Posts Tagged ‘insomnia causes’

Insomnia – Cures for Insomnia

Insomnia is a common problem that may be temporary or chronic. As many as one in 10 Americans have chronic insomnia, and at least one in four has difficulty sleeping sometimes. But that doesn’t mean you have to just put up with sleepless nights. Some simple changes in your daily routine and habits may result in better sleep.

Insomnia can cause problems during the day, such as excessive sleepiness, fatigue, trouble thinking clearly or staying focused, or feeling depressed or irritable. It is not defined by the number of hours you sleep every night. Although the amount of sleep a person needs varies, most people need between 7 and 8 hours of sleep a night.

Most adults have experienced insomnia or sleeplessness at one time or another in their lives. An estimated 30-50% of the general population is affected by insomnia, and 10% have chronic insomnia. Insomnia affects all age groups. Among older adults, insomnia affects women more often than men. The incidence increases with age.

Not getting enough sleep is real curse, believe me I know. I’ve suffered from insomnia for many years now and have tried many assorted insomnia treatments with varying success. This website has been put together after years of sleep problems, with the aim of collecting together the information that has helped me with my long battle with insomnia.

Cures for Insomnia

Try a warm bath or hot shower before bedtime. Keep the bedroom temperature comfortable, not too hot or too cold. A heated blanket can be relaxing as well. Use cotton sheets with your favorite pillow(s).

Avoid stimulants such as caffeine or nicotine. It’s best to abstain from these altogether but if you can’t then try to avoid them before late afternoon/ early evening.

Do not allow yourself to take any naps during the day. While you may feel that power naps are refreshing your body throughout the day, they interrupt your nightly sleep cycle. They prevent your body from entering into the deeper sleep stages needed to refresh your body.

Participants in the study warm their hands and feet through relaxation techniques like visualization and deep breathing, which helps to draw the blood from the core of the body to the extremities.

Take from this what you will. It works for me whenever I need it, and it works for others too I understand. So if you simply need a bit of help getting to sleep, and you’d rather not resort to liquor or drugs or a depressing visit to the doctors, perhaps give this a try.

Honey is beneficial in the treatment of insomnia. It has a hypnotic action and induces a sound sleep. It should be taken with water, before going to bed, in doses of two teaspoons in a large cup of water. Babies generally fall asleep after taking honey.

Stress is something we can overcome with persistence. There are many ways of coping with stress and again, different things work for different people. We’ll look at lots of them in these pages.

Overweight people, or those with sinus problems, may have `sleep apnoea’, a term describing cessation of breath during the night, usually accompanied by heavy snoring. Consult your health practitioner, because there are cures and sleep apnoea prevents you from getting the levels of REM sleep we all need to function healthily.

Article Source: http://corwinbrown.articlesbase.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/insomnia-cures-for-insomnia-367308.html

Posted by Oliver on October 6th, 2011 Comments Off

Tips to Cure Insomnia – Fight Insomnia and Get to Sleep Easily

When people say “insomnia,” the mental picture is usually that of the red-eyed man trying his hardest to get some sleep. With fluffy sheep prancing in front of him and the numbers ticking off to the thousands, we are so used to the belief that we have to count sheep when we get to sleep. But we can actually fight insomnia, if we knew what caused it in the first place. So read on, absorb and apply the following tips to cure insomnia.

Tip to Cure Insomnia # 1: Get yourself checked.

When you have a hard time either falling asleep or staying asleep, then you may be suffering from insomnia. Worry not, you are not alone. Insomnia is actually a common sleep disorder and so many people go through sleepless nights at some point in their lifetime.

Around a third of the world’s population, actually, are full-fledged insomniacs. May the cause be: stress, anxiety, fatigue, or depression–consult your trusted medical professional for a more accurate assessment. It may well be a sign of some unseen illness.

Tip to Cure Insomnia # 2: Have your bed companion checked too.

There is a possibility that the person you share your bed with is the very factor for your situation. If his or her snoring just jars you awake, tell your partner to see a medical professional and have his or her snoring problem checked. It may be the result of an allergy, an effect of hypothyroidism, sleep apnea, or a deviated septum. In any case, seek medical opinion. Deal with the snoring so you’ll both snooze well.

Tip to Cure Insomnia # 3: Use relaxation techniques.

Practice relaxation exercises such as yoga, meditation, and tai chi. Rest in bed and take deep breaths for five minutes or until you drift off to sleep. Picture yourself in a peaceful and quiet place, your own personal paradise. The idea is to be free of stress, even if it’s just in your dreams. Address any conflicts or problems before bedtime so you may have peace of mind and be freed to go to bed worry-less.

Tip to Cure Insomnia # 4: For crying out loud, get that leak fixed.

If the faucet is leaking and the sound of the water dripping is keeping you away from sleep, a temporary solution would be to tie a piece of string around the tap, going all the way down to the sink, so the water will merely run down the length of the string noiselessly instead of crashing down with a heavy plink. Then when you awake, seek a lasting solution and finally call the plumber.

Tip to Cure Insomnia # 5: Hide that clock.

With the clock making that annoying ticking, you get anxious; and in that agitated state, it will be all the more difficult for you to get some shuteye. So don’t look at the clock. Face it the other way if you must. If it’s the kind that ticks and tocks annoyingly, get rid of it. Use a silent one instead, the type that doesn’t have a second hand so you’re not tormented every night with the sound of each passing second of precious sleep you lose.

Tip to Cure Insomnia # 6: Sing yourself a lullaby.

There’s a reason lullabies were invented, and if they work for infants, then it will most likely work for you too. Glory in the sound of your own voice and sing in bed. I have tried this myself and found that it works miracles. Sing only the mellow stuff, however, as noisier numbers might keep even the cats wide awake.

Insomnia need not be something that makes you suffer mercilessly. With these tips to cure insomnia, I’ve shown you that the causes for your sleeplessness and even their cures may actually be so simple. Now throw those sleeping pills down the bowl, hide that clock, take deep breaths, and drift off to sleep.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/tips-to-cure-insomnia-fight-insomnia-and-get-to-sleep-easily-180092.html

Posted by Oliver on August 4th, 2011 Comments Off

Insomnia Causes and Natural Home Remedies

Insomnia is a disorder characterized by inconsistent sleep or inadequate sleep or complete sleeplessness. We all have been victims of insomnia sometime or the other. Occasional insomnia is not a thing to worry about, but if it persists for days, it really takes a toll on the person’s health, and in that case one should seek medical help. A person who has experienced insomnia knows well how pathetic it is to stay wide awake or struggle to get some sleep when the rest of the world is fast asleep. People, who sleep for less than four hours for consecutive nights, fall under the category of insomniacs.

Insomnia may be classified in to transient, acute and chronic. Transient insomnia may continue for 2-3 days or 1-3 weeks. Acute insomnia continues for more than 3 weeks. Chronic insomnia continues for months. If one does not sleep deliberately, he or she cannot be called an insomniac. Women are more plagued by insomnia than men. The consequences of sleeplessness could be excessive fatigue, irritability, headache, dizziness, confusion, impaired memory, rapid weight loss, depression, lethargy, lack of concentration and hallucinations during day. Some of the causes of insomnia may be listed as follows:

1. Aging
2. Arthritis ache
3. Changes in work-shift
4. Changes in sleep pattern
5. Uncomfortable sleeping environment such as brightly lit room or noisy room.
6. Depression
7. Disruptive sleep happenings like nightmares and sleep walking and restless leg syndrome.
8. Dissatisfaction in sexual life
9. Extreme excitement
10. Excessive intake of caffeine
11. Going to bed hungry
12. Frequent naps during the day
13. Jet lag
14. Smoking
15. Stress and anxiety
16. Mania
17. Fear or phobia
18. Sleep apnea
19. Angina
20. Gastro-esophageal acid reflux disease
21. Hyperthyroidism
22. Frequent urge for urinating (as in the case of diabetes)
23. Traumatic injury
24. Certain medications.

Home Remedies for Insomnia

1. Mix 1 teaspoon honey in a cup of warm milk and drink before going to bed. This will help you to sleep better.

2. Extract 30 grams milk from poppy seeds. Take 1 teaspoon of this milk mixed with sugar before retiring to bed at night. This is an effective home remedy for insomnia.

3. Grind 4 nutmegs to a fine powder and take a teaspoon of the powder before going to bed at night. This enables you to get sound sleep.

4. Grind the root of piper longum to a powder. Add a teaspoon of the powder to a glass of warm milk; also add some jiggery and drink before bed time. This is an insomnia cure.

5. Add roasted cumin seeds to a bowl of mashed ripe banana and take the mixture after dinner to get good sleep.

6. Drinking a glass of buttermilk with a pinch of cinnamon and little honey ensures good quality sleep.

7. A cup of orange leaf tea is very good for treating insomnia.

8. Mix the juice of 2 oranges in a glass of hot water and sweeten with honey and drink. This is an effective sleep inducing drink.

9. Applying hot fomentations to the spine and taking warm foot bath is a useful insomnia remedy.

10. Take a teaspoon of the fresh juice of valerian before going to sleep. This helps to get rid of insomnia.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/alternative-medicine-articles/insomnia-causes-and-natural-home-remedies-4892639.html

Posted by Oliver on July 10th, 2011 Comments Off