A lot of people go to the doctor complaining about not getting enough sleep, they want a fix the day they go to the appointment. They say they can't turn their minds off, or they can't fall asleep, so they lie awake most of the night. Others lie awake next to their spouse, with eyes closed but listening to their every inhale and exhale of breath, wondering why they cannot fall asleep and stay asleep.
Insomnia, which affects more than 70 million Americans, according to the National Institutes of health, is medically defined by these four descriptors:
1. Difficulty falling asleep, especially within thirty minutes of lying down.
2. Waking up frequently during the night, and difficulty returning to sleep.
3.Waking up too early in the morning and sleeping less than six and a half hours over a typical night.
4. Unrefreshing sleep.
Insomnia is experienced by both males and females in all age groups, but it seems to be more common in women, especially after menopause. Physicians used to view insomnia as a symptom that something was off-kilter in the patient's life, but new evidence suggests that insomnia may not be a symptom of other conditions but rather a disorder in its own right.
Physicians generally approach the treatment of chronic insomnia with one of three options. The first includes behavioral, which may involve working with a psychologist or psychiatrist. Another form of behavioral therapy applies to stimulus control, which trains couples to use their beds and bedrooms for sleep and sex only.
Nearly all of insomnia patients request the third option - a prescription for a sleep medication. Patients these days are savvy enough to ask for them by name Ambien, Sonata, or Lunesta, which only validates the power of mass-media advertising. This trio of sleep medications is part of a third generation of sleeping pills that evolved from anesthetic agents in the 1950s. They are extremely sedating and can cause problems if too high a dose is given. Hollywood's Marilyn Monroe slipped into a coma caused by an alleged overdose of sleeping pills.
The next breakthrough in sleeping pills originated from a drug called flurazepam and marketed as Dalmane. These sleeping pills are derivatives of Valium. Over the past decade, we've seen a third wave of sleeping pills that are effective without the sedating or addicting qualities of the older versions. Ambien comes with a quickly dissolving outer layer to sustain sleep. About 42 million sleep prescriptions were filled in 2005, according to the research company IMS Health, up nearly 60 percent since 2000.
Doctors should resist handing out prescriptions for sleep medication in a carte blanche manner. Instead, recommend a more natural approach to getting a good night's rest. Such as herbal teas, infusions, and baths, which have a calming effect. You may offer prayer to God to help you sleep. It works better than any pill! Those that are born-again and spirit filled, have the Prince of Peace on the inside, and you should be able to sleep like a baby.
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