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Treatments for Insomnia
By West Conner
Studies show that insomnia affects approximately 75 million people in the United
States. Insomnia can present itself in a couple of different ways; each may
require a different medication. One symptom is a difficulty falling asleep but
once asleep, the patient stays asleep. Another symptom is difficulty staying
asleep, but an ease of getting to sleep.
Most often, insomnia lasts for just a short period of time, a week at most. When
the difficulty in sleeping lasts for more than six months, it is considered a
chronic condition. The chronic insomnia is troublesome because it can affect
your work, your health, and your social relationships.
The treatment for insomnia should begin with what is known as "sleep hygiene."
Sleep hygiene consists of ten philosophies:
1. keep a regular sleep schedule
2. exercise regularly but avoid exercise before bed
3. go to bed when sleepy
4. do relaxing and enjoyable activities before bed
5. keep the bedroom quiet and comfortable
6. do not eat a large evening meal
7. if you are not sleeping within 20 minutes, get up and return to bed when you are sleepy
8. if you must take a nap, limit it to 30 minutes
9. avoid alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine
10. have your pharmacist check your medications for stimulating drugs
If, after trying sleep hygiene, you are still having difficulties, you can try
some over-the-counter remedies. There are many different sleeping pills you can
buy at your local store. This is what I recommend: find the cheap, generic, store
brand diphenhydramine 25 milligrams
It can by found either in the sleeping pill section or in the allergy section.
Let me tell you why. Diphenhydramine is the active ingredient in the allergy
medication Benadryl. Along with its ability to help with your allergy symptoms,
it causes a good amount of drowsiness. So much so that it is the active
ingredient in ALL of the following expensive brand name sleeping agents:
Simply Sleep
Sleepinal
Sominex
Tylenol PM
Unisom
Alka-Seltzer PM
Excedrin PM
Goody’s PM
Nytol
Bayer NightTime Relief
Doan’s PM
GoodNight’s Sleep
Legatrin PM
All of these are much more expensive and have the exact same active ingredient
as the cheap store brand. Why pay more for the exact same thing?
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