Busting The Top 10 Sleep Myths Wide Open

Sleep is the consummate target for myth creation. Whether it be curing insomnia with the latest snake oil - myth, or telling your child to stay awake so he'll be sleepy on your next road trip - myth. The themes and logical assumptions range from comical to tragic, and as we all know, there are so many out there circulating around the water coolers and clubs of this world. Below you can read about the most popular myths about a good night's sleep, and why they are absolute rubbish.

Myth 1: Sleep merely means to rest

Truth:
Sleep is much more than just a period of rest; it is an essential time for the body to perform routine maintenance, creating long-term memories, and repairing damage from your day. Getting between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each day ensures your body and mind will function well the next day.

Myth 2: Sleep Is A Passive Event

Truth:
Sleeping is not at all passive. The brain can be more active during dream sleep than it is in an awake state. Although the metabolic activity during dream sleep is high, it is essential in rejuvenation, memory rebuilding, and feeling refreshed.

Myth 3: The more I dream, the more tired I am.

Truth:
It is well accepted that dream sleep is important to rejuvenation, and to feeling refreshed. All dreams, even nightmares, are good for people.

Myth 4: Losing an hour of sleep is no big deal.

Truth:
When you get less sleep than you need, your ability to do certain cognitive and physical activities is greatly reduced. As sleep loss builds over time you develop a sleep debt. Having a sleep debt can interfere with hormones that monitor your appetite, change your moods and increase the risk of long term illness.

Myth 5: You can learn to get less sleep.

Truth:
There is absolutely no way to “train” yourself to get less sleep. Research has shown that restricting a person to only 5 hours of sleep per night for a period of weeks can severely effect performance, impair judgment and cause mood swings. There have been studies done in the late 1980's that have linked chronic sleep debt with depressive disorders.

Myth 6: Naps are wasteful.

Truth:
Naps are a great way to catch up on lost sleep. After taking naps people can accomplish cognitive tasks much quicker and feel refreshed. Naps are also an excellent way to train someone to fall asleep quicker, which is very beneficial to anyone with insomnia. It is worth noting that napping for longer than an hour or after 3pm can make it more difficult to fall asleep at night.

Myth 7: There is such a thing as sleep “Catch up”.

Truth:
Simply put, when you don't get the proper 7 to 9 hours of sleep, you are accumulating a sleep debt. On weekends it would seem ideal to wake up later to catch up on lost slumber. However, it is much more efficient and healthier to develop a daily schedule that allows you a consistent 7 to 9 hours per night.

Myth 8: Snoring is normal and indicates a state of deep sleep.

Truth:
It's no surprise to know that snoring is very common, frequent snoring can be indicative of very serious sleep disorders. If someone has complained about consistent snoring, or noticed you are short of breath during sleep, you may have fallen victim to the disorder of sleep apnea. It would be very wise to head to a sleep specialist for a sleep evaluation. If you have sleep apnea there are many successful treatments that can help you sleep better and feel more refreshed during the day.

Myth 9: Children with less sleep will become more tired.

Truth:
Children have very different metabolisms than adults. If you think that by making your child stay awake in order to tire him/her out for an upcoming trip, e.t.c... think again. Children without enough sleep have a tendency to produce an excess of adrenaline and can end up more energetic, even hyper-active from a lack of sleep. Sleep deficits in children have successfully been linked with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder). Furthermore, children with sleep apnea have been linked with poor school performance and lower sports and health activities. Put bluntly, children need an incredible amount of quality sleep.

Myth 10: Older people need less sleep.

Truth:
Older people have a tendency to get less sleep than young and middle aged adults, but that does not mean they need less. The fact is that older individuals need the same amount of rest as the rest of us, only older people may not be able to achieve this easily due to lower melatonin levels circulating in the blood. This is why you may notice older people nap more throughout the day, as their bodies try to make up for the lack of sleep during the evening.

There you have it. My first Top 10 list. If you have any other myths that need dispelling, leave them in the comments, and I'll be sure to play myth buster and test the theories. As with sleeping itself, plenty of the most popular insomnia cures are also based on pure myth, just so you know. My mother used to say that well informed is well armed, and when it comes to curing a string of long, sleepless nights she was right on the money. The next time someone tells you that in order to fall asleep you should run naked in the woods or bathe in motor oil, check in to this site before you get arrested for streaking or catch fire. :)

Is Sleep Apnea A Silent Killer?

They say osteoporosis is a silent killer, as it's almost impossible to detect until the damage is done to your bone mass. It is usually discovered only after you've been hospitalized for a broken bone. Another condition that can lead to underlying serious illness is the condition known as sleep apnea. As insomnia cures develop over the years, more and more people are turning to sleep clinics and specialists to diagnose their sleeplessness - only to find out they have developed sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is caused by pauses in breathing during sleep. A standard definition of an apneic event will be 10 continuous second intervals between breaths. This can cause a blood oxygen de-saturation of 3 to 4%. This condition is diagnosed normally with an overnight sleep study called a polysomnogram. Now, I'm not going to bore you with medical terminology, but it is worth noting that a decrease in your blood oxygen night after night, undiagnosed for years has many adverse effects on your well being.

I was actually inspired to write this article from a comment on my most recent post, titled Steve Martins Ambien Experience. While sleep apnea is not necessarily insomnia, it very much negatively affects the quality of sleep we get and thus I have studied it's causes and treatments often in my tenure. Of all the sleep disorders, sleep apnea can cause the greatest amount of direct physiological damage to our bodies, due to the reasons I listed above.

Sleep apnea occurs in two main types: obstructive sleep apnea, which is the more common form. This occurs when throat muscles relax. Central sleep apnea is the second form, and occurs when your brain cannot send proper signals to the muscles that control breathing. Additionally, some people have complex sleep apnea, which is a combination of both.

Some medical problems that can result from sleep apnea are:

• heart disease
• high blood pressure
• sexual dysfunction
• learning/memory problems
• Cardiovascular problems
• Complications with medications and surgery

There are other areas that can be severely affected by undiagnosed sleep apnea, these just scratch the surface.

Are You At Risk?
If you can answer yes to any of the following human conditions, you may be at risk for developing sleep apnea.

1. If you have high blood pressure or hypertension, sleep apnea is not uncommon.
   
2. You may have inherited a naturally narrow throat or have enlarged adnoids and/or tonsils, all of which can block your airway.
   
3. If you are male you are statistically twice as likely to develop sleep apnea.
   
4. Sleep apnea occurs 2 to 3 times more often in adults over 65.
   
5. A family history of sleep apnea puts you at increased risk.
   
6. The use of alcohol, sedatives or tranquilizers relax the muscles in your throat and can lead to blockage.

There have been remarkable advances in the treatment of this disorder, so if you are at all suspicious about this problem, see a sleep specialist to find out about the latest therapies, such as CPAP, oral appliances, or even surgery. The treatments will differ depending on the type of apnea you are diagnosed with, but all are ery effective.

Should you wish to try your own insomnia cure, or in this case sleep apnea cure, there are a few lifestyle adjustments you should make to alleviate the symptoms, but only until you get to a proper sleep specialist. These are not really cures (of course) but they can help.

1. Lose excess weight. Even a slight decrease in weight can help relieve constriction in your throat.
   
2. Avoid alcohol, sleep meds and tranquilizers.
3. Sleep on your side or abdomen rather than your back.
4. Keep your nasal passages open at night by using a saline nasal spray. My clinic has used this product as it contains aloe to keep from drying out the nasal passage. Decongestants and/or antihistamines work as well, but most of these types of medications are for short term use only.
5. Raise your torso and head 4 to 6 inches during your sleep. You can achieve this with a sleep aiding pillow, such as the one located here, which comes highly recommended. Other pillows come designed with people using CPAP therapy to assist their night time breathing. If you are already implementing a CPAP therapy, an excellent sleep aid pillow can be found here.
   

Remember, if you suspect that you or someone you love may have sleep apnea, don't wait for another insomnia cures post to nag you into doing something about it. Contact a sleep specialist and take a proper test now. You may add years to your life by being proactive.

Steve Martin's Ambien Experience

Before I explain both the virtues and vices of the popular insomnia cure prescription tablet Ambien, take a look at this video.



I'm not sure if you remember my mentioning the bizarre and adverse effects that can occur for some people who use Ambien, Stilnox, or as it's generically known zolpidem? It was featured in this post. Well if not, I eluded to things good old Steve talks about above, and I can guarantee you that in the video Steve Martin is NOT telling David Letterman a joke. Although it is quite hilarious, the poker experience actually happened to him. These kinds of bizarre things have been known to happen to some people who take this medication.

I'm certainly not suggesting that if you take Ambien you'll become an internet poker millionaire in your sleep, but it is worth it that I point out the incredibly elaborate and complex functions some are capable of completing under the influence of Zolpidem.

Perhaps you remember the story of a Senator (Patrick Kennedy) who was found after he had crashed his car into a security brigade at the US capital? The police assumed he was drunk (Kennedy + drunk = not much of a mental leap) Of course it was later confirmed by blood tests that he had no alcohol in his system. Yes, that, my fair and gentle readers, was another bizarre adverse effect felt from Senator Kennedy taking an Ambien tablet prior to his accident. Here's the link to the full story.

Some other stories that you may find amusing regarding Ambien are the tale of a house wife in Michigan. Apparently she fell to a sound sleep after taking an Ambien tablet, and when she woke the next day her front door was painted green (the kind of green paint used to finish decks). Since she was alone she assumed it was some kind of practical joke, but later she realized that it must have been her sleep painting (?) as her bed clothes and slippers were splashed with the paint. Now I can think of many things I'd like to get done while I'm walking in my sleep, painting the front door is definitely not one of them.

Another story, and one entirely not amusing, is about a Korean man prescribed Stilnox who walked off his 23rd story balcony to his death. He was happily married with a good job and no reason to commit suicide. The only difference between that night and any other for him was that his doctor had recently prescribed Zolpidem to help him sleep.

So now you know what horrors, embarrassments and potential winfalls await you from the use of this drug. I am not saying it is not completely beneficial to getting a good nights sleep, in fact it is one prescription that frequent travellers swear by. But it should also be noted that people in hotel rooms have been known to wander from their rooms into the hallways of hotels to relieve themselves, thinking in their sleep state that the outer hallway is a bathroom. This, according to an official at the Grand Hyatt, is a very common occurence.

My advice is that if you must take an Ambien, you make sure you've locked yourself in for the night - keeping the doors double latched to prevent any wandering and keep the balcony doors tightly sealed from any sleepwalking incidents.

Again I cannot crucify this medication as it truly does help people sleep, people who are afflicted with most types of insomnia. I have used it myself on occasion, and can attest to the fact that it will knock you out cold fairly quickly. The newer timed release versions will also let you sleep longer - as normal Ambien has a very short half life. The plain truth is it works well, and these side effects are on the rare end of the spectrum. However in this case, saying "it will never happen to me" is a fool's wage. Make sure you have taken precautions.

So just remember to be careful of your insomnia cures as some remedies contain serious medications. Be aware that you must have some preperations in order before taking drugs to help you sleep, to ensure you cannot fall victim to this kind of side effect. And for the love of all things good in this world, NEVER take sleep medications while you are drinking alcohol.

Men At Work

Nope, not the '80's Aussie band. I just wanted to let you faithful and sleepless readers know that the blog is undergoing a complete redesign, which means occasionally you may end up here and see some fairly wonky stuff going on.

As a brief explanation, the site is being redesigned because I have just been sponsored by a sleep research clinic located at a very reputable hospital, and as such I will be adding sponsors and migrating visitors over from their own sleep disorder static site.

This is a huge job for someone who thinks "code" means my credit card pin number. Doh! Please be patient gentle reader!! In the meantime, for some reading on other subjects that are close to my heart, as well as some faithful subscriber blogs, please head to Juicing Recipes or to The Interior Living Room . They don't have insomnia info unfortunately, but both are great reads for your health, and for remodeling your home, things many of us think about on sleepless nights. Also, the site owners there are.

• far ahead of me in knowing how to make a blog look decent
  
• too busy to help me figure out this nonsense, and
• very passionate about their subject matter.

I hope to have everything back to normal within the week. In the meantime, if you decide not to visit my subscriber blogs, you can read my recent posts What's Under Your Pillow, and 5 Insomnia Cures You Already Knew as they contain some golden nuggets of insomnia research and facts.

Feel free to comment if there's anything you may want to see included in the new site design. :)

What's Under Your Pillow?

Somniphobia - The fear of sleeping?

Now here is something one wouldn't consider a topic of conversation for people looking for insomnia cures. After all, insomniacs are not afraid of sleep, we desperately crave it, yes?

Many people who suffer from a continual lack of sleep can develop some form of somniphobia, or the fear of sleeping. Perhaps we're not afraid of sleep in the traditional sense of the word somniphobia - but due to the dread and anxiety we know will come when it's time to sleep we can develop a fear of what will happen from our efforts. What we actually fear is the pain of anxiety and frustration from our insomnia.

What happens to most of us sleep challenged folk when it's time to turn off the lights and seek the restorative work of nature? Well, in some cases we instantly feel anxiety over the possibility of not falling asleep, and our minds race with the prescience of our inevitable coming agony. In this case we face a downward spiral of adding more and more stress to a time of day when relaxation is all we should be pursuing. Eventually this can lead to a trigger for the other conditions responsible for us not sleeping, and in some cases this fear will become the principal trigger itself.

This condition is almost omnipresent in people who suffer chronic bouts of insomnia, fearing sleeplessness that is, but some of us have deeper roots than others. It's not always a fear of sleeplessness, sometimes it actually is exactly as the word implies - a fear of sleep. Personally, under a great deal of scrutiny I came to discover that I have a distinct fear of falling unconscious from certain personal tragedies that occurred in my life during slumber. This, in turn, led to a lasting irrational and subconscious fear that if I slept bad things would happen to those I loved, and thus it came to a point when sleep wouldn't come until I was physically incapable of remaining awake. My record, as I think I've mentioned before, is 11 days with no sleep.

Others can develop this fear from the threat of past - very real dangers within their environment. One woman I studied had absolutely no capacity for sleep - due to her involvement in an earthquake years before, while she lived in Taipei, Taiwan. She lives in Ohio now, but none the less, her irrational association of sleeping coupled with a dangerous earthquake had left her completely unable to find rest. This kind of associative memory is a persistent problem, often manifesting in the form of anxiety disorder, and it does require therapy and potentially medications, to deal with the underlying causes of irrational fear. But there are things we can do to try and help ourselves.

One program that greatly helped me to relax my fear of sleeping was a sleep optimization course very similar to this one. Over a 3 CD course it can greatly dissolve the fears we develop in falling asleep and, incredibly, it does work.

To find real insomnia cures we really have to become relentless in our pursuit, diligent, and we have to recognize that which robs us of what our bodies and minds need. So if you feel you may have developed some irrational fears about sleeping, think back to any time in your life when something may have disturbed you while you slept, perhaps something that left a lasting negative effect. If you find something, write it down, make a note of it, and prepare yourself to deal with this fear in your waking hours. If you can't think of any external memory that may be responsible for a fear of sleeplessness, perhaps you have developed a propensity to worry over your sleeplessness, thus adding to your agony. In future posts we will delve into certain actions and lifestyle changes you can make to combat this problem.

Either way there may not be any magical insomnia cures, but learning about your fears and anxieties come sleep time can go a long way to allowing you some peace of mind. Sleep optimization programs will help, but long term success is dependent on knowing the root causes of your insomnia.

5 Insomnia Cures You Already Knew

The insomnia cures that most of the blissfully unaware people prescribe for us are notoriously oversimplified, comical and sometimes absolutely infuriating. The problem is that some of the more annoying things people say actually can help us with sleeplessness, but due to the gravity of our problem we tend to overlook the obvious at times. I know when my sister says "You'll sleep fine if you just stop drinking coffee" I quietly explain that "it's just not that simple", and then I go somewhere so I can beat my head against the wall in abject frustration.

For some of us though, it really is as simple as ... say... turning of the radio, or fixing the leaky pipe that drips aural madness into our ears. Yes, insomnia is a very complex problem with many far reaching causes and conditions, but in some cases it's not necessarily a complex solution. We must be very careful not to overlook what may contribute to our problem just because it seems so brain dead or simple.

The following are a few of the more elementary cures that people have likely mentioned to you at least once, and a few that you may not have known about that have proven effective in certain transient sleep disorders. My advice is that if you haven't tried the following you should, as every little bit helps.

1. Avoid caffeine after 3 pm. This may seem ridiculously over stated but there are many products containing caffeine that we are not necessarily aware of. For example, many pain relievers contain caffeine - such as extra strength Panadol/ Tylenol. You may cure your headache at the expense of sleep. Also note that Tea can give you as much of a caffeine fix as coffee. Try to be vigilant about what you put in your body and read the ingredients when you're not sure - as you can be getting stimulants in your blood stream at the exact wrong moment, without even knowing it.
2. Don't read, watch TV, or plan your next vacation while you're in bed. You have to develop a rule about the bed and bedroom, which is that your bedroom exists for two reasons only; sleeping and having sex. If you have a 42" Plasma and your IMac in your bedroom, get rid of them. If you have a stack of great books and magazines on your night stand, put them elsewhere. Your goal is to train your mind to do what should come natural, to trigger your body to react to your sleep location by adjusting and relaxing. Where you rest your bones has to be conducive to a good nights sleep, not a place where you can watch a movie, check your emails, or read about skydiving.
   
3. Get some sunlight during the day. If you can't get sunlight, look into some form of light therapy. In future posts I will detail some light therapies known to have positive results. Getting vitamin A through sunlight is very beneficial to your body in the first place, but it has also been known to help people sleep at night. Studies show that people who don't receive enough sunlight are far more prone to sleep disorders, and it's also well known that sunlight is necessary to regulate your body's circadian rhythm.
4. Start a journal. You may ask how this would help you sleep, but it is a powerful technique known to help certain sleep disorders. Anything worth noting is worth worrying over, and for most of us letting go of daily problems and ambitions is not that easy. Somehow by documenting our daily activity it can allow us to purge ourselves from problems that would otherwise keep us awake, obsessing to find answers.
   
5. Find your Zen. There is always one scene that we can find in our minds eye that will relax us. Some of us may have a harder time figuring out what that scene is, but somewhere in the annals of time there exists a memory wherein we were completely at peace and relaxed. Once you discover what that scene is for you, practice recalling it by remembering how it smelled, what you heard, how your body temperature was, e.t.c... Sensory recall is a very powerful trigger, so use it to recall calm and restful moments.
   

Trying these things for a few days and giving up is not effective, as most of these techniques require a period of time for your body to adjust. However most of what is listed above is crucial to ensuring you can get a good nights rest and things that should never be taken for granted or ignored. They are not so much techniques as lifestyle adjustments, so before you run off to get your insomnia cures from a doctor or your local pub, make sure you have treated your own environment accordingly. It may be all you need to get a good nights rest.

All You Need Is Love... (and some freaking sleep!)

Insomnia. This condition has been the bane of my existence since I was a small child, and my quest to find insomnia cures has led me to the most ridiculous ends. This site lends empathy and hope to you if you suffer sleeplessness. Perhaps I can help stop you from ending up in the same dark alleys as I have, just from trying to alleviate the agony of persistent sleeplessness. Maybe you've already been down those horrid roads yourself, and if that's the case I truly sympathize and offer you sincere optimism here.

As it happens you may have arrived here just because you care deeply for someone with insomnia, and you wish to help. Either way, the words and advice you will read here are golden, for if sleeplessness were money I would be the richest man on the planet. My experiences in chasing away this sickness are truly epic in proportion, and my solutions work.

I certainly won't tell you that there is one magical formula to beating insomnia because there is no miracle cure. There are reasonable and appreciable steps that can be taken that will help, and using these steps over time in a partnership with adopting proper sleep hygiene techniques you truly can get a good nights sleep on demand.

Having said that, it should be noted that pharmacology has made incredible advancements in sleep aids and these pills do have a great appeal to those afflicted with insomnia, but using them comes at potentially a very steep price. Under no circumstances do I condone or promote the use of medications to treat chronic insomnia for any length of time, even though these pills work almost magically. Here's why:

• Sleeping pills become redundant and over time and you will need to take more and more to achieve the desired effect.
• Sleeping pills will negatively affect your short term memory; I'll get back to you in 10 years to let you know if it affects long term memory.
  
• Modern sleeping aids, called benzodiazepines, can place you in a trance-like state of sleepwalking, sleep eating, or sleep*insert embarrassing activity here*. Take it from personal experience and my own research into the subject, this happens a great deal more than is reported. There are stories of adverse drug reactions that range from the mildly comical to the absolutely tragic.
  
• A cold turkey withdrawal from these medications is akin to being driven quickly insane. I am not exaggerating in the least - there are many case studies wherein this has proven true. In fact withdrawing from certain commonly prescribed sleep aids (such as Xanax) have been reported to lead to prolonged and semi-permanent depressive disorders. Also a complete withdrawal from these substances can take up to 6 months or more, and most general practitioners are not really up on this fact when they prescribe these drugs.
  

So alas, it really doesn't work for me to just throw up an affiliate link and send you on your merry way without being fully armed with knowledge.That knowledge is this: with chronic insomnia you have to adopt a multi-phaseal approach. If your condition is acute in nature, there are some excellent techniques and products that will soothe your nerves and slow down your mind enough to fall into blissful slumber. In some instances these remedies even helped me on occasion, even though I am what you would call a hard core chronic case. So if you are not suffering insomnia in a chronic or long term capacity I really suggest you try some of the helpful links listed here on the site.

Unfortunately, if your insomnia is of a more chronic nature then buckle down because it does take time and experimenting to find what works best for you. Read on, ask away, learn and interact here, and eventually you will discover that sleeping is not as elusive as you may think. There are some very effective insomnia cures right here and what is not listed can be, just suggest it. We can recognize the problem, and once you can recognize it you can solve it.