Insomnia Tips  

Insomnia or sleeplessness is a matter of serious concern. For a person to remain healthy and active, sleep is essential. To ignore sleep’s importance, could result in some serious physiological and psychological problems.  Fortunately, insomnia is easily curable. The most commonly prescribed treatment method is to use insomnia medications. Ironically, these medications don’t suit every individual and can even cause some serious side effects. An effective alternative is to follow the natural path for an insomnia cure because they have fewer side effects and are inexpensive. Below are mentioned some insomnia tipsthat have often prove helpful.

Insomnia tips: 

• Maintain a regular sleeping time and wake up time.   
• Maintain a warm and calm bedroom environment. A soothing atmosphere does relax your mind and induce sleep. 
• Have warm milk before going to bed.  Milk is known to contain a naturally occurring sedative known as serotonin. Serotonin has a very calming effect on the brain.  
• Do not use your bed and the bedroom for non-sleeping activities such as eating, paying bills, talking on phone, etc.  The bed and bedroom should be used for sleeping purposes only. 
• Avoid caffeine and alcohol in excess. Caffeine is a stimulant that keeps the brain awake. Alcohol can actually have a sedative effect; however, it often results in troubled sleeping.  In addition, people tend to get addicted to it and use it as a crutch.    
• Avoid a heavy meal in the evening, especially rich and spicy food. This can disturb your sleep. 
• Having orange juice, leafy green vegetables, cereals and beans is very good for treating insomnia.  These foods are rich in vitamins and minerals such as Folic Acid and Magnesium that help in inducement of sleep. 
• Having food rich in B6 (found in egg yolk, grains, seeds, yeast), B12 (found in walnuts, banana, tuna, peanuts, sunflower), B5 (found in liver, fish, milk) also helps in curing insomnia. 

Some Useful Methods for Insomnia Relief: 

Apart from the insomnia tips mentioned above, one can even practice some of the natural remedies described for insomnia relief.  

• Practice relaxation techniques. Yoga and meditation brings peace and tranquility to the soul and tones the body. It eases tension, stress and alleviates insomnia. 
• Ensure that you have an active lifestyle. Regular physical activities eliminate lactic acid that forms during glucose metabolism and causes uneasiness in the system. 
• Herbs such as Ginseng, Aloe Vera and Valerian Walllichi also help in relaxing the body and prevent insomnia. 

All these insomnia tips described above eliminate the need of using medications for insomnia symptoms that are mild and moderate. However, if insomnia persists for more than a month, it becomes chronic in nature. In this situation, a doctor’s advice is required.  

The most commonly prescribed insomnia aids for treating chronic insomnia are medications that induce sleep. Apart from these, there are also certain other drugs that have proved to be effective against insomnia. These include 

·      Benzodiazepine sedatives: Examples include Restoril, Dalmane, Halcion, estazolam, Ativan and clonazepam. 

• Non benzodiazepine sedatives such as Lunesta, Sonata and Ambien.   
• Melatonin: This is a naturally occurring chemical whose presence inside the body is essential for maintaining circadian rhythms. Depletion of melatonin causes insomnia.  Hence, administration of melatonin can help reduce insomnia symptoms in patients with circadian rhythm problems.   
• Other popular insomnia aids include melatonin receptor stimulants such as ramelteon or rozerem and antidepressants such as amitriptyline and trazodone.  

By keeping these insomnia tips in mind, you can improve your existing treatments and start getting better sleep.