About what insomnia is, not only doctors, but also many of our contemporaries suffering from insomnia can tell. As statistical studies show, such a violation is one of the most common today. Surveys show that the number of sufferers is increasing daily. About a third of men, more than a third of all women, about a quarter of children suffer from sleep disorders, and among pregnant women this figure reaches 75%. Many do not take the pathology seriously, do not practice treatment and do not turn to specialists, hoping that the situation will resolve itself. This provokes the transition of the disease into a chronic form, neurological and mental disorders are formed, various diseases develop.
Relevance of the issue
Many people who know from their own experience what insomnia is, do not consider this pathological condition a sufficient reason to go to the clinic. Some prefer self-medication, but it only helpsin a small percentage of particularly mild cases. More often than not, you can’t deal with sleep disorders on your own. To achieve improvement in the condition, it is reasonable to consult a doctor. With insomnia, not only the quantity, but also the quality of night rest is disturbed, and this negatively affects a person’s ability to live and work, to function in society.
Talking about what insomnia is, doctors pay attention to the fact that such a pathological condition manifests itself in a variety of phenomena. Some are disturbed by intermittent sleep, frequent awakenings, difficulty falling asleep. They say about problematic falling asleep if you can’t fall asleep in half an hour or more. Another possible manifestation of insomnia is a low level of sleep efficiency. The patient wakes up without a feeling of rest, during the day he is constantly worried about fatigue and lack of energy.
Why is this important?
Doctors who have researched what insomnia is, have revealed the importance of sleep for human he alth. During the night's rest, the body gets the opportunity to restore energy reserves. A normal person needs 6-10 hours of sleep. On average, we need to sleep for about a third of our lives in order to function normally the rest of the time. During sleep, the brain structures are engaged in processing the information received. Elements of consciousness and subconsciousness are turned on and active, in addition, memorization processes work, both long-term and short-term. During sleep, a behavioral strategy is developed. Without sleepit is impossible to spend more than two hundred hours. A person who does not have the opportunity to sleep normally, qualitatively, enough, gradually loses activity, emotions, and the ability to respond to external conditions. Such a person is lethargic, often sick, because the lack of sleep weakens the immune system.
What provokes?
Insomnia is a condition that can be disturbing due to mental disorders, somatic diseases. Sometimes the reason is an emotionally unstable state, taking medications. Sleep disturbance is possible against the background of bad habits and if shortly before sleep a person eats a lot. To provoke a pathological condition can be an excess of thyroid hormones, a depressive disorder. Sometimes insomnia is observed in patients with neurosis, may accompany parkinsonism, indicate renal dysfunction or arthritis. If a person often worries, the reason for this is various kinds of problems (from small everyday ones to global ones), it is likely that the quality of his sleep is also quite low.
Most often, insomnia worries those who worry too much, suffer from mental disorders and diseases of the endocrine system. Among patients with insomnia, there are many individuals with apnea, neurological abnormalities. Insomnia is possible due to pain syndrome, frequent influence of external stimuli. Sleep problems are commonly seen in those who work the night shift, as well as those who have to change time zones.
Nuances of reasons
Studies show why sleeplessness at nightworries especially actively, for some, insomnia is due to individual characteristics of the state of he alth. Among such special factors are the age of a person and the specifics of temperament, as well as the general condition of the body, the presence of any diseases. Lifestyle plays an important role. Among the people complaining of sleep disorders, most of all are the elderly, pregnant women, as well as those who are forced to deal with a difficult life situation.
How to notice?
Usually, signs of insomnia immediately attract attention: a person has difficulty falling asleep, sleeps restlessly, wakes up often. After each such awakening, falling asleep again is a real problem, sometimes it is not possible to fall asleep until the morning. During the day the patient feels tired, he is apathetic and lethargic. All the symptoms are quite bright, it is not difficult to determine it.
Sick of insomnia in the daytime tends to be irritated, sluggishly reacts to external factors, inattentive and distracted. He is prone to mood swings. Gradually, this leads to the impossibility of functioning normally in society, while at the same time the person’s interest decreases, due to which he does not see the need to solve the problem. Many people are constantly drawn to sleep during the day. Often with insomnia, the head hurts, there are disturbances in the work of the stomach and intestines.
What to do?
If you are worried about insomnia, this does not mean that you should immediately take the most powerful drugs for insomnia. You can start with household methods to alleviate the condition. You will have to reconsider your daily routine and lifestyle, start eating right without absorbingexcess food in the evening. It is advisable to have dinner three hours before bedtime or earlier, do not drink alcohol and drinks containing caffeine shortly before a night's rest. The room in which the bed is located should be constantly ventilated. In the evenings, you can go for a short walk on foot to fall asleep faster, but TV and a computer are not the best option.
To minimize problems with falling asleep, you need to choose a comfortable mattress, pick up a quality pillow. If this is required by the characteristics of the body, it is reasonable to revise your daily regimen so that you have the opportunity to sleep for several hours. In general, the task of the patient is to stabilize the regime of work and rest.
The above measures are quite simple to implement, while helping to stabilize the ability to fall asleep, allowing you to maintain a high quality of sleep. But if there is no benefit and insomnia continues to bother, then you need to make an appointment with a doctor.
Clarification of the diagnosis
If prolonged insomnia reduces the quality of life, and simple methods of struggle do not give the desired result, it is wise to consult a doctor. To examine the patient, you can resort to the methodology of Epworth. It is supposed to use a special scale, according to which the level of drowsiness is assessed by points, the maximum is four. The doctor asks the patient questions, calculates points based on the answers received. It is necessary to examine the patient and refer him for instrumental examinations to rule out other serious pathological conditions. When diagnosing, take into account thatinsomnia can be mild or severe. Determining the therapeutic approach, they evaluate what caused the phenomenon, and fight against it.
Types and forms
According to the current classification system, insomnia is considered a condition in which the quantity and quality of sleep are regarded as unsatisfactory, while the patient notes this condition three times a month every week or more often. Studies have shown that night sleep is divided into two phases: during one, the eyes move quickly, while the second does not. The second phase is divided into four periods, of which two are slow waves, that is, deep sleep, during which the energy reserve is restored.
There is dissomnia in the classifier of pathologies. This is a broad concept that includes insomnia. It includes difficulty falling asleep, sleep instability, excessive feeling of sleepiness, medically called hypersomnia.
Causality
To assess which factor provokes the problem, study the features of insomnia. How to fall asleep, the doctor will explain when the nature of the phenomenon becomes clear. Doctors divide all phenomena into endogenous, exogenous. The second option is possible if a person neglects sleep hygiene, uses stimulants, psychoactive compounds, constantly finds himself in a stressful situation. An endogenous pathological condition is possible with idiopathic, physiological insomnia, sleep apnea, restlessness of the legs.
Insomnia can develop when circadian rhythms fail and an unfortunate, inappropriate work regimen. The psychophysiological variant often worries if a person is sleepingtoo little, for a long time was a victim of a stressful situation. Circadian rhythms can be upset in a variant in which the quality of non-REM sleep suffers, and fast sleep is possible. More often, the fast period goes astray in the elderly, the slow one in young people.
Before starting the treatment of insomnia in women, men, children, it is necessary to determine the nature of the phenomenon. Doctors distinguish sleep disorders due to adaptation, psychophysical causes. The phenomenon may be behavioral or idiopathic in nature. Mental disorders, improper hygiene, somatic disorders can provoke failures. One possible problem is pseudo-insomnia.
Each type has its own characteristics and nuances. For example, adaptive insomnia is provoked by the influence of aggressive stress factors and lasts up to a quarter of a year, but no more. But the psychophysical is accompanied by a feeling of fright caused by difficulty falling asleep. The closer the evening and the time of going to bed, the stronger the nervous tension of a person. The idiopathic form is observed in children, persists for a long time.
Real or not?
Sometimes children suffer from headaches and insomnia due to incorrect settings. So, if you accustom a child to the fact that before falling asleep he is always rocked, the absence of this process leads to a pathological condition. It's called behavioral insomnia.
Many mental pathologies manifest themselves, among other things, insomnia. On average, seven out of ten clientspsychiatric hospitals suffer from sleep disorders. There may be violations due to inattention to oneself and one's he alth, neglect of sleep hygiene. In some, somatic pathological conditions, such as an ulcer or arrhythmia, become the cause. If a person incorrectly takes drugs, in particular sleeping pills, sooner or later he also faces insomnia. A similar nature of the disorder is diagnosed if insomnia is caused by alcohol.
Pseudoinsomnia is a condition when the perception of the quality of rest and its duration is disturbed. People believe that they sleep very little, while the actual duration of rest is sufficient for the body.
Children get sick
Quite often, parents whose children suffer from sleep disorders try to figure out what to do with insomnia at home. Most often in minors, insomnia develops in psychophysiological, behavioral forms. There is a possibility of violations against the background of drug therapy and with somatic pathologies. The most common causes include pain, reflux, and seizures.
On average, every third preschool child has behavioral insomnia. This is possible with a disorder of the associative series, defective containment mechanisms, for example, a child may refuse to go to bed on time.
Do I need a doctor?
Although there are many options and tips on how to deal with insomnia at home, do not indulge in self-medication - thismay lead to undesirable consequences. In the case of insomnia, it is wise to contact a qualified doctor who will determine the nature of the phenomenon and choose the appropriate treatment option based on this. Some believe that it is enough just to take sleeping pills, sedatives, when there are difficulties with falling asleep. This practice can become a habit, a general poisoning of the body. Possible disruption of organs. Self-medication is harmful to he alth, while the root cause that provokes the problem is not eliminated.
Based on the specifics of the case, the doctor will advise how to cope with insomnia. Sometimes, for example, the doctor recommends not taking medication at all, but resorting to simple and safe folk recipes. In some cases, therapy with medicinal herbs, the help of a psychotherapist or psychologist are advised. Encephalophony may help.
Popular and not so popular
One of the surest ways to cure insomnia is to see a therapist. The doctor will help if sleep disorders are caused by stress factors, are associated with the activity of the nervous system, and are provoked by strong emotional experiences. During the sessions, the doctor teaches the client to treat the existing problem differently. To some extent, the doctor and the patient work with the psychosomatic roots of insomnia.
Encephalophony is relatively rare these days. To treat the patient in this way, the clinic must have specialized facilities. The essence of the procedure is the conversion of electricalbrain impulses into musical notes that allow the patient to listen.
The most popular non-drug treatment option in our country is herbal therapy. Classic sedative compositions are prepared using mint, medicinal chamomile. Melissa has a positive effect.
What do pharmacies have?
Many drugs have been developed to treat insomnia. It is not easy to determine which of the extensive pharmacy assortment is suitable for a particular patient. It is better to entrust the choice to a qualified doctor. An individual solution should be such that the drug fights the root cause, does not cause allergies and has a minimum of side effects. When choosing medicines, they try to find one due to which sleep will be of high quality and constant during the night, while in the daytime the effect would be minimal so that a person can function normally. Another problem with the selection of medications for insomnia is the likelihood of addiction.
When the doctor tells you which insomnia pills to try first, at the same time he will explain how to use them correctly so as not to harm yourself. Usually, the selection begins with medicines, which contain plant components. A popular representative of the category is "Persen". Sometimes treatment begins with the mild drug "Melaxen", the active component of which is melatonin. Having determined which remedy is more suitable for the patient, the doctor prescribes it for a twenty-day period.
Increasing the effect
If healers' advice and alternative medicine recipes (folk) were tried, it did not help with insomnia, when safe herbal preparations presented in pharmacies also did not give the desired result, the doctor prescribes sedatives or tranquilizers. They start with medicines made using melatonin. Due to tranquilizers, the feeling of anxiety and concern disappears, mental disorders weaken, sleep becomes better. It is necessary to use medicines only on the prescription of a doctor and under his supervision. It should be remembered that such drugs are known for a wide list of contraindications and undesirable effects of taking.
Of course, no one will sell tranquilizers to improve sleep without prescriptions. For insomnia, the doctor may prescribe Lormetazepam, Temazepam, Gidazepam. However, there is a possibility that this approach will not bring the desired result. When prescribing drugs from the benzodiazepine group to a patient, it should be remembered that for the elderly, formulations with the shortest half-life will be optimal. A remedy should be recommended to the client that, when ingested, does not transform into active metabolites.
On performance: nuances
If the patient is concerned not only with insomnia, but also with anxiety during wakefulness, a group of benzodiazepines with a long half-life comes to the rescue. They are resorted to if, with insomnia, folk remedies, pharmaceutical products of poor effectiveness, simple tranquilizers do not give the desiredtotal.
In recent years, benzodiazepines have been inferior in prevalence to antidepressants, showing a sedative effect. Patients with insomnia are prescribed Trazodone, Nortriptyline, Amitriptyline. Many patients who are prescribed Zaleplon, Zolpidem admit that they began to fall asleep much faster. Among the positive aspects - a short period of half-elimination, a relatively small list of undesirable consequences for the body.
About hormone treatment
There are practically no drugs dispensed from pharmacies without prescriptions, only rather strong substances that affect the human psyche help with insomnia, so the sale of products is strictly limited by laws. Among the relatively safe remedies that a doctor can recommend is Circadin. The main component of the medication is the artificially produced sleep hormone melatonin. Normally, the substance is responsible for regulating sleep, and if it is insufficient in the body, it may be recommended to take a synthetic substitute. Up to 5 mg of such a compound can be used per day.
"Circadin" is often prescribed to people over fifty years old who turned to a doctor for advice on what to take with insomnia to make it easier to fall asleep, and the rest itself would become more stable and better. The duration of hormonal treatment cannot exceed 3 weeks. Melatonin is able to react with luteinizing hormone, which imposes restrictions on the use of the drug by pregnant women and adolescent girls going through puberty.
Sleep and age
Very often, among other manifestations of menopause, there is insomnia. What to take in such a situation, the endocrinologist can tell the leading case. Many women, faced with menopause, cannot fall asleep at night, but during the day they are constantly drawn to sleep. Choosing various options and remedies that are useful in this case, they usually stop at plant-derived estrogens.
Often, among other he alth problems in old age, there is also insomnia. What to do at home, how to help yourself, is also better to learn from a qualified doctor. To many, insomnia seems like simple fatigue, while a person can fall asleep during the daytime, but problems are observed at night. Doctors advise drinking a glass of warm milk shortly before bedtime. You can take warm baths with herbal extracts that have a calming effect: chamomile, mint.
If sleep disturbances are observed in a child, perhaps the reason is a failure in the rhythm of sleep and wakefulness, as well as instability of the nervous system. Newborns often cannot sleep due to hunger, colic, stress, and temperature fluctuations. Older children often have insomnia if they have to move, change their place of study. One of the manifestations of worm infestation is insomnia. What to do at home, the infectious disease specialist will tell you, based on the results of the tests.
Homeopathy and sanatoriums
Homeopathy for insomnia offers several options for remedies that may be helpful. For example, at elevated temperature and insomnia, it is adviseduse aconite. If the condition is accompanied by a tendency to get irritated, the chilibuha will come to the rescue. With anxiety, sadness, worries and personal tragedy, ignatia can help.
Sanatorium and resort conditions are considered extremely useful. You need to go to a medical facility only after being examined by a doctor. The doctor will determine what caused insomnia, advise which sanatorium will be especially useful. For the entire period of stay in the institution, you will have to give up bad habits, clearly follow the regime of rest and wakefulness. As a rule, sanatoriums offer their clients a rich treatment program, including the use of he althy teas, massages and procedures, and physical education. In addition, there is the opportunity to spend a lot of time in the fresh air, and this is also very useful for sleep disorders.
Home Treatment
If it is not possible to go to a sanatorium for treatment, there is no need to take potent drugs, you can try Menovazin, Glycine, motherwort pharmacy extract. In addition, it is believed that sleep improves if you eat a little fresh onion shortly before rest. A dry bay leaf is sewn into the pillow. You can drink a medicine prepared from Cahors before going to bed. The drink is mixed with dill seeds, boiled for a third of an hour, and allowed to brew for another hour. The finished product is drunk in half a glass every evening.
Valerian infusion may help. Boil a glass of water on a tablespoon of chopped fresh rhizomes, let it brew for sevenhours. The finished medicine is consumed in a large spoon three times daily. The duration of the course will be advised by the doctor.
Nice and helpful
An insomniac can be referred for a massage. The doctor can explain and show you how to do a simple massage procedure yourself. As a rule, you need to go to the hospital for a massage once a week or two, while home treatments can be practiced every evening. The easiest and most reliable option is to massage the feet. There are no contraindications. The task of a person is to stretch the feet for a third of an hour before going to bed.
Chinese gymnastics comes to the aid of the sick. It is practiced 10 minutes before the planned bedtime. It is necessary to work with the head, ears, massage the stomach and neck, process the feet. How to do all the activities correctly, it is better to learn from a specialist in Chinese gymnastics, because incorrect execution of movements can harm the body.
A good option is breathing exercises. If you practice it every day, falling asleep will be much easier. By setting the rhythm of your breathing, a person activates the muscle press, normalizes the work of the stomach and intestinal tract, and improves blood flow to the brain. Such exercises are recommended for both young people and middle-aged and elderly people. True, you cannot immediately start with large-scale complexes; at first, you should do only a small set of tasks, gradually expanding the variety and increasing the duration of the approach. The basic rule of breathing exercises is to use only the nose and exhale longer than inhalation.
