, one at a time, then let go. Buy a tape of ocean or bird sounds. There are plenty of things available. Most insomniacs have a problem with not being able to relax prior to bedtime. They worry about the insomnia. Doghramji recommends doing a relaxation exercise of some sort every night before you retire.

Drink Hot Milk : Try drinking warm milk or a malted milk drink before bed. Even if it doesn't help make you drowsy, it can be comforting and certainly can't do any harm (unless you are allergic to milk or are lactose intolerant).

Cut Down on the Time you Spend in Bed : Drastically curtail your time in bed, says Hauri. About 90 percent of people i talk to stay in bed too long. The farther you spread your sleep out, the thinner it gets. If you stay in bed ten hours and you only need seven hours of sleep, you'll sleep ten hours, but it won't be very high quality sleep. In the morning, you'll be more tired than if you only had slept for seven hours. Stay in bed two hours less than you do now. Try it for a week and see if it makes you sleep sounder and increases the restorative value of your sleep.

Evaluate Your Medications : Certain prescription medications, such as those for asthma and thyroid problems, may cause insomnia, says Gillin. Check with your doctor if you suspect that one of your medications is causing your insomnia.

Be Your Own Sleep Scientist : There is no one formula for perfect sleep, says Hauri. Different things work for different people. The important thing is to give everything a fair and persistent trial (for at least a week or two, not just one night) and see what works best for you. Think back to 10 or 15 years ago when you were not an insomniac, Hauri says. How much did you sleep then? What helped you sleep? He recommends keeping a sleep log, a notebook of what works and what doesn't work for you.

Never Try to go to Sleep : Sounds counterintuitive, right? Well, it's not. Falling asleep is something that requires the opposite of effort. Effort is work, and work keeps you awake. The harder you try to go to sleep, the harder it will be to go to sleep, Gillin says. Instead, simply lie still, relax and let sleep come.

Stay Cool : For high quality sleep to occur the internal body temperature should be a few degrees cooler than it is during the day, says Hauri. However, many insomniacs lack the proper internal controls to regulate their body temperature. That's why a hot bath helps after raising the body's temperature, it drops it back down with in a couple of hours. Exercise, done at least six hours before bedtime, has the same effect, Hauri says. Keeping the bedroom cooler than the rest of the house may also be helpful.

Eat a Sandwich : Although you may have been told that eating before you go to bed may give you nightmares, the reverse is true, according to Hauri. Going to bed on a full stomach may actually help you sleep, he says. That may be part of the reason why folks are always nodding off after a big holiday dinner.

About the Author

Michael Russell discusses about health care and curing various diseases and ailments. Learn more at http://www.diseases-treatment.com.

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/michael-russell/37780

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