sleep

[Camden Fickus]

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Who needs to use a sleep aid and exactly what insomnia is, is quite relative to the person. Both age and the individual will determine the amount of sleep that is needed. If a twenty five year old is getting four and a half hours of sleep per night a sleep aid would most likely be recommended whereas if a seventy five year old is getting the same amount of sleep it would be much closer to the normal range. This is why insomnia is defined as a disturbance in regular sleeping patterns and a sleep aid will only be given if it is outside what is normal for that person. Besides taking a sleep aid you can try to exercise during the day (but not right before bed), you can flip the mattress or try to focus on pleasant relaxing thoughts. This does not always work and sometimes anxiety related insomnia has to be treated with a sleep aid. Even in this case a sleep aid with herbs such as St. John's Wort and Valerian Root are much safer than any prescription sleep aid.

Having trouble sleeping for one or two nights isn't uncommon. When you have trouble sleeping for longer than that, or if you experience trouble sleeping for one or two nights but on a regular basis, you may begin looking into treatment options. Before doing that, the simplest thing to do is to examine your habits and lifestyle. You may find a few causes, or one single cause of stress; stress and anxiety are by far the main reasons for insomnia. If there are stressful factors which are causing you to have trouble sleeping, there may be a cognitive answer to dealing with these factors. We are told the benefits of eating right and exercising regularly, and when it comes to dealing with insomnia this is no exception; if you exercise (during the day, not late at night) this improves your body on many different levels and burns off energy. Trust nature to treat what ails you, especially in the case of trouble sleeping. There are so many natural remedies to help with sleep that unless you have a serious physical problem you should be able to deal with insomnia safely, without the use of pharmaceuticals. Don't let trouble sleeping interrupt your life any further.

Ativan, the generic name being Lorazepam, is a dangerous prescription drug which can severely damage the liver, doctors say. Even the lightest version of Ativan, that which contains only 1mg of Lorazepam, can have very negative effects on your health. Ativan is just one member of the benzodiazepine family which Valium, Lithium and Xanax also belong to. While the use of Ativan has shown moderate effectiveness in the treatment of anxiety and insomnia the cons of its use far outweigh the pros. The types of side effects it can produce are troubling, as well as the rates of people who become dependent and/or addicted to it. Long term use of Ativan increases the risk of liver damage and also amplifies the withdrawal symptoms when a person eventually tries to stop taking Ativan. Ativan works by inhibiting receptors in the brain, although its use makes the assumption that there is an imbalance in the brain. Herbal supplements and therapy are available for anxiety and sleep problems and should always be considered first.

Sleepwell