Phyllis A. Balch, CNC
See book keywords and concepts |
 Many people who suffer from insomnia resort to taking sleeping pills, whether over-the-counter or prescription medications. sleeping pills do not cure insomnia, and they can interfere with REM sleep. The continued use of pharmacological sleeping aids can eventually lead to disruption of all the deeper stages of sleep. Researchers have found that up to 50 percent of people who take sleeping pills on a regular basis actually find that their msomnia becomes worse. The persistent use of sleeping pills also leads to dependency, either psychological or physical. |
Marshall Editions
See book keywords and concepts |
 Certain types of allergy tablets, such as antihistamines, and sleeping pills can worsen the condition. Obesity, especially if there is excess fat in the neck area, can also trigger snoring as fatty tissue presses on the upper respiratory tract, causing it to narrow. Snoring is also associated with pregnancy and post menopause.
Simple self-help measures include: losing weight, exercising regularly, avoiding alcohol for three hours before going to bed, giving up smoking, and avoiding sleeping pills, sedatives, and antihistamines before going to bed. |
Bottom Line Health
See book keywords and concepts |
| NONBENZODIAZEPINES
This class of sleeping pills was introduced in the US in 1992 with the drug Zolpidem (Ambien). These drugs target receptors in the brain that trigger the release of gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA), a chemical that reduces brain activity and induces sleep.
Compared with previous classes of sleeping pills, nonbenzodiazepines are more effective and cause fewer side effects, such as daytime drowsiness. Also, unlike the older class of benzodiazepines, they are not addictive. |
Phyllis A. Balch, CNC
See book keywords and concepts |
| Sleeping pills do not cure insomnia, and they can interfere with REM sleep. The continued use of pharmacological sleeping aids can eventually lead to disruption of all the deeper stages of sleep. Researchers have found that up to 50 percent of people who take sleeping pills on a regular basis actually find that their msomnia becomes worse. The persistent use of sleeping pills also leads to dependency, either psychological or physical. The use of sleep medication should therefore be reserved for those whose insomnia has a physical basis, and then only as a temporary solution. |
Herbert Ross, DC with Keri Brenner, L.Ac.
See book keywords and concepts |
 Diaphragmatic breathing uses your diaphragm and «Those who try sleeping pills Of belly muscles instead of your intercostal, or chest, mus- other drugs find they only work cles. The purpose is to slow fo|> fl short peHod Qf tjme and the breathing rate down. Dr.
Becker taught Jean how to do then the insomnia returns." diaphragmatic breathing and ................................................................. also gave her a video to help her practice the technique. |
Marshall Editions
See book keywords and concepts |
| Avoid alcohol and other sedatives, such as sleeping pills. Anything that causes sedation can also cause snoring because it tends to suppress your breathing drive.
TIP: CHANGE YOUR SLEEPING POSITION
Sleep on your side, rather than your back. You may also want to try raising the head of your bed 4 inches so you are sleeping in an elevated position. To do this, place blocks or wedges under the head of the mattress.
HOMEOPATHY
The advice given below can ease snoring that has developed as a result of congestion of the nasal passages due to an acute infection such as a cold. |
Brenda Watson and Leonard Smith
See book keywords and concepts |
 NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, including aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen sodium) sleeping pills steroids (cortisone, prednisone, anti-inflammatories)
?tobacco
Don't panic. As I said at the end of the test you took in Chapter 1, don't begin to agonize if you currently use or have used one or more of these drugs on the list. My RENEW program will help you minimize your need for these drugs in your life—even if you must continue using a particular prescription drug and even if you choose to drink coffee and alcohol. |
KC Craichy
See book keywords and concepts |
 People who take sleeping pills on a regular basis are 50 percent more likely than other people to die in accidents. sleeping pills are also the third most commonly used means in suicide.2 Many people go to bed late and get up early to exercise to try to be healthy, but the reality is that in most cases those people would be better off to sleep more and exercise less. That is how important a good night's sleep is.
Sleep Deprivation
If you feel you are among the sleep deprived, you are among a large group. |
Bottom Line Health
See book keywords and concepts |
| However, people who are at high risk for blood clots should consider safe preventive measures, such as regular exercise and refraining from sleeping pills or excess alcohol during air travel.
||. For more information on "economy-class syndrome," visit the American Heart Association Web site at www.americanheart.org/ presenter.jhtml?identifier=3010041.
Drug-Eluting Stents Four Times Better than Others
Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions news release. |
| Compared with previous classes of sleeping pills, nonbenzodiazepines are more effective and cause fewer side effects, such as daytime drowsiness. Also, unlike the older class of benzodiazepines, they are not addictive. (If you are addicted to medication, you get an adverse reaction when you stop taking it, such as an increase in anxiety, irritability or heart rate.) Nonbenzodiazepines can be taken safely long-term.
Some people worry that if they take a sleeping pill, they won't be able to wake up if there is an emergency—but in the usual doses, that should not be a problem. |
Gary Null and Amy McDonald
See book keywords and concepts |
 Unlike sleeping pills, herbs won't leave you in a fog in the morning, or feeling like you haven't really slept. Passionflower is an important relaxant herb popular in much of Europe. Other possibilities include pheanine (at 300 milligrams, one of the best relaxants in nature), chamomile tea, hops, skullcap, and valerian root, a natural calmative used by orthomolecular psychiatrists for people who tend to be anxious. |
Jack Challem
See book keywords and concepts |
 Note: Be cautious using valerian with any other sedative herb (such as kava), with melatonin, or with tranquilizers (such as Valium) and sleeping pills. Check with a medical doctor or a naturopathic physician before combining any of these sedatives.
Chamomile. Chamomile (also known as German chamomile, Matricaria chamomilla, Matricaria recutita, and Chamomilla recutita) was used by ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans to treat a variety of ills, including upset stomach and skin problems. It also has anxiety-reducing and mild sedative benefits. |
Gary Null and Amy McDonald
See book keywords and concepts |
| Both over the counter and prescription sleeping pills can improve sleep for a short period of time, but if you take sleeping medication for too long, you can build up tolerance," Dr. Pearl explains. "If you continue to take the same amount of medication, your body doesn't respond as strongly, so you need to use more and more. If you suddenly stop taking the medication, your sleep is going to become worse than it was in the first place. It's a good rule of thumb to not take sleep medications more than a few times a week or for more than about a month at a stretch. |
KC Craichy
See book keywords and concepts |
| People who take sleeping pills on a regular basis are 50 percent more likely than other people to die in accidents. sleeping pills are also the third most commonly used means in suicide.2 Many people go to bed late and get up early to exercise to try to be healthy, but the reality is that in most cases those people would be better off to sleep more and exercise less. That is how important a good night's sleep is.
Sleep Deprivation
If you feel you are among the sleep deprived, you are among a large group. |
Herbert Ross, DC with Keri Brenner, L.Ac.
See book keywords and concepts |
| Alcohol and sleeping pills slow down the respiratory drive needed during sleep and cause further relaxation of the throat muscles, which makes obstructive sleep apnea more likely to occur. Sleep laboratory tests reveal that eliminating alcohol dramatically reduces the number of sleep apnea episodes, increases the oxygen saturation levels of the blood, and leads to deeper, more restful sleep.
Eliminate Allergenic Foods
It is essential to rule out food intolerances as a cause of sleep problems. |
KC Craichy
See book keywords and concepts |
| Millions of doses of sleeping pills are prescribed every year, and sleeping pills should be avoided because they are addictive. They interfere with your body's normal sleeping rhythms because they temporarily alter the activity of the brain.
Moreover, sleep problems such as insomnia are symptoms of other problems that often can't be treated with sleep medications. Researchers note that doctors could be missing these underlying problems, even to the point of compounding them by turning instead to sleep medications as an inappropriate solution. |
Phyllis A. Balch, CNC
See book keywords and concepts |
| Researchers have found that up to 50 percent of people who take sleeping pills on a regular basis actually find that their msomnia becomes worse. The persistent use of sleeping pills also leads to dependency, either psychological or physical. The use of sleep medication should therefore be reserved for those whose insomnia has a physical basis, and then only as a temporary solution.
01 Tranquilizers like the benzodiazepines and similar medications are being prescribed for insomnia because they pose a lower risk of overdose than sedatives. |
Marshall Editions
See book keywords and concepts |
| Simple self-help measures include: losing weight, exercising regularly, avoiding alcohol for three hours before going to bed, giving up smoking, and avoiding sleeping pills, sedatives, and antihistamines before going to bed. Sometimes changing your sleeping position, from your back to your side, can decrease snoring. |
Phyllis A. Balch, CNC
See book keywords and concepts |
| People who take sleeping pills on a regular basis are 50 percent more likely than other people to die in accidents. Drowsiness accounts for 200,000 to 400,000 automobile accidents every year, and is responsible for two-thirds of all industrial mishaps, most common among shift workers in the early morning hours. sleeping pills are also the third most commonly used means in suicide and are implicated in one-third of all drug-related suicide attempts and deaths. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
See book keywords and concepts |
 It's the refreshing kind too, not the C
73 shallow type I've gotten on sleeping pills or UJ other drugs." Normally I wouldn't repeat an anonymous Internet posting, but I've heard this sort of thing from many people over the years and I've experienced it myself.
Natural Prescription for Insomnia
Drink 2 g of powdered inositol in water before bedtime.
Though we don't know exactly why inositol works so well as a sleeping aid, most researchers who are aware of its effects assume it's because inositol is involved in the serotonin pathways. |
| As of this writing, use of sleep medications has grown by more than 60 percent since 2000, and in 2006, makers of sleeping pills spent more than $600 million advertising directly to consumers. Obviously, more than a few people are having some problems catching some good shut-eye.
Inositol might be the answer. This interesting substance is usually considered a member of the B vitamin family, but it's not technically a vitamin (it contains no nitrogen) and it's synthesized by the human body. No matter. |
Craig Pepin-Donat
See book keywords and concepts |
 These statistics do not tell the whole story because the true numbers for drug abuse (or misuse) remain buried in the escalation of non-illicit prescription drug use, such as sleeping pills, sinus medication and a variety of other over-the-counter medications.
If you step back from what we have been conditioned to believe, you will conclude that no industry has contributed more to our toxic lifestyle than the pharmaceutical industry. That does not mean that all drugs are bad. Obviously there are drugs that benefit people. Unfortunately, drugs do not cure disease. |
KC Craichy
See book keywords and concepts |
| Millions of doses of sleeping pills are prescribed every year, and sleeping pills should be avoided because they are addictive. They interfere with your body's normal sleeping rhythms because they temporarily alter the activity of the brain.
Moreover, sleep problems such as insomnia are symptoms of other problems that often can't be treated with sleep medications. Researchers note that doctors could be missing these underlying problems, even to the point of compounding them by turning instead to sleep medications as an inappropriate solution. |
Herbert Ross, DC with Keri Brenner, L.Ac.
See book keywords and concepts |
| Jerry had tried many types of sleeping pills, but nothing had worked. He was desperate to get some sleep. Before scheduling any tests, we looked at Jerry's lifestyle. He started every day by drinking the first of many cups of coffee. He worked straight through lunch, grabbing a sandwich at his desk. Then he worked through dinnertime, finally quitting around 10 p.m. After that, he had dinner, washing it down with two or three glasses of wine. After dinner, Jerry immediately fell sound asleep, only to awaken at 2 a.m., unable to fall back to sleep for the rest of the night. |
| Another downside of alcohol and sleeping pills is that either can prevent people from losing excess weight. The National Institutes of Health reports that even a little weight loss can reduce the incidence of sleep apnea.14 Sleeping on your side and wearing a dental appliance that repositions your jaw and tongue may prove helpful in relieving mild sleep apnea.
Doctors may also prescribe the use of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device, which involves wearing a mask that forces air through the nose and keeps the throat from collapsing. |
Hyla Cass, M.D.
See book keywords and concepts |
 Valerian: 200-600 mg at bedtime
I have prescribed these in various combinations for my patients who were withdrawing from benzodiazepines or the newer sleeping pills such as Ambien (Zolpidem). As far as Ambien goes: despite claims of Ambien's being "not quite a benzodiazepine" and non-addictive, this has not been so in the many cases I've seen.
Benzodiazepines (and Ambien) must be withdrawn very slowly under close medical supervision, sometimes over several months. |
Herbert Ross, DC with Keri Brenner, L.Ac.
See book keywords and concepts |
| Chronic insomnia rarely responds well to sleeping pills.
Sleep Apnea
It's estimated that more than 12 million Americans suffer from sleep apnea, a potentially life-threatening disorder in which the sleeper experiences intermittent cessation of breathing.11 The more common form of this condition is obstructive sleep apnea, in which the air passages become blocked, causing respiratory distress. Obstruction may be caused when the throat muscles and tongue relax during sleep, allowing the tongue and uvula (the small, fleshy tissue hanging from the back of the throat) to sag and block the airway. |
| Research that has investigated performance on mental tasks (such as learning and decision-making) and on motor tasks (such as driving a car) on days after the use of sleeping pills finds that people usually do worse after taking a pill than they do after a night of insomnia," states sleep expert Russel J. Reiter.39 The reason this happens is that your body still retains some of the medication the next day and its sedating effects linger. Insomnia expert Peter Hauri, Ph.D. |
Shannon Brownlee
See book keywords and concepts |
 The boy returned to the clinic a few days later, complaining that the sleeping pills left him feeling groggy and "depressed." This time, the doctor diagnosed depression and gave him a sample package of Paxil, an antidepressant. Over the phone, Justin told his mother, Linda, that the drug made him feel "awful," wound up, jumpy, unable to sit still or concentrate. Linda, a pediatric nurse practitioner, assumed his symptoms would ease once the drug began to take effect. She gently suggested he give it a few days. |
Andreas Moritz
See book keywords and concepts |
 In addition, medicinal drugs and substances, such as sleeping pills, have a suppressive effect that can render the cleanse ineffective.
Q. I have done eight livers cleanses so far and I feel great. Almost all of my symptoms, including stomach ulcers, sinusitis, and headaches, are gone without a trace. Altogether, I must have released about 2,500 stones. What I do not understand is why my first liver cleanse produced no stones whatsoever and the second one only six or seven small ones. During the following cleanse, I passed about a thousand, much to my amazement. |
Email this page to a friend
