I want to give you good, honest advice about insomnia and sleep aids.
It is critically important that everyone understands some basic principals when dealing with insomnia.
It is believed that almost everyone will suffer a bout of insomnia at some point in their life.
In most cases it is a mild case lasting one to two days.
In other cases it lasts for extended periods and can become chronic.
Here are some basic things to think about when you are confronted with a bout of insomnia: Triggers: What are the possible causes of your insomnia? This is a very important step in self discovery and determining the cause of your insomnia.
You should set down with a pad of paper and think about the changes in your life in the past few days or months.
Many people do not take the time to perform this task and it can prove to be a costly mistake.
This technique can be used to examine other aspects of your life as well.
Here are some of the most common insomnia triggers: Stress: This is the number one trigger of all insomnia attacks.
Write down anything in your life that you are experiencing stress about.
Think about anything in your life that has caused you stress lately.
It may be a problem at home or work? Money issues are the number one cause of most stress.
Stress causes a number of physical and psychological problems in our bodies.
In most cases the insomnia from stress is temporary and will go away as the problem causing the stress is eliminated.
Writing down your thoughts about what might be causing the stress can be very helpful.
It can help you formulate a plan to eliminate it.
Talking through the problems with someone else can also help eliminate the stress.
We may not be able to change our financial situation in the short term.
We can change how we react to the situation and control the stress.
Finding ways to eliminate stress will stop most bouts of insomnia.
Physical Issues: I often find that my allergies stop up my sinuses at night.
This changes my ability to breathe normally and is one reason for my insomnia.
In your sleep journal you need to write down any physical changes in your body that might be causing your insomnia.
It may be that you have a back ache and do not realize it is the cause of your insomnia.
You may also have a sleep apnea and are unaware.
Keeping a sleep journal and writing things down can help you decipher the cause of your insomnia.
Food and Drink: You should not eat or drink anything prior to going to sleep.
You should not have any caffeine after six p.
m.
Food and drink is another root cause of many people's insomnia.
Getting up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom breaks your sleep pattern.
Ok, let's talk about breaking the cycle.
You won't need your sleep aids to break the cycle.
If you find yourself in a bout of insomnia that is lasting more than a few days you may need to break the cycle.
This is not for everyone because it is difficult.
Here goes: To break the cycle we are going to actually force ourselves to stay awake as long as we can.
Hopefully, we are doing this on the weekend.
Don't allow yourself the luxury of your bed and sleep.
Stay up.
Occupy your body and mind.
Exercise; go for a walk, anything to stay awake.
Often, you will keep this up the next day and into the next evening.
If you keep this up as long as you can you will crash hard and sleep very well.
This technique is extreme and should only be used by those who are desperate to break the cycle of their insomnia.
I will often employ this technique after a long week of sleepless nights.
I will force myself to stay up that next day and will take my sleep aids the next night and will get a load of sleep.
This energizes my body and helps me get ready for the next sleepless week.
My insomnia is severe and has several causes, including terrible pain that does not enable me to get comfortable.
This technique should only be used with serious cases.
You should also have someone with you because it can cause one to be loopy.