Cindy Heller asked:

Insomnia is a common sleep disorder among all ages, especially among senior citizens. The patient should remember or write down all the insomnia symptoms he/she experiences and discuss with the physician to help in making a correct diagnosis. The most typical of all insomnia symptoms is difficulty in sleeping. Encounters with anxiety and/or depression are two main symptoms associated with insomnia. Insomnia symptoms include poor concentration and short memory. Insomniac people usually awake prematurely during sleep and have trouble falling asleep again. Insomniacs feel irritability without any obvious cause. It is especially experienced during the day. People suffering from insomnia frequently experience decreased alertness and mental sluggishness.

Insomnia symptoms may last for a little or longer time, depending on the type of insomnia. In case of Transient Insomnia, the symptoms last for a few nights. In Short-Term Insomnia, the symptoms stay for two to three weeks. If they last more than three weeks, the patient is suffering from Chronic Insomnia. Health experts also sometimes distinguish between primary and secondary insomnia. Primary insomnia is characterized by symptoms of difficulty in falling asleep, waking several times during sleep, and fatigue. These symptoms last for a month and has unknown cause. In secondary insomnia, there is a known underlying medical condition. Depression is major cause of secondary insomnia.

To diagnose the condition of sleeplessness as insomnia, the physician makes sure that the symptoms are not being caused by other sleep disorders or other disease or side effects of any medication. Along with the symptoms of insomnia, other disorders may be detected in the same patient; these include mania, depression, phobias, or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Help for Insomnia

It is often possible to fight insomnia with simple home remedies; however, when the insomnia crosses two weeks and you start feeling groggy, disoriented, acutely irritated and totally lost, it is time you go for professional insomnia help.

The treatments available for insomnia are varied and very efficient. Reaching at the right diagnosis is quite problematic, which involves a battery of tests and long-drawn assessment studies. This is why people usually avoid asking for professional insomnia help unless it becomes too much to bear otherwise. Most of the times, the homemade cures will dramatically improve your condition; however, in case you still experience this problem, it could be an indication of some serious health problem which would necessitate a doctor’s opinion. You should always keep in mind that prevention is better than cure. A timely medical intervention may save your life.

Tips for Insomnia

Insomnia tips no 1 – Do not sleep or even take a cat nap (those 10-20 minutes forty winks), if you are prone to insomnia attacks. Maintain strict timings both for sleep and for your meals.

Insomnia tips no 2 – Eat your dinner at least four hours ahead of your bed time. For example, if you normally retire at 10:30 pm, have your dinner at 6:30 – 7:00 pm latest. Often insomnia is aggravated by digestive problems, and hence, it is best to avoid the problem altogether.

Insomnia tips no 3 – Avoid any drink that influences sleep, such as coffee in any form, alcohol, and even tea (unless it is medicated). In case you must have your regular cup of coffee, at least ensure that you take it before a minimum of four hours from your bedtime.

Insomnia tips no 4 – Introduce daily exercise in your routine. In case you are not too fond of physical exercise, you can simply take a walk for about 30 minutes daily; try to gradually increase it to one hour or so for best results.

Insomnia tips no 5 – If you find that you cannot sleep, do not fight it. Sleep usually comes after your body relaxes completely. The best thing to do is get up from the bed and do something that you enjoy (reading, listing to music, writing letters to dear ones, etc) aiming to relax your mind and body.

Treatment for Insomnia

Majority of people suffering from sleep disorders turn to pills and medications. This proves to be working at first, but gradually some problems arise that need serious consideration before one starts with a particular kind of sleeping pills or medication. These days, both over the counter medications and prescriptions pills are used for insomnia treatment.

Over the counter medications for insomnia are usually ineffective in log term insomnia treatment. First of all, they do not ensure the quality of sleep enjoyed by healthy people. They give about 5 % duration of deep sleep while in healthy sleep this duration is 10 % to 25 %. Secondly, over the counter drugs for insomnia mostly work by the action of antihistamines (anti-allergic chemicals) present in them. These include chemicals like diphenhydramine citrate, diphenhydramine hydrochloride, and doxylamine succinate. While antihistamines do cast a sedating effect, they are not to be used by people with prostate problems, angina, heart problems, and urinary problems. Antihistamines can add to the intensity of these conditions. Finally, over the counter drugs have a number of side effects like: drowsiness and dizziness (that may remain for twenty four hours), memory lapses, dry mouth, constipation, blurred vision, and urinary retention.

Various types of medications, collectively called hyptonics, are prescribed for insomnia treatment. Hypnotics generally fall in three categories: benzodiazepines, non-benzodiazepines, and antidepressants. Most of the health experts agree on using insomnia medications for a short period only. In all cases of using over the counter drugs or prescribed medications, it is important that the patient educate him/herself well on the possible side effects.

peterhutch asked:


 

Insomnia is a symptom of a sleeping disorder characterized by persistent difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep despite the opportunity. It is typically followed by functional impairment while awake. Insomniacs have been known to complain about being unable to close their eyes or “rest their mind” for more than a few minutes at a time. Both organic and non-organic insomnia constitute a sleep disorder.

Insomnia Causes

The most common psychological problems include anxiety, stress, and depression. In fact, insomnia may be an indicator of depression. Many people will have insomnia during the acute phases of a mental illness.

Many people have insomnia. People who have insomnia may not be able to fall asleep. They may wake up during the night and not be able to fall back asleep, or they may wake up too early in the morning.

Insomnia contributes to excessive daytime tiredness, which in turn may be responsible for accidents, recurrent infections, poor concentration, irritability, work and relationship problems and a general inability to cope.

Anxiety, a condition in which individuals feel increased tension, apprehension, and feelings of helplessness, fear, worry, and uncertainty. This may be due to the effects that other people at work have on us, financial worries, concerns over relationships outside work or numerous other causes.

Symptoms

Insomnia symptoms may include:

Difficulty falling asleep at night

Waking up during the night

Waking up too early

Daytime fatigue or sleepiness

Daytime irritability

It’s common for older adults to sleep less deeply and for less time than they did earlier in life, and to experience fragmented sleep. However, these normal changes in the sleep patterns of older adults do not mean that they should expect inadequate rest and to awaken feeling unrefreshed.8 Routine poor-quality sleep due to health problems, medication use, and major life changes can lead to chronic sleep problems.

Diagnosis of Insomnia

Surprisingly, a sleep study is not routinely recommended for those complaining of insomnia. The reason is that when a sleep study is performed in someone suffering from insomnia, it does not generally give any new information; it simply confirms that the patient is having trouble sleeping. The best way to find the cause for insomnia is by careful history taking. Assessment of recent onset insomnia should focus on acute personal and medical problems.

Treatment

The treatment of insomnia depends on its cause and severity. If insomnia results from another disorder, treatment of that disorder may improve sleep. For most people who have insomnia, some simple changes in lifestyle, such as following a regular sleep schedule and avoiding caffeine after lunch time, can improve sleep.

In addition to daytime tiredness or fatigue, chronic insomnia can be associated with a complaint of compromised intellectual function, mood disturbance, or an increase in physical complaints (e.g., headaches and gastrointestinal problems). Beyond these outcomes, there is now considerable evidence that individuals with chronic insomnia have an increased risk of psychiatric illness (especially major depressive disorder) and substance abuse and there is mounting evidence that insomnia is associated with absenteeism from work, higher health care costs, and reduced quality of life.

Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Cognitive behavior therapy helps patients change thoughts and behaviors that interfere with sleep. Treatment methods are often used in combination for increased effect.

 

You may find that if you are unable to fall asleep or wake up in the night, you spend a lot of time in bed trying unsuccessfully to sleep. If so, you may benefit from a sleep restriction program that initially allows only a few hours of sleep during the night. Gradually this time is increased until a normal sleep period is achieved.

 

Antihistamines

 

Diphenhydramine (for example, Sominex, Nytol) and doxylamine (for example, Unisom) are antihistamines that are currently marketed as OTC sleep aids. Diphenhydramine is the only agent that is considered to be safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration. The safety and effectiveness of doxylamine has not been evaluated adequately for FDA approval.

Andrew P Jones asked:


What is Insomnia? The Insomnia sleep disorder, also known as Wakefulness or Dysomnia, is an inability to sleep, or disturbed sleep preventing you from getting a proper night’s rest.

The main effect of insomnia is that you may feel constantly tired and irritable, with poor concentration and coordination.

There are two main types of Insomnia:

Primary Insomnia has no underlying medical cause for the difficulty in sleeping.

Secondary Insomnia has an underlying medical cause triggering disturbed sleep: any condition causing pain, discomfort, or directly causing mental disturbance or anxiety, or specific conditions such as Sleep Apnea or Seasonal Affective Disorder. If you suspect an underlying medical or mental condition seek medical advice.

Behavioral therapy to encourage sleep can be used in both cases, though for Secondary Insomnia you should liaise with your doctor if receiving treatment for an underlying cause.

A period of insomnia can vary from transient (a few nights) to short term (up to 3 weeks) to chronic, long term insomnia (over 3 weeks)

Transient or Short Term Insomnia can be caused by traumatic events such as acute illness, injury or surgery, bereavement, job loss or less serious events such as trouble at work, an exam, extreme weather change, traveling (including jet lag)

Statistics about Insomnia causes: 50% Psychological, 40% Behavioral: sleep environment (30%) stimulants or medication (10%), 10% Physical (pain, illness etc.)

30-40% of people report insomnia each year; 10-15% of people reporting insomnia say they have chronic insomnia.

The amount of sleep needed by people varies: Babies need about 17 hours sleep a day, a child nine to ten hours per night, and an adult seven to eight hours each night, though that typically decreases as you get older.

Chronic Child Insomnia can have even more serious effects than with adults. Getting enough sleep is much more important for young children than for fully grown adults, as a childhood growth demands a healthy sleep cycle.

Don’t send a child to bed as a punishment as this may lead to insomnia due to a fear of being sent to bed. Consider using a bedroom only for sleep, not play.

Never give a child sleeping medicine without proper medical consultation. Sleeping pills may seem to provide instant, even amazing insomnia relief compared to behavioral therapies, but their results are short term and they often have other side effects.

Adults do not all need eight hours every night! Some people manage on as little as four hours sleep a night. If you don’t need much sleep then get up early – spending too long in bed can help trigger insomnia.

People can also mistake the amount of sleep they are actually getting, because they tend to remember waking up as a longer period than it actually was.

After failing to sleep for a few nights, you may become anxious that you won’t sleep causing Fear or Anxiety Insomnia. A major step towards anxiety insomnia treatment can be to accept that you can cope with its effects, thus reducing the fear of not sleeping. You would then build upon this with behavioral therapy.

Three main areas where you can encourage sleep are:

Sleep Environment – a comfortable bed, a bedroom that is quiet, dark and the right temperature

Sleep Discipline – use your bed for sleeping (and sex) only, watch TV etc. elsewhere

Sleep Conditioning – creating a routine, going to bed and getting up at the same time

The results of behavioral therapy may take effect slowly but are long term – the creation of good habits which make you less prone to insomnia.

Sleep can be disrupted even by normal foods and behaviors: e.g. don’t consume coffee after 1pm – try decaffeinated coffee instead. Avoid consuming alcohol within two hours of going to bed, although it may make you drowsy initially it can inhibit sleep when you wake up in the middle of the night.

A warm drink, dairy, soy products, eggs, rice and grains aid relaxation; foods such as bread or crackers which are high in carbohydrate can reduce anxiety, thus aiding sleep. Do not eat sugary or spicy food or drink near bedtime.

Stress or a mind too active or anxious will hinder the relaxation necessary before sleep comes.

Regular physical exercise helps control stress physically and psychologically by breaking up the day after work to distance you from work problems. Early evening is the best time for exercise if you want to use it to help get to sleep.

A warm bath can help relaxation – but don’t stay there too long or have the water too hot.

Try meditation or other relaxation techniques. Continuous practice will help you do them more effectively, so practice during the day to reduce stress, then even when you are tired it’ll work better. If you are lying awake anyway, why not just do the relaxation exercises for fun!