How to handle Insomnia or sleeplessness

Insomnia or sleeplessness is one of the common problems in present day's world. It’s a symptom, rather than a disease. Insomnia may be of various types. You may have difficulty falling asleep, difficulty maintaining or staying asleep or frequent awakenings, especially, early morning awakening. Life can get messed up if one does not get enough sleep. Quality of sleep is important. It is the feeling when you wakeup in the morning that is more important than the number of hours that you spend in the bed. Normal sleep should make you feel refreshed in the morning. While the average amount of sleep that an adult requires is 8 hours some people may need as little as 3-4 hours, whereas some need up to 12 hours. The purpose of this article is to identify and fix many small things that may result in insomnia. So what can you do first to improve your sleep prior to calling for help from your healthcare provider? Here are the tips:

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Learn the concepts of ‘sleep hygiene’. ‘Early to bed and early to rise’, but, not only on weekdays but also on weekends. Let this become your habit. Avoid late night shows, partying etc.
2. Peek in to your medication list to see if any of them could give you sleepless nights. Some medicines are notorious for causing insomnia, some even cause nightmares. For instance: theophylline, beta blockers (metoprolol, Atenolol etc), steroids, thyroxin, and bronchodilators (for asthma), cocaine, methamphetamine etc. The best way to know if any of your medications may cause insomnia is to check the drug information that the pharmacist gave you when you filled your prescription, or even the internet.
3. Do you drink coffee? If yes, how much? Did you know a 7 oz cup of regular brewed coffee has between 80 to 135 mg of caffeine in it? Cut down on your coffee or switch to decaffeinated one. Tea has theophylline in it so it may also cause insomnia if consumed in large quantities. Remember, something that charges you during day will also keep you up all night.
4. Try hot shower before going to bed. Hot shower helps to relax your tense muscles.
5. A cup of warm milk or a banana before going to bed may also do the trick. They both are rich in serotonin. Serotonin is a naturally occurring chemical in brain that plays major role in sleep mechanisms.
6. Ask your spouse to gently massage your pressure points: shoulders, palms, soles, heels etc.
7. Sex is also known to induce sleep by activating some intrinsic mechanisms in the brain.
8. Reading a book helps fall asleep sometimes.
9. Make your bedroom cozy and inviting for sleep.
10. Vigorous exercise during day is followed by a good night sleep. The more physically tired you get during the day better sleep you will get at night.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember, insomnia could be an early symptom of major depression, or many other psychiatric illnesses, especially if you have early morning awakening. If all the tricks fail do not hesitate seeing your doctor.