Insomnia Treatment Sources

A common complaint, insomnia is the inability to sleep or the disturbance of normal sleep patterns. It is difficult to qualify, because everyone has different sleep requirements, and sleeplessness is, in fact, a natural feature of aging. Insomnia is often caused by worry, emotional stress, and exhaustion. Other causes include pain; excess caffeine, alcohol and drugs; food allergy; or sleeping in a stuffy room. Insomnia can also be a symptom of depression.

In recent years, sleep-disorder medicine has become virtually a new branch of medicine, with centers for diagnosis and treatment now located throughout the U.S.
• 15–17 percent of the population suffer from sleep problems at some point.
• 50 percent of people who take sleeping pills for insomnia find the condition worsens.
• 200,000–400,000 car accidents each year are caused by drowsiness.

Roughly speaking, 80 percent of our sleep is NREAA (non-rapid eye movement) and 20 percent is REM (rapid eye movement). If you feel tired all the next day, you have probably not had enough NREAA sleep; if you have problems with your memory, then inadequate REM sleep is to blame.

Some 66 percent of people sleep for anything between 6.5 and 8.5 hours each night on a regular basis. Around 16 percent sleep for more than 8.5 hours every night and 18 percent for under 6.5 hours.

Fatigue doesn’t necessarily relate to the amount of sleep you have had. Doctors report that one of the most common problems they see in their surgeries on a daily basis is chronic fatigue —or TAT, tired all the time.

Research now shows that some 80 percent of people complaining of being tired all the time (TAT) get adequate sleep, and that the problem lies in nutritional deficiencies which can be cleared up by improving the diet and taking a good multivitamin and mineral supplement.

Symptoms 
• overactive mind causing difficulty in falling asleep
• nervousness and restlessness
• nightmares once asleep
• irritability
• mood swings involving hysterical behavior

TREATMENT 

Ayurveda 
Specific herbs to treat insomnia may include henbane, which is sedative.

Chinese Herbalism 
Useful herbs include hoelen, fleeceflower stem, and wild jujube.  The herbalist may suggest that you sleep on a gypsum pillow.

Traditional Folk and Home Remedies
A hot foot-bath before bed helps relaxation by drawing blood away from the head. Add a little mustard powder to the water to increase the effect. Lettuce is said to encourage sleep. Eat a large leaf about half an hour before bedtime.

Herbalism 
A warm bath with an infusion of chamomile, catnip, lavender, or limeflowers may be recommended. A cup of warm herb tea just before bed will soothe and help you to relax. Try chamomile, catnip, lemon balm, and limeflowers. Make a lavender pillow and place it under your usual pillow.

Aromatherapy 
A few drops of chamomile oil, clary sage, or lavender can be added to the bath. Try a gentle massage just before bedtime, with a few drops of chamomile, lavender, rose, or neroli blended into a light carrier oil. Place a few drops of lavender oil on your bedroom light bulb, just before bed, or place a few drops on a handkerchief and tie it to the bed.

Homeopathy 
Remedies can be taken an hour before going to bed, for up to 14 days. Repeat the dose if you wake in the night and cannot get back to sleep. Insomnia is usually treated “constitutionally,” so you may need to consult a registered homeopath for treatment. The following remedies may be helpful:
• Coffea, when your mind is overactive, and you are unable to switch off.
• Nux vomica, when your sleeplessness is exacerbated by food or alcohol; you wake around 3 or 4a.m., then fall asleep just as it is time to get up; and consequently are irritable during the day.
• Pulsatilla, when you are restless in the early hours of sleep, feeling uncomfortable, hot and then cold, are not thirsty and sleep with your arms above your head.
• Arnica, when the bed feels too hard, and you are overtired, fidgety, and dream of being chased by animals.
• Lycopodium, when your mind is active at bedtime, going over and over work done that day; you dream a lot, talk and laugh in your sleep, and then wake up at around 4a.m.
• Arsenicum, for when you tend to wake between midnight and 2a.m., feeling restless, worried, and apprehensive.
• Rhus tox., when you cannot sleep, are irritable, restless, and feel a need to walk about; especially if in pain. • Aurum, when you have dreams about dying, hunger, or problems at work, and consequently become depressed.
• Aconite, when sleep problems are worse after shock or trauma; there is restlessness, nightmares, and fear of dying.
• Chamomilla, when you are feeling irritable at bedtime.

Flower Essences 
Worrying thoughts and mental arguments might respond to White Chestnut. Indecision can be treated with Scleranthus. Stress, strain, frustration, and inability to relax might respond to Vervain or Rock Water, Vine, Elm, Beech, or Impatiens could apply.

Vitamins and Minerals
Increase your intake of vitamins B, C, folic acid, zinc, and calcium. Try a calcium supplement just before bedtime.