Most of us have or will experience insomnia or difficulty sleeping and have wondered : What can I do ? How to treat insomnia ? Chronic insomnia affects up to 10% of the population, but even short-term insomnia or just difficulty staying asleep can result in unwanted and sometimes dangerous consequences in your daily life.

How to treat insomnia – The NON-medical treatments

Your behaviors :

• do not over sleep. Go to sleep the same time every night ( this means weekends too) Wake up at the same hour everyday, do not try to sleep-in to catch up on your sleep. Get up the same hour and it will make you more tired for the next night. It has found to be very helpful in some cases. Take a 20 minute nap in the after noon if you need to and only sleep in if you are sick.

• do not force yourself to fall asleep. It will stress you and keep you from sleeping

• do not drink alcohol. Yes, you will fall asleep faster with alcohol but it will wake you up in the middle of the night when the effects are over. Alcohol will also dehydrate you. Drinking alcohol will keep you from falling into the “deep sleep” you need to restore your mind and body

• do not drink caffeine. If you do, drink caffeine beverages in the morning, before noon. This includes teas, coffees, soft drinks, chocolate and energy drinks

• do not go to bed if you are too hungry, or after eating too much. Same goes for fluids. Do not drink too much water either.

Your environment :

• use your bed only for sleep. Do not use the bedroom for your work or eating. Do not use the bedroom to watch TV. Your bedroom should be associated in your mind to relaxation and sleep.

• adjust the temperature of your room so you are comfortable. Not too hot, too cold, too dry, too humid…

• adjust the lighting in you bedroom. Your biological clock is very sensitive to light. Dim the lights in the evening and adjust the shades in the windows.

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What is insomnia hypnosis ? Daily life is very hard when you suffer from insomnia. Natural remedies like herbs and warm milk are very useful for occasional insomnia. But if you find yourself not sleeping regularly, you will need to deal directly with your brain ! with insomnia hypnosis.

Hypnosis to treat insomnia is gaining popularity over sleeping pills, because it promotes good habits. No need to rely on a product that has secondary effects and can create dependence. Hypnosis can reeducate the mind to reach the deepest levels of sleep, what your body needs the most to restore itself.

• Self-Hypnosis (auto-insomnia hypnosis)

It is possible to practice hypnosis on ourselves, concentrating on relaxing each part of the body and with breathing exercises. In a relaxed state, your subconscious is now open to suggestions. This is how it is possible to tell your brain to sleep. We can not force ourselves to sleep, but we can condition our minds into thinking calming and relaxing thoughts associated with sleeping.

• Insomnia Hypnosis : Auto hypnosis with CD’s

It works like

self-hypnosis, but with the help of soft music and someone talking, Hypnosis is like a guided meditation and the voice will tell you how to relax. In a relax state, your subconscious will listen and you can reprogram your subconscious to sleep. Deep, healthy sleep. This is why the use of insomnia hypnosis CD’s is so popular. You can reprogram your mind into positive and peaceful thoughts associated to sleeping.

There is also CD’s that play sound with specific sound waves that syncs with your brain waves and drift you to sleep.

• Hypnotherapist

When you have excessive emotional or mental activity, you might consider hypnosis with a professional. A complete treatment could be around 5-to 8 sessions. A professional could help you with the underlying causes of insomnia like stress and anxiety.

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Insomnia has a wide range of side effects. If you are not getting enough sleep, you already know that you feel unrested and tired in the daytime. But what other possible side effects can be related to insomnia ?

Side Effects of Insomnia:

Mental :

this is the first side effect that we all notice when we don’t get enough sleep is a change in our behavior. We can be a little irritated to seriously confused. Memory is affected and also your ability to concentrate. Your body needs sleep to regenerate physically and mentally and function normally.
Stress is usually a cause for not being able to sleep, and the insomnia makes us weaker physically, and enables us to deal with the stress. Then starts the vicious cycle. We are stressed, so we don’t sleep well – not sleeping creates anxiety and then we can’t sleep. We stress over not sleeping. Insomnia over time can lead to anxiety disorders and depression disorders.

Physical :

the minor side effect related to insomnia are headaches, pain in the muscles and joints ache

Sleeping is vital. Over time, if the sleeping disorder gets worse, the side effects can get more serious. If your body doesn’t sleep, it has to find a way to function to keep you alive. It will shift it’s attention to the vital organs and the blood is channeled away from the secondary organs. Then the insomnia side effects can include rashes or severely dry skin and loss of hair.

Treatment :

Insomnia side effects are treatable. You have to restore the sleep pattern. There are different types and levels of insomnia. Identifying the cause of not being able to sleep is of course the first step. It might be a medical or physical cause (like physical pain or pregnancy hormones ) or it might be anxiety and stress.

Here is a list of natural herbs that are known to relax the nervous system and induce sleep. A complete “Insomnia Herbs” collection to use as herbal teas, infusions or in your bath to help correct the imbalances and restore sleep.

Herbs can be taken alone but are usually found in “ready-made” combinations in pills and tea bags. Some you can take during the day too.

Passionflower (Passiflora incarnate)
Passionflower is one of the best tranquilizing herbs for sleep problems, because it is both a sedative and antispasmodic. It relieves pain, relaxes tensions in the muscles and clams the nerve system. Passionflower also has “cooling” proprieties, it treats what causes our bodies to get too hot. It is also used to treat dry coughs.

Valerian (Valeriana officinalis)

Valerian is used as a sedative and antihypertensive. It Improves deep sleep (stage 3 and 4 of your sleep) and does not cause daytime sleepiness. It is more popular in the form of a pill because of the smell… It is said to smell like garbage ! Valerian is the strongest of the “insomnia herbs” so it should be taken for occasional insomnia and before bedtime only.

Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile)
Chamomile is gentle, so you can use in the daytime. It is used for anxiety, indigestion, inflammation and it eases digestion too

Hops (Humulus lupulus)
Hops is recommended for insomnia related to anxiety and tension. It can relieve headaches and indigestion. Do not take during pregnancy. Many studies have shown the effectiveness of hops combined with Valerian. Can be taken as a capsule or a hot tea

It is also one of the main ingredients in beer, but I am mentioning this as a fun fact – please don’t think that bear will help you sleep !

see my article on alcohol and insomnia to read about the effects of alcohol on your sleep

Lavender
Lavender is also popular for its calming virtues and pleasant smell. It is mostly used in aromatherapy, but can also be infused.

Many other herbs are used to restore sleep naturally:

Jamaica Dogwood (Piscidia piscipula)

Californian Poppy (Eschscholtzia Californica)

Lemon Balm

Oats

St John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum)

Wild Lettuce

Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora)

Insomnia is safely treated with melatonin. It is a natural hormone made by our body that controls our  internal biological clock and help sleep patterns. Melatonin is now available in natural supplements ( yes, a pill !) and can help curing insomnia and maybe even more…

What is melatonin ?

Melatonin is a natural hormone. Our body makes it, it is produced by the pineal gland in the brain and then secreted into our blood. It is a hormone that is triggered when we close our eyes, because the amount of light is decreased. How much and how often this hormone is secreted sets our internal biological clock .

It is known that the pineal gland secretes less of this hormone with age. It could be a reason why elderly people have more problems falling asleep. Many other factors can influence the amount of melatonin and when the amount is irregular ( not enough, or not the right time) we don’t get enough quality sleep. This could lead to insomnia and all it’s side effects.

What is melatonin used for ?

This hormone is available in a pill since the mid 1990’s. It was then promoted to help  frequent travelers and jet lag. This pill can reset you to a new time zone easily and safely.

Melatonin is also a anti-oxidant, so now a days, it is claimed that this pill has many virtues : it can extend a person’s life, alleviate certain forms of anxiety and depression, relieve headaches and migraines, improve your sexual sex life and retard the growth of some cancers.

Many think otherwise, but it is generally accepted as your best option if you need to take a pill for your insomnia because it is not a drug. It causes you to become sleepy. You do not feel drugged.

Is it safe ?

Melatonin is considered a food supplement, not a drug. This is why the federal drug administration (FDA) does not regulate this product. It is a concern for some people, but studies report that it is safe when used in recommended doses. (For short term uses of approximately 3 months. )

It is proven that it makes you feel more sleepy, you fall asleep faster and may sleep a little longer. And best of all :  you don’t feel the “hang-over” in the morning.

Let’s put it this way : if you are gonna take a pill to help you sleep, this is your best and safest option.

Everyone has nights where they just can’t fall asleep.  Clic here to learn more about Melatrol, a natural melatonin sleep aid. You will love Melatrol for it’s gentle and natural support and it WILL help you maintain healthy sleep cycles.

Do alcohol and insomnia mix well ?

It is getting late, you have to wake up early tomorrow morning, and you think that a little glass of wine or two will help you fall asleep faster. You might think there is nothing wrong with this little habit, but did you know that alcohol is worse for your sleep quality than caffeine ?

Alcohol and Insomnia

There is two main reasons why NOT to drink alcohol before going to bed :

1. alcohol will dehydrate the body
2. alcohol produces adrenaline in the body

These are two factors that will guaranty you tossing and turning and keep you up during the night. It enables the body to fall into deep sleep – the most important stage of your sleep. It will probably also make you get up a few times during the night. You will need to go to drink some water and you will need to go to the bathroom !

There is many causes and many types of insomnia. If you know you have problems sleeping the last couple of days because you are living a stressful period, there is no problems taking a little alcohol to wind down and help relax a little. Alcohol is a well-known muscle relaxant. But do it early in the evening and allow yourself to calm down. Avoid alcohol within 2 hours of bedtime and don’t make it a habit. Alcohol and insomnia do not mix very well.

Doctors used to suggest alcohol as a sleep aid (!), but we now know that alcohol will disturb your sleep and not “restore” your body like natural sleep.

But don’t be in denial. If you are chronically suffering from insomnia and taking alcohol to help you sleep, you are in an unhealthy vicious cycle. The alcohol will then be causing your insomnia.

If you drink regularly, even just one drink per day, you might have problems sleeping when you stop drinking also. Insomnia caused by alcohol withdrawal is temporary but can last up to a few weeks.

Yes, we do feel more sleepy with alcohol, but it is not a solution if you are suffering from insomnia. It also enables the body to fall into deep sleep. You might fall asleep faster, but you are sacrificing your quality of sleep and will feel “drained” in the morning. Alcohol and insomnia do not mix very well.

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