30 Days to Better Sleep: Avoid Alcohol Near Bedtime
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<p>With few<a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://sleepdisorders.about.com/od/sleepdisorderstreatment/a/Sleeping-Pills-Overview.htm"> sleeping pill</a> options historically, difficulty falling asleep has been helped with home remedies, including a shot of alcohol. These "nightcaps" seem to make it easier to fall asleep, but with a better understanding of the effects, they are now discouraged. It seems to be a contradiction: alcohol makes...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 10, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
FDA Recommends Lower Doses of Ambien for Women
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<p>The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today recommendations for women to lower their doses of <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://sleepdisorders.about.com/od/sleepdisorderstreatment/a/Ambien.htm">Ambien</a>, a commonly prescribed <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://sleepdisorders.about.com/od/sleepdisorderstreatment/a/Sleeping-Pills-Overview.htm">sleeping pill</a>, in light of safety concer...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 10, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Create a Relaxing Buffer Zone with Sleep Rituals
Okay, so you don't need a bed made out of pillows to get to sleep. Nevertheless, you can sleep better by creating a relaxing buffer zone prior to trying to sleep. As part of this, you can incorporate sleep rituals that will put your mind to ease and help you fall asleep.
One of the first tasks is to draw a line in the sand. Let's face it, your day will never end. You will always have more work to do, another chore to complete, just one more thing to take care of. Even if you are not working, you might not be ready to go to bed. If your evening is your "me time", there are endless TV programs or movies to watch, sports to ...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 9, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Go to Bed Only When Sleepy
After carefully considering the difference between sleepiness and fatigue, you can now make an important choice: go to bed only when sleepy. Among people who suffer from difficulty falling asleep, a common occurrence as part of insomnia, this can be a life-changing decision. It also may defy common practice.
In early life, there is no decision made about when to go to sleep. A sleepy child is soon asleep. When the desire for sleep comes, no matter the timing, it is quickly indulged. As we get older, sleep becomes complicated by our behaviors. We may choose to stay awake, even fight sleepiness, to pursue pastimes. Alternat...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 8, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Learn the Difference Between Sleepiness and Fatigue
It may seem like semantics, arguing over the meanings of similar words, but it really does matter: What is the difference between sleepiness and fatigue? Not only may discriminating between these distinctive feelings identify different causes, but it may also help to treat insomnia.
Some people lose touch with what it feels like to be sleepy. Sleepiness or drowsiness is the extreme desire to fall asleep. Imagine that you are sitting after lunch in your most comfortable chair. You are cozy and relaxed. Your eyelids become heavy, each time they close they stay that way a moment longer. You are ready to doze off. You are sle...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 7, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Pay Off Your Sleep Debt
In these economic times, we are perhaps overly familiar with financial matters, including debts. As we put our collective financial house in order, it similarly may be appropriate to focus on improving our sleep by paying off our sleep debt. What is a sleep debt and what can be done about it?
The concept of sleep debt is meant to highlight that there are consequences to failing to meet your individual sleep needs and that, to a limited extent, you can correct this sleep deficit. As previously discussed, everyone has a specific sleep requirement in order to feel rested. Although it may average close to 8 hours, there is so...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 6, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Sleep at the Right Time for You
It is amazing how many people struggle to sleep due to the simple fact that they are trying to sleep at the wrong time. In order to better understand when you should be sleeping, it might be best to start by considering the two major reasons we sleep at all.
There is admittedly much that we don't know about sleep. Our current understanding nevertheless identifies two processes that contribute to our ability to sleep: homeostatic sleep drive and circadian rhythm. The first concept is rather simple: the desire for sleep builds the longer that we stay awake. No one will argue with this; it's easy to test. The science behind ...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 5, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Calculate Your Sleep Needs
You have been told that you need 8 hours of sleep, right? Well, that may not be completely accurate. In fact, there's a lot more to the story. Since you are setting out to sleep better, it's a perfect time to figure out what your goal should be.
Certainly 8 hours is often touted as the "average" amount of sleep an adult needs, but it is just that, an average. Let's expand that a little. The average healthy adult needs 7.5 to 8.5 hours of sleep each night. Even still, it is probably safe to think of this as a bell-shaped curve that extends to the extremes. There are some people who need 4 hours of sleep and others who need...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 4, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Lock the Pets Out of the Bedroom
In order to continue the advances made to create an ideal sleep environment, there is one additional heart-wrenching task: lock the pets out of the bedroom.
Many people insist that they wouldn't be able to sleep without their faithful cat or dog nestled amid the covers. In fact, some might even suggest that this favored pet would be unable to sleep without their human companions. If this sounds like a dependent relationship, it probably is, but it doesn't have to be.
You have been able to sleep without your pet and, much to your personal chagrin no doubt, your pet can sleep without you. In fact, you will probably sleep b...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 3, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Remove the Electronics from the Bedroom
On the path to better sleep, today's task requires a little manual labor: remove the electronics from the bedroom.
Ideally, your sleep environment should be a space that is maximally conducive to sleep. For most people, this involves having a devoted room in the home with a bed. It should be cool, dark, and quiet. It should be a space reserved for sleep and sex. It should be preserved as an area devoted to sleep. In order to accomplish this, you must remove the electronics.
Start by unplugging the television. Many people enjoy falling asleep to TV, but this can be a very disruptive part of the sleep environment. It can d...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 2, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Wake Up at the Same Time Every Day
If you have resolved to sleep better, you may be overwhelmed with where to even begin. When sleep problems creep into your life, it can be difficult to identify the entangled issues and set things right. Chances are that your trouble sleeping didn't fully develop overnight, so allow yourself the time you need to improve your sleep. Over the next 30 days you will be introduced to specific changes that you can make to sleep better. Depending on your individual needs, you may be able to pass by a recommendation without a second thought. However, for the advice that hits closer to home, take the time that you need to resolve t...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 1, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
