Insomnia Cures Hunts Down A Few Ghosts and Aliens

Thanks to some great and entertaining email questions, Insomnia Cures has decided to go on the hunt for the monsters under your bed. Why? Well... umm... because we can :). So let's start with a few questions: Have you ever awakened convinced you have been abducted by aliens? Ever had a spooky experience with a ghostly apparition and thought for sure it was real, only to later recall it as a dream? Well, discounting the paranormal and your normal dreams momentarily, let's consider that what may have happened is a rare case of sleep paralysis.

I say rare because for a normal person this kind of an event happens once or twice in a lifetime with no lasting problems as a result. However there are some who experience this quite often, and because it is rarely talked about (thus seldom diagnosed) it can lead to waking conditions such as stress, anxiety, and even PTSD.

Sleep paralysis has been described as being a condition wherein you are experiencing some effects of REM sleep (muscle atonia) while you are still somewhat conscious. Thus, it only happens noticeably when you are falling asleep or waking up. It can last for a mere moment or continue on for several minutes and in almost every case it causes the afflicted to feel a panic response, and/or extreme anxiety.

6 Essential Tips When You're Afraid To Fall Asleep

Insomnia Cures is back after a very long hiatus! Yep, it's been awhile, as the real world of work and study has bogged me down these past few months. But believe me when I say I haven't forgotten about this, my home on the web, and to that end let me say how much I appreciate all the emails I've received in the interim. My readers rock!

Today I want to dig a bit deeper into the concept of being afraid to fall asleep. As I mentioned before in my post (What's Under Your Pillow?) there are many reasons that people can find it hard relaxing when it's time to wind down. The most common being anxiety that can come when you become aware of your sleeping problems. This can sometimes lead to abnormal stress and worry over whether or not you will actually sleep. The nagging feelings can start as much as 90 minutes or more before bed time, meaning that by the time you lay your head to pillow, you've wound yourself up so much by worrying that sleep becomes next to impossible.

Insomnia Cures and Sleep Apnea: A Potential Breakthrough.

Firstly, here at insomnia cures and treatments we like to give props where they're appropriately due. That being said, I'm often compelled to mention that Europe is often at the cutting edge of sleep  research, and it's usually the Swiss doing the heavy lifting. Lately, however, an *American company is beginning a pilot study in Belgium, and have developed something extremely promising in the treatment of sleep apnea.

If you're unfamiliar with sleep apnea you can read my previous article "Is Sleep Apnea A Silent Killer?". That post will definitely fill you in. If you do know - perhaps far too well - what a scourge sleep apnea can be and have been treated for it in the past, at some point you've likely been introduced to a device known as CPAP. A CPAP device - put simply - is a largish mask that provides continuous airflow, which in turn keeps the airway from closing during sleep.

The main problem with CPAP is that it's a rather Draconian, a pretty laborious set up, and can be as uncomfortable as a toothache. You can see from the picture above how it would take a good deal of time to get used to sleeping with the device on. From my experience, most people who have been given CPAP will end up throwing it in the trash after a few attempts, if only because it is so uncomfortable and hard to get accustomed to using. While that may not be the smartest thing to do for someone afflicted with Apnea, I can certainly understand the frustration.

Turning The Tides on Depression and Insomnia

Once in a "blue moon" (as my mother used to say) not sleeping is no reason for alarm. In the world today there are literally thousands of external stressors that will cause an occasional bout of acute insomnia. These stressors won't always lead you to a bad case of depression and insomnia. On that occasional sleepless night, you are best served by simply using the awake time to catch up on some reading, watch a good movie, and otherwise not concern yourself that you'll never sleep again.

It's only when insomnia turns chronic and habitual that we have to look at the underlying causes, to try and find a solution that helps. And by helping to solve the problem without hurting us in some way we must look to natural remedies first, otherwise our treatments can result in having a reverse of their intended effect. Certain medications for example, such as over the counter and prescription sleeping pills, can hinder our body's own natural ability to affect sleep and therefor they should be considered as only a last resort, and most importantly, only as a short term solution. Being dependent on prescription sleep aids is not a good road to travel.

Depression and Insomnia Like Each Other, A Lot.

Depression and insomnia go hand in hand. While it may be a common assumption that depressed people sleep a lot, in at least as many cases of depression a significant lack of sleep is noted. As a result, chronic insomnia is often a symptom of deeper rooted depressive disorders, and when looking into causes for insomnia, doctors will often closely examine a patients current state of mind. If depression is successfully diagnosed, in many instances insomnia will be the result of that depression.

This is why, in some cases, when people seek out a doctor to help with insomnia they are prescribed an SSRI tablet as a treatment option. In cases of chronic insomnia coupled with depression, it is very common to be provided with a short term dose of popular sleep medications as well as the longer term SSRI meds. This is done because an SSRI takes time, sometimes up to 2 weeks to be effective at inhibiting seratonin re-absorption. A sleeping pill is used to allow for proper rest until the SSRI is up to speed in your system. I'll get into that a little more later on, but if you were treated for insomnia with a prescription sleeping med as well as an SSRI such as Prozac, e.t.c... don't panic, your doctor knows what he's on about.

Depression is normally treated with the ever popular Paxil, Zoloft, Prozac, e.t.c... which are all SSRI derivatives (Selective Seratonin Reuptake Inhibitors). As I eluded, these medications work to stop Seratonin from being reabsorbed back into the nerve cells of your brain. It useful to know what seratonin is, for the purpose of understanding how suh a deficiency can cause insomnia.

Your Sleep Kung Fu Could Be Way Too Strong!

Insomnia, acute or chronic, has many allies, contributing conditions that cause us to suffer greatly in the quest for proper rest. Caffeine, alcohol, artificially bright lights after 3pm, they are all culprits. An under-active pineal gland, due to any number of reasons, can cause a lack in the body's melatonin production - yet another very common culprit for a bout of insomnia.

Then comes the environmental causes. Babies crying, a loud neighbor or neighborhood, an unfamiliar surrounding - such as a hotel room, the cottage, or a friends couch. Even a ticking clock can become annoying enough to interrupt a good night's sleep to an insomniac.

The causes are great and many. But one that is seldom explored is a rare condition that can be hell for a person, or at least their spouse and/or sleeping partner.

Restless Leg Syndrome

RLS, also known as Wittmaack-Ekbom's syndrome, is an irresistible and uncontrollable urge to twitch and move - sometimes violently - in order to stop uncomfortable or peculiar sensations. People who suffer this condition describe it as having the extremities feel itchy, and/or they feel a burning sensation which is temporarily relieved by sudden twitches and movement. Although it most commonly begins as middle age sets in (40 - 50 years of age) it has been documented in infants all the way up to young adults.

The Road To Understanding Insomnia Starts Here

First off, if you're having trouble sleeping right now and need help, click the links below for some immediate solutions.

Life Sign Sleep Key

Sleep Tracks White Noise Therapy

Ambiatol

Magnetic Therapy Sleep Pad

Apollo Blue Light Therapy

If you're still reading, I thought I would take the time in this post to further help wrap our minds around insomnia. You see, contrary to popular belief, insomnia is a symptom, not a disease. It usually occurs in relation to a variety of medical, psychiatric and physiological disorders. Complaining of insomnia usually means you are upset by the following:

• difficulty falling asleep
• sleeping too lightly
• having multiple spontaneous awakenings
• early awakenings with an inability to fall back to sleep

It is important to assess the timing of insomnia in order to determine its' cause and origin. When you suffer from persistent sleeplessness it is crucial to define exactly how the condition is effecting you, being as specific as possible. This is why it is very important that each patient defines to the best of their ability what he or she means by the term “insomnia”.

Research has found that patients with insomnia show a variety of consistent features. They are more likely to have:

• higher rate of depression and depressive and/or anxiety issues
• longer daytime sleep latency (unable to rest during the day)
• an increased 24 hour metabolic rate
• more night to night variability in their sleep (irregular sleeping patterns)