If you’re like millions of people around the world, you probably aren’t getting a good nights sleep.

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There are many factors as to why you may be getting inadequate sleep. Heres a short list:

1.) Diet – Not many people associate their dietary habits with their quality of sleep. As a result, people tend to eat right before bed, or wake up and snack on something sweet. Your body will not be able to process all the complex sugars and fats, which will disrupt your pattern of sleep. You may also wake up in the morning feeling bogged down, or unfreshed because of all the sugar consumption.

2.) Exercise – Most people know that exercise is good for us, which is obviously true, yet we dont often get as much as we should. Say you have a desk job, where you are immobile for a majority of the work day; your body isn’t using all of its energy, so it builds up. A nice calm walk after dinner will help your body deplete some of your energy, so you’ll be sure to fall asleep once you feel your head on your pillow.

3.) Caffeine – Are you having a few cups of coffee each night with dinner? Excess caffeine will certainly keep you from a good nights sleep. Try skipping coffee with dinner, and dont drink soda past 7pm.

There are plenty of NATURAL ways to achieve great sleep, without resorting to pills or sleep aides. You must train your body and adopt the proper sleep habits in order to assure great sleep night after night.

Click for Natural Sleep Secrets Cure Insomnia

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/sleep-articles/how-to-get-good-nights-sleep-1359949.html

Which ages you faster – going through menopause cold turkey (without any kind of medicinal aid) or with all the hormonal supplements and such out there? I’m handling it (not well, I might add) without the help of any treatment. I lost my health coverage in my divorce and money is hardly abundant. I’ve tried black cohosh, wild yam, and other homeopathic remedies, but they haven’t helped at all. I still suffer intense hot flashes and have difficulty sleeping. Plus, I think my skin is aging faster than it should. Help!!!

I am sleeping very poorly and I wake up often. I have only taken sleeping pills once and found they didn’t help. Lunesta is new.
I just want to go to bed and sleep and it doesn’t happen.I never use stuff like this and have tried everything from melatonin to valerian tea.
I am ,however, at the point where I don’t give a rats patootie how I get there.

I wrote this a while ago and am thinking about scraping it. I just wanted second opinions before I totally gutted it. Any feedback is appreciated, thank you.
—

“Swear you won’t be mad.”

I narrowed my eyes. Nothing good ever came after that phrase. “Well, considering you look like you may have set the school on fire, I’m not making any promises,” I said giving him my best threatening look. It was sort of hard to be intimidating when you had to look up to meet the eyes of the person you were trying to scare, but he still cowered like a little girl.

He shifted his weight from foot to foot and shoved his hands in his pockets for a moment before answering. When he finally did, he spoke all in one breath. “I might have….accidentally, uh…misplaced the baby.”

“You what?” I asked in a low voice full of disbelief. He opened his mouth the respond but I cut him off. “No, you know what? Save it. I don’t want to hear your excuses. I gave you one job to do. All I asked was for you to keep the baby with you while I studied and took my midterms. That was just for two days!”

He looked appropriately scared, as he should be. I was not the docile, quiet nerdy girl he thought he was getting partnered with. I was a raging tornado of sleep aids and hormonal fury. Still, it was almost funny, seeing Brett McMurray twelfth grade linebacker and snapper of necks look like a scared puppy in my (sophomore test taker and snapper of pencil)’s presence. Almost.

“Seriously!” I continued, as thought I wasn’t serious before. “This stupid baby is ONE THIRD of our grade and you’ve gone and lost it?”

“Misplaced,” he muttered quietly. “Plus, look on the bright side! At least it’s not a real baby! I mean, dolls are just plastic, right?”

“Don’t try and justify this!” I jabbed him in the chest with an index finger. “You just made me fail health class! Health class! The easiest class in the curriculum, and now I’m going to fail! By flunking this class, it will drop my average which will lower my GPA which, in effect, will slaughter my class rank which will make my college applications ignored by all the big schools, which means I won’t go to college and won’t be able to get a job, which means I’ll be homeless forever, hanging out with crack heads and idiots like you for the rest of my life all because YOU LOST THE BABY!”

I started off quietly and somehow ended up yelling. In fact, I had gotten so worked up I feel like banging my head against a wall.

I may vomit, just thinking about the shopping cart with two broken wheels I will push along the highway looking for cans to make a couple of bucks. I can almost hear the creak, creak, scratch scratch of my cart against the pavement, and more urgently, can almost taste the bile in my mouth.

“You’re making a scene,” Brett muttered, looking around the commons area nervously. It was full of kids who had finished their midterms and had come out to enjoy the fresh air after secluding themselves in dark rooms to study for three weeks. They had all looked up from their various forms of recreation to stare and whisper at the popular All-American boy get berated by the girl in a baggy sweater and grandpa glasses. Did I care? No.

“I don’t give a—,”

“I’ll find it,” he said, quickly interrupting me. “I swear!” He gave me a look that I was sure made other girls do things they regretted later, but he wasn’t fooling me. “Don’t you trust me?”

“Considering you’ve managed to lose my passing grade and resigned me to a future as a homeless bag lady, no, I can’t say you’ve done too much to inspire my confidence,” I said, putting my hands on my hips.

“Well, what do you want me to do about it?” he shrugged and held up his hands in defeat.

Shoot. He sorta had a point. What else could we do? “Fine,” I said reluctantly. “But I’m looking with you; you’ll blow it off if I don’t go.” A look of relief passed over his face, presumably at our compromise.

Ambien Pharmacology and Indications

Ambien (zolpidem tartrate) is classified as a nonbenzodiazepine, hypnotic drug. The indicated use is for the short-term treatment (8-12 weeks) of insomnia. Ambien selectively binds to the GABA receptor in the brain and is effective in reducing the amount of time it takes to fall asleep and extending sleep time, but not in maintaining sleep throughout the night. For this reason, Ambien controlled-release (CR) has been developed to provide a steady release of the drug throughout the night, in an effort to support sleep maintenance.

Anxiety Risk with Ambien Treatment

A recent national, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the effectiveness and problems associated with Ambien CR was completed recently (1). Patients enrolled in the study were diagnosed as having chronic primary insomnia based on DSM-IV criteria, and were otherwise physically healthy and free of psychiatric problems. Interestingly, 65.2% of the study participants receiving Ambien ER and 52.7% of the placebo group completed the study, suggesting only 12.5% of insomnia patients found Ambien to be more effective than placebo in improving their sleep quality.

Of the group receiving Ambien CR, 63.2% experienced an adverse event. When compared to the placebo group there was an 11.9% increase in adverse events due to the drug. Even though the most common complaint was headache, there was no difference between the two groups. The next most common complaint was anxiety, with a significant difference between the Ambien CR (6.3%) and placebo (2.6%) groups. This suggests that Ambien treatment results in 3.7% of insomnia patients experiencing one or more mild to moderate episodes of an anxiety disorder, which would include panic attacks. Other reported adverse events included sleepiness (3.7%), dizziness (2.8%), fatigue (1.3%), attention deficits (2.6%), nausea (1.1%), and nasal infections (2.4%).

Ambien Dependency

The published research literature contains several reports of patients who developed a dependency on Ambien, sometimes taking 16 to 200 times the recommended daily dose (3). The current theory is that at these dosage levels, Ambien acts in a manner similar to benzodiazepines (3). Benzodiazepines are prescribed for short-term treatment of insomnia and anxiety disorders, are susceptible to dependency, and sudden withdrawal can cause anxiety disorders, depression, insomnia, tremors, and headaches (4). Anyone who has developed a dependence on Ambien would therefore be at risk for experiencing these withdrawal symptoms.

Alternative Insomnia Treatments

People who experience significant adverse reactions to Ambien are typically advised to stop taking it. There are a number of alternative sleep aids available, including over the counter medications like 400 mg of valerian root, diphenhydramine (Benadryl), and doxylamine (Unisom), and prescription hypnotics similar to Ambien and benzodiazepines (2).

1. Krystal, A. D. et al., 2008. Long-term efficacy and safety of zolpidem extended-release 12.5 mg, administered 3 to 7 nights per week for 24 weeks, in patients with chronic primary insomnia: A 6-month, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, multicenter study. Sleep, 31, p.79-90.

2. Ringdahl, E. N., Pereira, S. L., and Delzell, J. E., 2004. Treatment of primary insomnia. Journal of the American Board of Family Practitioners, 17, 212-219.

3. Cubula, W. J., Landowski, J., and Wlchowlcz, H. M., 2007. Zolpidem abuse, dependence and withdrawal syndrome: sex as susceptibility factor for adverse effects. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 65, p.444-445.

4. Khong, E., Sim, M. G., Hulse, G., 2004. Benzodiazepine dependence. Australian Family Physician, 33, p.923-926.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/can-sleep-aids-cause-anxiety-4092451.html

I have chronic insomnia due to personal and unknown reasons… What is the best over-the-counter sleeping aid/medication for this?

so far it seems ppl. are saying that benedryl, ANY tylenol product ( hmm… really??),gravol, and i think ambient are ok during pregnancy. what has your Dr. said is ok to take to help you fall asleep? i am unsure about taking herbal stuff as some can be more potent and less tested then chemical junk. Do you know of any tested, gentle and proven safe natural sleep aids
p.s.
margaux the link you gave requires i download a trojan horse virus. no thanks!!!!

does anyone use or know of any safe organic non-prescription sleep aids?

Have you had it with your insomnia or the endless tiredness you feel from not getting good, restful sleep each night? You are not alone. Millions suffer from sleep problems, which is why sleeping pills are such a huge business. But before you go down the expensive and potentially addictive path of sleep drugs, why not try herbal sleep aids that work?

Studies performed in the last several years have shown that two herbal sleep aids, Lavender and Jasmine, can help you to sleep better. Indeed, some reports claim that these all-natural substances can be more effective than sleeping pills, without any of the dangerous or addictive side effects.

A 2005 study of Lavender’s effects on sleep was performed with 31 subjects under controlled circumstances in a sleep lab. Lavender oil was introduced into the lab’s air system as the test subjects prepared for sleep and during the night.

The results of this experiment were impressive, with the test subjects falling asleep faster, sleeping more soundly, and feeling more vigorous the next morning, as compared to a night when distilled water was introduced into the air system, rather than Lavender.

How do you use Lavender and Jasmine to enhance your sleep? They are best used in the form of essential oils, applied to the chest or shoulders just before bedtime. In this way, you can inhale them throughout the night, not only getting to sleep faster, but sleeping deeper and more soundly.

You could find a supplier of Lavender oil and Jasmine oil, then apply each of them each night, but there is an easier way to go. You can buy an organic sleep aid oil that combines Lavender and Jasmine, making your nightly preparations fast and relaxing, which can only help you get to sleep faster.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/sleep-articles/lavender-jasmine-herbal-sleep-aids-that-work-3596120.html