What is Insomnia?

What is Insomnia?

Almost everyone at one time or another has some trouble falling asleep and staying asleep due to stress, too much caffeine or alcohol. But, if you find that you can't fall asleep and every so often wake up feeling groggy and tired you may be suffering from insomnia. Insomnia is condition characterized by frequent difficulties with falling asleep and staying asleep. Long periods of sleepless nights can lower your energy level and darken your mood, as well as weaken your immune system. Insomnia can also affect a person's mental alertness and concentration, which may lead to accidents on the road and at work.


How Prevalent is Insomnia?

Insomnia is a common condition that can last for a short period of time or for a long period of time. Insomnia affects as many as one out of every 10 Americans chronically, and one in every four Americans temporarily. This doesn't mean you have to put up with the sleepless nights. You can try making a few simple changes in your daily routine and habits to achieve a good night of rest. Some simple changes may include avoiding or reducing the amount of nicotine, alcohol and caffeine you consume and focusing on staying active and healthy.

Signs and Symptoms of Insomnia

Some signs and symptoms of insomnia may include:

• Problems falling asleep at night
• Frequently waking up during the night
• Waking up too early
• Feeling fatigue or sleepy during the day
• Easily irritated

Causes

Insomnia can result from a number of causes. Some of these causes include:

• Stress: Fretting about work, family, and health can keep your mind alert, even when you're trying to sleep. Insomnia can also come from the prolonged feeling of boredom that may come after retirement or while recovering from a long illness and may also cause bouts of stress and keep you from your beauty sleep.
• Anxiety: Anxiety that occurs daily or that results from severe anxiety disorder can keep you from your 8 hours of bliss every night.
• Depression: You may sleep too much or not enough if you're depressed. This is because of chemical imbalances in your brain or because of stress that's associated with depression. These may keep you from a restful night of sleep.
• Stimulants: Stimulants found in prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, and in weight-loss products may make you feel groggy, and also cause you to urinate frequently during the nights, disrupting your sleep patterns.
• Change in your environment or work schedule: If you travel or start working an early morning or a late shift a work, you may experience difficulties falling asleep. This is because these changes affect your body's circadian rhythms. Our circadian rhythm acts as internal clocks, and guides our bodies through our sleeping patterns.
• Eating too much and too late in the evening: Consuming a small snack before bed is OK, but indulging on chocolate covered coffee beans after eating a late dinner, is not. This is because eating too much too late may cause you to feel uncomfortable and keep you awake. You may also experience heartburn if you lie down soon after a meal. Foods and drinks containing stimulants like caffeine and alcohol should also be avoided during the evenings.

Insomnia: Medical Treatment

Insomnia: Medical Treatment

Having problems falling asleep? Can't stay asleep? Waking up feeling tired? All three of these are signs of insomnia. Insomnia is characterized by the difficulty of sleeping and maintaining a good night of sleep.

Insomnia can temporarily rob you of a good sleep for a few days or it can chronically deprive you of a decent sleep for months or longer. Read on to find out when you should seek medical attention and the different kinds of treatments available to relief your insomnia symptoms.

When should I see a Doctor?

If you can't get enough sleep during the nights and wake up feeling tired for a month or longer you should visit your doctor to find out what is causing your sleep disorder and how it can be treated. Your doctor may recommend you some self-help measures like changing your daily routine. But if those don't work and you suspect that your insomnia is caused by another condition such as depression or anxiety, notify your doctor or health care provider. Your doctor may recommend treatments such as behavioral therapies or sleep medications to help you fall asleep with ease and wake up feeling rested.


Behavioral therapies

Behavioral treatments teach you new sleeping behaviors and show you how to make your sleeping environment more comfortable to sleep in. Some studies have even shown behavioral treatments to be more effective in treating insomnia than sleep medications. However, behavioral therapies may be used in combination with medications.

Medications


Your doctor may prescribe you with sleeping pills until the stress in your life lessens and you can get the full benefits of behavioral treatments. Some common types of sleep medications prescribed to patients include:

• zolpidem (Ambien)
• eszopiclone (Lunesta)
• zaleplon (Sonata)
• ramelteon (Rozerem)
  

Ramelteon is the newest sleep medication on the market and doesn't show the same risk of dependency and rebound of insomnia, as since with other medications. However, like the other medications it can cause possible side effects which include: severe allergic reaction, facial swelling and troublesome sleep-related behaviors such as driving while sleeping.

Due the side effects and the possibility of becoming dependent on sleeping pills, doctors often don't recommend people to use sleep medications for more than a few days. As well as, many sleeping pills may cause discomforts, like feeling of drowsiness during the day and difficult urinating because of chemical diphenhydramine.

Alternative to Sleeping Pills

Melatonin is a common over-the-counter supplement used to treat insomnia. Melatonin is naturally produced by your body and released in your bloodstream in high amounts during the evening to regulate your sleep-wake cycle.

People suffering from insomnia may find taking synthetically made melatonin useful to promote sleep during the nights. Before you take melatonin or any other sleeping supplement like Valerian, talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of doing so.

Insomnia: Self Treatments

Insomnia: Self Treatments

Insomnia is characterized by a difficulty of falling asleep and staying asleep. This condition can be temporary bought on by small changes in your daily routine or it can be caused by depression or severe anxiety disorders. Read on to find out the self-help measures you can take to treat insomnia.

Self- Treatment Tips

No matter what age you are when insomnia hits, there's always a way to treat and cope with this sleeping disorder. The key to successful self-treatment lies in making a few changes in your daily routine, with emphasize placed on when you go to bed. These self-treatment tips include:

• Keep to a schedule. Make sure you sleep and wake up at the same time.
• Reduce the time spent in bed. Too much time spent idling on your bed reading, or using your laptop, or tossing and turning under your covers trying to sleep promotes sleepless nights. So, try not idling on your bed, and if you can't sleep when you get to bed try moving your bedtime an hour a head.
• Don't force yourself to sleep. The more you will yourself to stop thinking and turning and just to go to sleep, the more awake you'll become. Try reading (not on your bed) or watching TV until you feel sleepily. But get up in the morning at the same time as usual.
• Remove the clocks in your room. The less you know about the time at night, the more you'll sleep, without panicking about how much time you have left until the morning. Just set your alarm, and then hide your bedroom alarm clock so it's not visible from your bed.
• Exercise and stay active. Work off the nerves and restless energy. Try to get at least 20 to 30 minutes of vigorously exercise a day. But, at least 5 or 6 hours before you sleep.
• Reduce or avoid caffeine, alcohol and nicotine. Consuming caffeine after lunchtime, and nicotine can keep you awake during the nights. It goes for alcohol, which initially makes you sleepily, but causes you to become more awake during the night.
• Check your medications. If you're on medication, check with your doctor if the medications can be causing your insomnia. If you're using over the counter drugs, check the labels to see if they contain caffeine or other stimulants, such as pseudoephedrine.
• Do things that put you at ease. Find ways to relax yourself. It may involve soaking in a warm bath, eating a light treat, or even getting your partner to give you nice slow back massage before bed to soothe your worries.
• Avoid or limit naps. Naps can make falling a sleep more difficult. But, if you can't absolutely go without naps, limit yourself to one nap a day for an hour during the afternoon.
• Reduce sleep interruptions. Limit noise distractions. Close your bedroom door or turn on a fan to drown out noise. Make sure you're at a comfortable temperature; avoid drinking a lot before bed to reduce early morning trips to the bathroom.