Healthy Living

Treatments for Insomnia: Do I Need a Sleep Study?


What is insomnia?

Insomnia is the condition where one lacks sleep or finds it hard to fall asleep. This condition can become when the sufferer cannot concentrate, becomes irritable and appears depressed. When an individual suffers from insomnia for at least a month, the doctor might suggest cognitive and behavioral cure or recommend drugs. Before starting medications or drugs, one must make sure that they have looked into all proper tests and suggestions from a specialist or doctor.

What are the treatments for insomnia?

There exist many ways of treating this type of condition, but perhaps the most important is having healthy sleep habits. The doctor should advise one on the sleep habits to follow to help one sleep well. Following a strict sleeping pattern helps an individual to get over this disorder of insomnia. One should learn to try to sleep at specific times of the night and also have specific times of waking up. One should learn to have some time to rest in bed daily at specific times, to associate their bed with feelings of rest. A person suffering from the pangs of insomnia must make sure that they balance their lifestyle in the best possible way - they must follow a time-table for performing and completing their day to day tasks, they must ensure that they are consuming a proper diet, along with a vigorous workout session. A person should also retire to bed only when their tiredness is not containable. One’s bedroom should also be a very comfy place where it is not hot or too cold for one to get sleep. Apart from proper ventilation, an individual must also ensure that the room is sound and secure with no noises or other distracting features. One should never sleep during the day hours to avoid lack of sleep at night. Stimulants should also be avoided, like nicotine and caffeine, that can lead to a lack of sleep. Alcohol can make one to wake up several times at night to urinate. Heavy meals prior sleeping should also be avoided to prevent bloating of the stomach. In rare cases where you feel extremely hungry and can’t avoid snacking at night, make sure that you’re munching on the right snacks that are light in quantity, but heavy in fibers and minerals.

What one must ensure himself/herself is the fact that insomnia can be treated and cured with proper medications and a strict living pattern. There is also cognitive and behavior medication where the CBT_1 is used in the treatment of long-lasting insomnia.  CBT-1 comprises; stimulus control therapy where an individual knows that the bedroom is to be used for sleep not for any other purposes. Sleep control therapy is also another medication where one knows the time he or she stays in bed sleeping and the rest time in bed.

Various other solutions to cure insomnia include the Relaxation education, which can also help since it reduces tension and stress and minimizes any thoughts that can disrupt one’s sleep. Another therapy termed as Paradoxical intention, where one has to lie awake rather than sleeping to avoid having difficulties falling asleep.

Biofeedback also helps in curing insomnia, it functions as a process where sensors are connected to an individual to make sure that one feels a state of comfort and when one is not in that state he or she can feel the difference.

One can also resort to taking sleeping tablets to improve one’s sleeping ability. These drugs should only be used when the condition is uncontainable or help treat a non-permanent condition of the disease. Over the counter tablets which are available in shops and from chemists can also be used in getting some sleep. From an ample amount of drugs manufactured and made available in the market, some antihistamine drugs can be used to make one sleepy. The issue with these drugs is that one still feels sleepy and finds it difficult even to drive or to, say, operate any electronic device in their everyday life -- something many of us have to do all the time. A person suffering from insomnia must make it a point to consume only the medicines and drugs that have been prescribed to them by a specialist. They must take the matter seriously and never try to take the situation in their own hands, as these drugs, if consumed in high dosage, may lead to some serious ill-effects and problems.

Benzodiapes are drugs that also help one to get sleep, and they help one to be stable and reduce excitements. This drug can be used when one has too much stress and depression. They include temazepam, loprazolam, and nitrazepam. These drugs are not best since they leave long term effects like depression and dizziness and after a long time, the effectiveness of the drugs reduce. Z drugs can also be used, but they result in diarrhea, dry mouth, confusion and high levels of snoring at night. Sometimes this drug can make a person have nightmares and have hallucinations at some moments.

Melatonin is the hormone that contributes to one falling asleep should also be recommended for one to sleep. Circadian which contains melatonin can also be used to help out the situation. But sometimes it results in a backache, some joint pains and also headaches. But some of the drugs that should not be prescribed to individuals that have this condition include; antidepressants, barbiturates, clomethiazole, herbal remedies, and chloral hydrate.

Insomnia – no matter how simple the word may sound, is a disorder that needs to be recognized and taken seriously by the masses. Any individual who traces even the slightest peculiarity of the disease must come up in open, talk about it with his family, or friends, or a doctor to diagnose its root cause and then take the required medications prescribed by a specialist. The longer you ignore this disorder, the more it will prevail and spread, causing other severe side effects, leaving your body lifeless and lethargic.