Sleep Remedies – How To Cure Insomnia

Many of my clients are affected by sleep disorders like insomnia. They have trouble falling asleep, and even when they finally fall asleep, they wake up again soon after. There are a number of excellent sleep remedies to deal with this problem.

Insomnia is the most common of all sleep disorders. This is followed by obstructive sleep apnoea – a condition in which breathing stops for 30 to 120 seconds intermittently during the night impairing a person’s day time functioning.  The third most common sleep disorder is restless leg syndrome.

Overall, insomnia represents 8/10 sleep disorders managed in clinical settings. Untreated insomnia can lead to depression, stroke and even heart attack.

Medication as Sleep Remedies

The table below shows common sleep medications prescribed for treating insomnia (figures from the Australian Family Physician Vol 38, No.5, May 2009):

Medications prescribed	Rate per 100 insomnia patients
Medications (all benzodiazapines)	95.2
Temazepam	48.1
Zolpidem	13.4
Oxazepam	11.3
Nitrazepam	11.0
Diazepam	3.3

The above table shows that an alarming 95.2% of doctors treat insomnia with bensodiazapines. “Benzos” are addictive. We need higher and higher doses to get the same effect. Long term use can literally turn us into “drug addicts”.  “Benzos” withdrawal have been known to occur in individuals taking these drugs on a regular basis for as short a duration as 2 weeks!

Common bensodiazapines withdrawal symptoms are:

1. Insomnia (how very nice!)
2. Anxiety
3. Irritability
4. Restlessness
5. Agitation
6. Depression
7. Tremor
8. Dizziness
9. Headache

Managing addiction and withdrawal can be very difficult.  To avoid being caught in this vicious cycle, other methods of managing insomnia should be explored.

Natural Sleep Remedies

Following are the main remedies that I recommend to my clients.

• Learn to wind down with relaxation and meditation before bed time. Yoga can be very effective, meditation or relaxation hypnosis.
• Have a cup of Valerian tea/warm milk to soothe your nerves.
• Take 150mg of melatonin supplement. Melatonin is a substance naturally produced by our body to induce sleep. As we get older, we produce less and less of it. Therefore supplementation can be an effective sleep remedy. Best of all, it is natural and non-addictive.
• Try sleep hypnosis to train your body to relax and sleep when you go to bed. Below is the one that I recommend to my clients – many of them have reported success with this inexpensive hypnosis session. Best of all the company producing it offers a 90-day money back guarantee:
  

Also some general tips:

• Take the TV (and computer) out of the bedroom!
• Establish a routine of when to go to bed and when to get up and stick to it.
• Ensure the bedroom is as dark as possible – perhaps use some sleep/eye shades.

Finding What Works For You

As with all things concerning the human body, there usually is no one answer that works for everyone. However, you should be able to find a combination of these sleep remedies that works for you. I hope you will wake up each day feeling fully rested and refreshed.