Trouble Sleeping?

Two of my close friends are suffering from insomnia and since

learrning of their predicaments, I've been doing a little reading on

the subject in an attempt to help them as promised.

Now, its very easy to find remedies for such 'ailments' on the world

wide web by simply connecting to Google. I could've just left them to

that, but then where's the fun in that? Anyway, there's a lot of folk

remedies whose unnamed authors swear by. So, this makes it rather

difficult to decide on ones that work. I decided to mention a few

favorites I found and those that are practical.

Some that stood out for me include "sleeping with your head facing

North" which tells me that your sleep pattern is somehow affected by

the magnetic field of the Earth (even though the remedy fails to

mention whether it's true or magnetic North), and this may require a

change in deco as soon as you figure out which way is North.

Another one which I liked says that you"mustn't use your bed for

anything other than sleep or sex". But the question remains, what can

MV and N (that's what I'll call my two friends) do regarding their

sittuations?

Well, it helps to know what kind of insomnia one has before attempting

to 'cure' it. There's acute (primary) and chronic (secondary)

insomnia. The former lasts less than three nights and the latter can

lasts for many more nights and can drag on for a couple of months.

Now, the acute kind is very easily manageable as it has causes such as

stress and tension caused by the loss of a loved one, losing a job,

anxiety for exam results (MV?) and various other related causes.

Anyway, the more serious kind, the chronic insomnia could be caused by

underlying mental and physical ailments such as (clinical) depression

and other illnesses. I suggest you consult a doc if you suspect you

have this kind.

Some medications can also interrupt one's sleeping pattern, of note is

treatment for high-blood pressure, and for asthma.

N said "I drug myself to sleep" and that this has been going on for

months now. Unless these drugs are issued by a qualified practitioner

having diagnosed you of chronic insomnia, and having given you these

for temporary use, then I must tell you that over-the-counter sleeping

drugs can be dangerous overtime and they eventually lose their

effectiveness.

Problems, problems, but this still keeps you up at night and you need

solutions. You could try a few simple acts that are said to improve

your sleep 'hygiene'. The great thing about them is that they make

perfect sense and they're easy to do!

They include: exercising three or four hours before your scheduled

bed-time, a little reading to tire yourself up in case you wake up in

the middle of the night, keeping the same bed-time and wake-up time,

drinking warm milk before bed (yup, it works!), having your supper an

hour before sleep (a light snack in bed also helps), listening to

relaxing music (not depressing) and for all those worriers out there

(ladies) try writing a to-do list as that may help tame the worry-wort

in you.

I really hope this helps, and if you should find that it doesn't, I

again emphasize consulting a specialist as that might reveal something

deeper...my biggest worry being clinical depression.

If push comes to shove, counting sheep still remains an option. Goodnight.