Identifying the Causes of Insomnia

The causes of insomnia differ from one person to the next. In some cases there can be only one thing involved. If you’re having trouble sleeping, you should look at everything that might be responsible, from your diet to your daily schedule to your state of mind. The goal of this article is to come up with a few of the symptoms of insomnia so that it will be easier for you to figure out why you are dealing with insomnia.

Failing to get adequate amounts of physical activities into your day can be a huge factor for insomnia. People who lead sedentary lifestyles often do not get enough exercise and, as a result, have trouble sleeping. The problem with not getting enough exercise is that it impacts so much more than just your ability to sleep at night. So if you’re having trouble sleeping, one thing you should look at is how much exercise you get, how much time you spend outdoors and how much or your day is spent in a sedentary way. It isn’t too hard to add a few extra steps into your day.

Everybody is aware that there are some stimulants that will keep you from falling asleep at night. But some people did not know how these can impact them. Although you might already know that coffee and caffeinated tea is a no no for drinking after a certain time of night, but for some people, this is a really serious issue. You may learn that you are extremely responsive to caffeine. Even drinking caffeinated drinks during certain times of the afternoon might find a way to disrupt your sleeping patterns. In addition, a lot of desserts such as cookies, cakes and ice cream contain coffee. This is another possible source of caffeine.

In addition to caffeine products, alcohol and drugs, big dinners can be a reason for a person to get insomnia. Watch your diet, including beverages. Determine if there is something that endure a modification so that you can afford the opportunity to sleep during the night.

Particular medical problems do exists that can be problematic for you at night and disrupt your sleep. Aside from sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, there are many illnesses and long term conditions, such as asthma, thyroid disorders, Parkinson’s disease and certain heart problems that can cause insomnia as a side effect. In other instances, the medicines that you use for your medical conditions might be causing you to lose sleep at night also. If you are suffering from any critical health issues, talk with your doctor to see if these could possibly be making you stay up all night long losing sleep.

Find out if there is a solution to your problem. If you find a solution for the primary cause, you may soon realize that your insomnia will gradually get better. There are times when it is easy to tell whey insomnia is taking a bite out of your sleep routine but that isn’t always the case. It doesn’t matter why you’re having trouble sleeping you need to find a way to correct it as quickly as possible. Getting a good night’s sleep is important for your overall health and something you’ll be able to enjoy once again after you’ve removed your obstacles.

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Whoever says insomnia can be treated with memory foam pillows and hot milk with honey is wrong. Sure these can help induce a state of relaxation, but sleeping? No way. If you are tossing and turning in your bed until 4 a.m., more than one month in a row that is a sign that you are struggling with a medical condition. After one month of not getting at least 6 hours of sleep per night, the dangerous signs of insomnia start to show:

• You are not able to concentrate during the day on your usual tasks
• You are going to feel extremely tired, even your looks will fade (i.e. circles under the eyes, pale looking skin)
• Bad peripheral blood circulation, some may even experience tachycardia (your heart beating fast)
• Slowly, a state of depression is induced
• Double vision and hallucinations as a result of improper chemical reactions in the brain

Scary facts indeed, but this is the truth, and unless you do something about it you may become a victim of this nervous system destroyer condition.

Insomnia – the “en vogue” health disorder of the 21^st century?

Stressful jobs, unhealthy lifestyle, kids to look after, and loads of bills to pay….after a few years of being a full- time responsible grown up, and going against nature, there is a price to pay. Relevant studies in the field show that insomnia has become the most frequent nuisance for the modern man.

During sleep, the cells in your body regenerate, and the melatonin hormone which is regulating your sleep -wake biological cycle, functions properly. When you are unable to reach delta sleep (deepest sleep phase that your body needs for proper regeneration), then your entire biological cycle gets messed up and an imbalance in your brain functioning occurs.

Have you ever experienced the feeling that lights on the highway blend together, not being able to distinguish shapes while driving? Or excessively increased states of alertness when you jump from your seat at hearing someone turn the pages of a magazine? Strange “falling sensations” right before sleep? That is the mighty brain playing tricks on you, and telling that you need at least four or five complete sleep cycles to remediate the problem.

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It’s time to get a good night’s sleep…5 Tips that will induce sweet dreams

If your insomnia is a cause of an underlying severe health condition such as thyroid gland malfunctioning, anxiety or severe depression, your doctor is the one who will suggest the most proper solution.

Alternatively, here are the five tips that will help:

• Magnesium capsules – antidepressant effect, and will help re-establish the proper chemical balances in your system
• Natural sleep aid supplements – these are not addictive and based on natural extract compounds. Inexpensive. Natural. Efficient.
• Forget about the alarm clock at least in the weekends. If you suffer from sleeping disorders and on top of this you are going to bed thinking that your alarm will go off in five hours, things will be even more difficult.
• Physical exercise. Especially if you have a 9 to 5 job sitting in front of a computer, while spending another two hours in your car, it is your brain that you are tiring the most. You body needs training too, so start and make a plan for yourself: at least one hour of walking every day or half an hour exercising.
• No TV before sleep. Watching forensic criminology stories is very interesting and thought provoking, but will not help you get a good night’s sleep. Instead, switch off all the lights, and listen to relaxing tunes (sounds of nature, violins concerto, brainwave synchronization audio- video software, etc.). Choices are many; just pick the one that makes you feel better.

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People fighting with the inability to get a good night’s sleep for more than two weeks, are actually struggling with an insomnia onset. If not treated in time, insomnia can cause many health problems, some of which might be irreversible. Just think about how you feel after only one night of not sleeping well, and then multiply that feeling by 10 or 20. Insomnia does not only refer to when you cannot fall asleep at all, but it also may be a problem when you can get only a few hours of sleep and then suddenly wake up, not being able to fall back to sleep. The average adult has to get at least 6 to 7 hours of continuous sleep per night, in order to feel fresh in the morning and in order to be able to carry on with his everyday activitie

Those terrible headaches…

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Until recently, migraines have not been associated with insomnia. However, studies show that in some people the very first sign that they struggle with insomnia (either the inability to fall asleep, or the inability to remain asleep) is that they get out of bed in the morning with terrible headaches. What can you do to fight that daggering pain?

• You should take care of your posture at night. You must rest your head in a very comfortable manner, avoiding too many pillows under your head. In fact, the memory foam pillows are anatomically shaped to keep your neck and spine in a correct position, and that will help a better blood circulation, which in turn will help make those headaches go away.
• Cut off your caffeine intake. Even if you think those coffees help you stay “fresh” during the day, at night, when you try to get a bit of sleep, caffeine will not let you and will help bring about those headaches.

Heart Risks

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When your body and mind cannot get the re-energizing sleep it needs, there are many improper chemical reactions going on in your body. One of them is that you will lose important minerals that help the heart functioning properly. Such a mineral is the Magnesium without which your heart cannot function properly and you can feel abnormal heart rhythms (such as when you feel like your heart skips a beat). Both tachycardia (your heart beating rapidly) and bradycardia (when heart rate drops beneath 60 beats per minute) for prolonged periods, can be a sign that you might be struggling with a serious heart complication. Keep in mind the following:

• Your heart operates well only when there is a low blood pressure present. For this to happen, especially if you are struggling with insomnia, you need mineral supplements such as Calcium and Magnesium which will keep your blood thin (decreased coagulation) and all your vessels healthy.

Depressive states, elevated stress levels and concentration and memory problems

All of these can be complications of insomnia and may affect you in a smaller or greater degree. It is very important to discover the problem in time and do something about it- there are many OTC natural extract medications that can help, or even massage, reflexology or hypnosis therapies. Never let any of these symptoms take over your life, but visit a specialist as soon as possible.

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In order to treat a problem, you need to find its underlying cause. First of all, let’s have a look at how can you recognize if you are struggling with an insomnia onset:

• You are very tired and yet you cannot fall asleep
• You are waking up more than two times during the night
• Once you awake during the night, you cannot fall back to sleep
• You wake up very tired from bed in the mornings
• You feel you cannot concentrate properly on your tasks during the day and you also have difficulty remembering things (memory loss complications)
• Feeling tired and irritable all day long.

Experiencing any of these complications or more at a time, may suggest that you struggle with insomnia. Now it is time to detect the main causes of it. Read along and see if any of these common problems might be the ones causing you insomnia complications.

Dealing with a lot of stress and anxiety lately…

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Is that important exam deadline getting closer and you feel you are not prepared? Do you experience problems at work? Too many bills to deal with? Is a divorce knocking on your door? All of these can trigger a great deal of stress, and your mind simply cannot disconnect at night- you are just tossing and turning until the day breaks, when you have to get up and go to work. You need to deal with these issues during the day and prepare yourself for a good night’s sleep with a few helpful tools:

• Listening to relaxing music
• Listening to meditation CD’s – a very good example is Kelly Howell’s Brain Sync guided meditation therapy
• Taking a sleeping pill that contains only natural extracts

Dealing with psychological issues…

It is clinically proven that depression and anxiety are two psychological complications that trigger the onset of insomnia. First, you need to try and cure your depression or anxiety through psychological therapy (or psychiatric, depending on the seriousness of the complication), and only after that will you be able to rest properly during night time. Some other psychological issues include the post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and manic- depressive disorder (bipolar disorder).

Health issues and medications that will not let you rest for the night…

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If you know that you suffer from thyroid gland complications (hyperthyroidism) or asthma and complications of your kidney, it means that insomnia might be a result of the improper chemical balances caused by these diseases. With proper treatment and plenty of hours spent out in the fresh air, you might find your remedy for a good night’s sleep.

Sometimes, temporary insomnia might set in if you are taking one of the following medications:

• Any pill that contains caffeine – such as the famous weight loss diet pills, some of the pain relievers (such as Excedrin, Anacin or Midol) and the stimulants (such as Vivarine and Coryban-D)
• Antidepressants in general
• Medication for your high blood pressure
• Corticosteroids

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The lack of natural sleep can really destroy the way your mind and body functions. Many people struggling with insomnia have tried out sleeping pills, lighter food, or introducing regular physical exercise in their diet, but still could not feel the difference. There are many potential remedies for insomnia, and among these, hypnosis (or hypnotherapy) is said to be a good reliever.

So what is hypnosis?

Contrary to what the mainstream believes, hypnosis does not induce a full state of unconsciousness or deep sleep, but it is rather an induced state of full relaxation while still being awake. Being totally relaxed physically, the mind is allowed to focus deeply on the suggestions of the hypnotherapist and follow all the given instructions. Hypnosis targets to access your unconscious mind, and throughout a successful hypnosis therapy your mind can enter a state of deep relaxation too. The brain will get the positive impulses it needs in order to relax even more, and eventually when bed time arrives, the patient will be able to fall asleep without any problems.

Your brain will be “trained”

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When someone gets hurt in an accident with the result being temporal paralysis, the muscles will start working again after physiotherapy sessions because muscles have “memory” and can be trained to regain all or part of their previous functions. The same happens to your brain that can be “trained” to go back to the period when you were not struggling with insomnia, if you undergo a few sessions of hypnotherapy.

Hypnosis sessions – the most natural remedy for your insomnia problems

It is certainly much easier to just swallow that sleeping pill, and go in an “artificial” state of sleep, than struggling to “educate” your brain with hypnosis sessions. Therefore, once you decide to go to a therapist you need to arm yourself with a lot of patience; there are needed more sessions in order to re-establish that natural pattern in your brain. Hypnosis is the most natural remedy and of course the less harmful- because you will not experience any side effects (such as after taking that sleeping pill, you will feel sleepy during the day as well, and sensations of drowsiness might accompany too). Just make sure that you will choose a professional hypnotherapist, who can make proof of successful treatments with other patients similarly being tortured by insomnia.

Self-hypnosis – a possible alternative?

Actually, the market is abounding in guided hypnosis CD’s and DVD’s, and it is not at all harmful to try and see whether they work with you. One very important thing that you need to keep in mind is that you need to relieve stress from your life, if you want to try self-hypnosis. Just try to relax, make yourself comfortable, and don’t let anyone disturb you when you are listening to these guided hypnosis sessions. One good product you can go for is the Sleep Now! Self hypnosis CD narrated by Barrie St. John, who is a famous hypnotherapist from London. Alternatively, you can make a thorough research online and pick the product that you think would be most suitable for your needs (guided, un-guided sessions, with music or without, simple or more comprehensive, etc.).

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The inability to get a good night’s sleep can be a true nuisance, especially when you belong to the working class and you must have a very well organized schedule during the day. Putting up with all your tasks at work, and respecting your schedule at home can be difficult if you do not sleep at least 6 or 7 hours per night. Therefore, here are a few suggestions that will help you to finally get a restful sleep.

The problem might be right in front of you…

If you are addicted to caffeinated drinks to help you keep fresh throughout the day, this habit will not be rewarding you at night. Even if you cannot totally cut off your daily coffee, coke or black tea intakes, at least try to reduce it significantly. It is better to cope with a few hours of tiredness during the day until your body gets used to receiving less “energetic” material, than tossing and turning all night long because your brain cannot disconnect. Therefore, less coffee, no smoking before bed time, and trying to avoid those afternoon naps will raise your chances to get a good night’s sleep.

Natural sleep inducing foods

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Acute insomnia patients should definitely try a few natural remedies to fight insomnia. There are several foods available that have a high content of melatonin, which is the natural antioxidant hormone that induces healthy sleep:

• Cherries, grapes and bananas – the cherries and the grapes contain melatonin, while the bananas have a high content of potassium which is very important mineral for regulating the chemical reactions in your system. Eat healthy before bedtime, and get a nice deep sleep.
• High protein foods –such as beans, eggs, poultry meat and fish – they are all a good resource of the compound known as tryptophan which is an important amino acid in the production of melatonin. Just make sure you eat tiny portions of any of these high protein foods during bed time, because too much tryptophan intake can actually favor the insomnia syndrome.
• Pure honey- make a habit of eating a few spoons of honey every night; if you do not tolerate pure honey, just add a few spoons to a warm glass of milk and drink that.

Medicine for curing insomnia

Do not just buy yourself any sleeping pills that you heard about on the TV or read in about in the morning newspaper. You should definitely look for medicines that have in their composition of the following compounds:

• The Valerian – a natural herb extract that will induce a state of relaxation, preparing your body and mind for a good night’s sleep. It is a mild compound, and it does not give addiction.
• Kava – officially known as “piper methysticum” is a natural compound that can be found in many over the counter medications destined to fight insomnia. It is protective to your liver, and it does not give addiction.
• Melatonin – the natural “sleep hormone” – used as a dietary supplement, will help induce waves of relaxation and prepare your mind and body for a restful night.

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Some people simply cannot fight their war with insomnia, only if they choose to take medications. Natural remedies do not help, nor do yoga sessions or relaxing massage therapies. Moreover, statistics show that around 15% of the adults in the US take prescription or over the counter medication in order to be able to get a good night’s sleep. Benzodiazepines, shortly known as BZD, are chemical compounds found as a main ingredient in many of the sleeping pills (psychoactive drugs category). This component is safe for short term uses; however, if taken for very long periods, many unpleasant side effects may occur. An alternative to benzodiazepine drugs, are the non- benzodiazepine drugs, that show fewer side effects and have milder components. Let’s see a short analysis of both groups of compounds below.

The Benzodiazepine category: Dalmane, Centrax , Rohypnol, ProSom & Serax

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The benzodiazepines are sedative hypnotics that go under the prescription medication category. These are generally highly addictive, and many people find it difficult to tolerate them because of the bad side effects. One very important thing to keep in mind if you have been prescribed benzodiazepines is that the use of alcohol is prohibited. Some of the most well known sedatives in this category include the Doral, Dalmane, Centrax and Rohypnol. Possible side effects of these medications:

• Allergic reactions
• Onset of depressive states if used for too long
• Temporary loss of memory and concentration

The withdrawal process from these medications will also bring about many unwanted side effects such as tachycardia, diarrhea and sometimes even hallucinations. The symptoms may last up to one month after stopping medication intake.

Under any circumstances, do not use any of the benzodiazepine medications, unless clearly specified/prescribed by your physician.

The Non-Benzodiazepine Category: Zolpidem, Ambien, Lunesta, Sonata & Imovan

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This category contains mild sedatives that show a much better tolerance among patients and do not develop addiction. These are usually prescribed for usage no longer than one month, and the medications in this category are the most widely used mild treatments for curing short-term insomnia problems.

When you are prescribed any of the non-benzodiazepine sedatives, you should make sure that when you take it for the first time you use a lot of caution:

• Take your first pill during the weekend- when you know you do not have to go to work in the morning and you can see whether the pill has some side effects on you.
• Watch for all the symptoms that may appear, such as drowsiness, dizziness, diarrhea, headache or a bitter taste in your mouth in the morning. When you start taking any medication, observing the possible side effects is important, because you will always be able to recall them when your physician asks you.
• Never exceed the recommended dosage. Your doctor prescribed the respective dosage with a reason: to take only as much as necessary and as much as your body can tolerate.
• Always inform your physician about some other medication you are taking. Combined with other medication, sedatives can bring about some very unpleasant side effects and complications.