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There is great concern about using medications for treating insomnia. Medication does not address the root of the problem, and ends up becoming a crutch to lean on rather than a cure. Sleep medication should only be used as a very temporary aid for sleep problems.

Some of the concerns about using over-the-counter medications as well as prescription sleep medications are that people will development drug dependence. There can be very detrimental physical side effects, or interactions with other drugs or chemicals in the body.

There are non-drug techniques that actually cure insomnia, but the prolonged use of sleeping medications will only result in a dependency. In 2002, a study reported lower survival rates in people taking sleeping aids.

Those who experience sleep problems always seem to want a quick fix. Most of the treatments that are successful require a lot of time and attention on the part of the insomniac. But the reality behind the use of sleeping aids is that they really don’t solve the problem. They often make it worse in the long run.

The drugs used to improve sleep patterns are called hypnotics. The most common ones that doctors prescribe are called benzodiazepines.  They were developed initially to treat anxiety. But be warned, side effects are to be expected. They can increase depression, have a very high rate of daytime drowsiness, and have an increased risk for automobile accidents and falls in the elderly. Memory loss, sleepwalking, and other odd mood states have been reported after taking Halcyon and other short-acting benzodiazepines. Pregnant women or nursing mothers should definitely not use them as birth defects can result.  In some cases, overdoses have resulted in death.

Because this medication can be highly addictive, when you stop taking it, you will have some withdrawal symptoms.  This can include a disturbed heart rhythm, sweating and gastrointestinal distress. Hallucinations or seizures are not unknown. Although all side effects are not covered here, they are an important factor to reckon with in your decision as to whether you should use them or not.

Of course there are many over-the-counter preparations available to help in your transient insomnia, but most of these sleep aids use antihistamines. The products referred to here would be such as Nytol, Sleep-Eez, or Sominex. Pain relievers such as Exedrin P.M or Tylenol P.M. also contain antihistamines.  Most of these can leave you drowsy the next day. They aren’t usually very effective in providing restful sleep. And of course, there are the side effects that can include dizziness, blurred vision, and daytime sleepiness, which can lead to other problems. In truth, over-the-counter sleep medications are not a good idea.

Some medications on the market do not contain benzodiazepines and are shorter acting. Examples are Ambien and Sonata. However, there will be some side effects that can occur even with these.  Watch for nausea, dizziness, agitation and headache. Rare fatal overdoses have been reported. Always read the warning labels.

Chloral hydrate has reportedly been a reliable medication but it does have significant adverse effects. Many experts believe it should not be used at all in the treatment of insomnia. It poses a risk for addiction, and side effects include irritation of the skin and mucous membranes. It has carcinogenic properties and can harm genetic material.

Sleep disorder clinics are designed to diagnose sleep disorders and give you ways to overcome insomnia. It might be intimidating to think about going to a clinic and trying to sleep with others watching you, but this is one specific reason these clinics succeed in finding answers.

Once it has been determined that you should attend such a clinic, you may wonder what to expect.  Basically, you will be participating in a sleep study test that records your physical state while you sleep and through the various stages.
In this way, the technicians (or sleep specialists) can evaluate your specific complaints and check your blood oxygen level, muscle tone, heart rate, and all other general sleep behavior.

Follow all instructions from the clinic personnel regarding preparing yourself for the test. This may include limiting coffee intake and such things. Which brings up what you should bring with you when you go in for testing:

• Nightgown, pajamas or any comfortable sleep wear
• Your favorite pillow or blanket
• Toiletries
• A change of clothes
• Any medications you normally use
• A book, magazine or other reading materials

Be sure to remove any nail polish and artificial nails and don’t wear any make-up. This leaves a clean surface for any equipment that may be attached to monitor your sleep. On the day of the test itself, wash and dry your hair. This aids in preventing the electrodes that will be attached from sticking to your scalp.

Don’t let the fact of so many attachments of equipment scare you. Surprisingly, it has not proven to make it difficult to sleep and the tests to go forward.

Once you are changed and ready to get into bed, you will have electrodes placed in specific areas. They are applied with easily removed glue and tape. These record brain waves, muscle movement, eye movement during sleep and other factors.  A microphone will be attached to your neck to record snoring or other sounds you make while sleeping.

Despite the fact that you will be observed on a television monitor while you sleep, after the lights go out, very few patients say they have trouble falling asleep.

In the morning when you are awakened, all the equipment is removed. Then you will go and make an appointment with a sleep specialist to review the results of your tests.

Based on the results, and with the help of your sleep specialist or doctor, treatment will be recommended.  It depends on the type of disorder you are having, but there are many solutions.

It’s important to diagnose the cause of any sleep disturbance in order to restore healthy sleep. Unfortunately, there is not much agreement, even among experts, on the best methods to assess a person’s insomnia.

Some difficulty is presented by the nature of insomnia, such as its subjective nature. There are those who think they have insomnia where in actual fact, they are only having brief awakenings and only think they are continuously awake. If a person is suffering from daytime fatigue and impaired concentration and memory, however, the chances are good that their problem classifies as insomnia.

Questionnaires have been developed for the purpose of determining whether someone has insomnia or other sleep disorders. Your physician may ask a number of questions like how you would describe the sleep problem, how long it’s been going on, if you have trouble getting to sleep or in waking up early or the like. He may want to know if you take medications or are withdrawing from stimulants, such as coffee or tobacco.

Sometimes it may be suggested that you keep a sleep diary. In this diary, you would record your sleeping habits, including any information from a bed partner who can observe you first-hand.

Every day for two weeks you should write down the following in your sleep diary:

• The time you went to bed and woke up
• Your total sleep hours
• The quality of sleep you feel you got
• What you did during the times that you were awake
• How much caffeine or alcohol you had and the times you had them
• What kinds of food and drink you had and times of consumption
• Your feelings, such as whether you were happy, sad, had stress, etc.
• Any drugs or medications taken and when.

There are other tests you might be given, such as something called a Multiple Sleep Latency Test. This test (MSLT) uses a machine that measures the time it takes to fall asleep lying in a quiet room during the day. It has limitations, however, and is usually used after other sleep disorders have been ruled out.

But, in cases where a physician is unable to help, even with the tests he can perform, you may be referred to a sleep disorder clinic. There they will attempt to diagnose and treat your problem.

Almost all insomniacs complain of attention and memory problems. They also experience more irritability, make more mistakes on the job, and have poorer relationships with their family than people who sleep well.

In addition to more daytime sleepiness, insomnia can affect you waking behavior. You may have reduced concentration, perform tasks less adeptly, have a poor learning curve. Where stress and depression can cause insomnia, it has been shown that stress and the effects of it on the body can actually produce emotional problems.

In the US, there are around 1,500 deaths from accidents caused by falling asleep at the wheel. In fact, per some studies, driving when drowsy is as risky as drunk driving.

But rest assured, insomnia is virtually never lethal except in rare cases. There is one genetic disorder called fatal familial insomnia. In this rare degenerative disease, the individual develops severe and unmanageable insomnia, which eventually becomes fatal.

Insomnia definitely takes its toll on the body and lack of sleep does a lot more than make us tired.  It can even result in serious health problems.  While there are many signs to watch for to judge if you have insomnia, you may need professional help to fully determine if you are suffering from insomnia.

Studies have estimated that around one-third of all American and European adults have some insomnia during each year. About 10% or 20% of them suffer severe sleepless problems. It has also been shown that many (about 90%) who have depression suffer from insomnia.

Individuals who have physical complaints, such as headaches and chronic pain with no identifiable cause also complain of insomnia. One study took place where patients who had these complaints were treated for a sleep disorder only and over 65% of those treated said that their headaches were cured.

Others who may suffer from insomnia are those who travel frequently, particularly those who cross time zones in their travel, and people who have post-traumatic stress syndrome.

There is no one reason why some have insomnia and others don’t, but most experts do agree that it is often brought on by stress and anxiety.

Short-term insomnia, which is the most common, can be caused by many factors. Sometimes taking certain medications interrupts normal sleep. When you suspect your medications are causing you to lose sleep, you should check with a physician or pharmacist.

Caffeine often disrupts sleep, as we all have experienced at one time or another. Even nicotine can cause wakefulness and quitting smoking can also be a cause of short-term insomnia.

Depending on the time of day too much or too little light can disrupt sleep.
There are many different causes. Another common cause can be a person’s reaction to change or stress.

Sometimes a major or traumatic event sparks an occurrence. Examples could be:

• Injury or surgery
• The loss of a loved one
• Job loss

Some develop temporary insomnia after a relatively minor event, like extremes in weather, an exam at school, trouble at work or even just traveling. In most of these cases, when the condition resolves, normal sleep returns.

Treatment is usually resorted to when the sleepiness continues for more than a few weeks or interferes with the person’s normal functioning. A full physical would be in order to see if there is some illness at the bottom of the problem.

We should also be sure to address hormones, as they seem to play a major role in insomnia in women. Although such insomnia is most often temporary, it can certainly play havoc in someone’s life. During menstruation, the level of a certain hormone (progesterone) plunges, causing insomnia. It’s been shown that during pregnancy, this same hormone changes within the body greatly in the first three months and the last three months and that insomnia often results. The same is true for menopause. But when you find a woman with chronic insomnia after the age of 50, it is likely due to other causes.

Chronic Insomnia is another story. It seems to have more deep-seated roots. But it can be a mixture of reasons.

A large percentage of chronic insomnia cases prove to have some sort of psychological basis. Most often, the cause of insomnia is anxiety and depression.

But it should be noted that insomnia may itself cause emotional problems, so it is often unclear which condition triggered the other, or if they both have a common source. Evidence exists in a national survey by the US Department of Health and Human Services. They found that 47 percent of those reporting severe insomnia also reported feeling a high level of emotional distress.

Pain and discomfort from an injury, illness, or disability can also impair sleep.  When people are in pain or sick, they general have medication to help them through the uncomfortable symptoms.  Unfortunately, many of these medicines can also cause insomnia to come about or even to get worse.

Other causes have been shown to contribute to insomnia such as substance abuse, working on a shift such as all night shifts at work, high levels of stress hormones and imbalance in hormones. The normal aging process has been known to cause insomnia, possibly due to hormonal changes. There may also be a genetic link.

So, yes, many various factors contribute to this malady, but who suffers from it and does it affect some more than others?

Just as basic as food and vital to both emotional and physical well being, sufficient sleep is a basic human need. And it has been found that sleep comes in cycles, on a daily rhythm. You may have heard this referred to as the biological clock. It’s the daily cycle of life, which includes sleeping and waking.

According to scientific studies, the sleep-wake cycles in humans are shown to be sparked by light signals coming through the eyes. The response to these light signals in the brain is an important factor in sleep and also in keeping the normal rhythm.

The approach of dusk each day prompts the pineal gland in the body to produce the hormone called melatonin. Experts believe that this hormone is critical for the body’s time sense. Levels of melatonin increase in darkness and the levels drop after staying in bright light. In proof of these researches, it has been found that people who are totally blind often have trouble sleeping and have other body rhythm problems.

Daily rhythms can get interference or be changed by individual patterns. The monthly menstrual cycle can shift the pattern of sleeping and waking in women. Changes in season can unsettle the sleeping pattern.

Sleep consists of two separate stages, and understanding these is all part of understanding the sleep cycle. A person progresses through each of these stages about five or six times each night.

The first is called Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep (Non-REM). Also called quiet sleep, it is further divided into three stages:

• Stage 1 (light sleep)
• Stage 2 (so-called true sleep)
• Stage 3 to 4 (deep “slow-wave” or delta sleep).

Rapid Eye-Movement Sleep (REM) is called active sleep. This is where most vivid dreams occur. REM-sleep brain activity during REM-sleep is comparable to brain activity in awake time, but the muscles are as if paralyzed. These phenomena could possibly be a protective mechanism of the body that prevents people from acting out their dreams.

All this appears to be pretty simple and easy to understand, but why do some people have problems with these cycles?

Yes, contrary to popular belief, there are different types of insomnia. Some may only have insomnia for a few nights running, but sometimes it lasts longer. In fact, the affliction is often categorized by how long it lasts.

Here are the different types:

• Transient insomnia lasts for a few days.
• Short-term insomnia lasts no more than three weeks.
• Chronic insomnia occurs when a person has difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or experiences non-refreshing sleep for at least three nights a week for one month or longer. Normal daily functioning is usually impaired.

When insomnia is the sole complaint of a patient it is considered Primary Chronic Insomnia. But there are also secondary disorders such as:

• Sleep apnea - A sleep disorder caused by difficulty breathing during sleep. For more information, visit www.sleepapnea.org.
• Restless Legs Syndrome - A sleep disorder characterized by unpleasant sensations in the legs or feet. These can be a creeping sensation, a burning, itching, or tugging feeling. Moving the legs around seems to relieve it. For more information, visit www.rls.org .

Sometimes certain drugs and medications can create sleep disturbance. This can happen either when taking the medication or while withdrawing from it.

When a person has some emotional difficulties, he can have trouble sleeping. If you find that when you go to bed and lay there worrying about numerous matters or if you are extremely sad or have a loss of interest, and this goes on for a number of weeks, you should consult your physician. Sometimes insomnia is defined as an inability to sleep at conventional times. There is a condition where people fall asleep very late at night or in early morning hours, but then they sleep normally. Or sometimes, as occurs with older people, they have excessive sleepiness in the morning or awaken very early in the morning.

It might help to look at the basic sleep patterns. Doctors use common patterns to identify specific problems.

Insomnia is basically an inability to sleep and/or to remain asleep for a reasonable period. It gives the feeling of daytime fatigue and impairs normal performance. People with insomnia can’t sleep despite being tired, and when they do sleep, it’s a light, fitful sleep that leaves them tired when they awake. Sometimes they simply wake up too early.

Here are common symptoms of insomnia:

• Frequent headaches
• Irritability
• Lack of concentration
• Sleeping better away from home
• Taking longer than 30 or 40 minutes to fall asleep
• Feeling tired and not refreshed upon waking
• Waking up repeatedly during the night
• Waking very early and not being able to fall back to sleep
• Only being able to sleep using sleeping pills or alcohol

Insomniacs could be the product of our stress-filled society. It is common knowledge that those with insomnia complain of being unable to close their eyes or rest their minds for any length of time. Often, they are plagued with problems and to-do lists that never got done, worries and concerns that float around in their mind.