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Understanding Insomnia
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We have a selection of case studies, examples,
comments
and frequently asked questions on related 'Insomnia' and 'Sleeping Disorders' subjects.
Should you feel you need to contribute to this
page, please feel free to comment on the subject in the box below...
INSOMNIA
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Sleep Disorder - Insomnia is a symptom of a
sleeping disorder characterized by persistent difficulty falling asleep or
staying asleep despite the opportunity. It is typically followed by
functional impairment while awake. Insomniacs have been known to complain
about being unable to close their eyes or "rest their mind" for more than a
few minutes at a time. Both organic and non-organic insomnia constitute a
sleep disorder.
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Insomnia - Z medicines are another type of sleeping tablet that work in a
similar way to Benzodiazepines. They are also short acting medicines:
* Zopiclone
* Zolpidem
* Zaleplon
There is little difference between the Benzodiazepines and Z medicines and so if
one does not work it is unlikely that swapping to another will have a different
effect.
Hypnotic medicines should only be used in cases when the expected period of
treatment will be short term. For example during an illness, or an overnight
stay in a busy hospital ward or because of jet lag.
You should be given the smallest, effective dosage possible for the shortest
length of time necessary. For example, for a week at the most. In some cases,
your doctor may advise that you only take the medication 2 or 3 nights a week,
rather than every night.
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Insomnia - Insomnia is the disturbance of a
normal sleep pattern. For example, when you cannot get to sleep or wake up
after only a few hours sleep. Sleep is a state of consciousnesses, which
gives your body time to rest and build up your strength. While you are
asleep, your body goes through different stages at approximately 90 minute
cycles. These include light sleep, deep sleep and dreaming, also known as
rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
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INSOMNIA
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Examples and Frequently Asked Questions
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Insomnia continued...
INSOMNIA
*******************
Insomnia - Z medicines are another type of sleeping tablet that work in a
similar way to Benzodiazepines. They are also short acting medicines:
* Zopiclone
* Zolpidem
* Zaleplon
There is little difference between the Benzodiazepines and Z medicines and so if
one does not work it is unlikely that swapping to another will have a different
effect.
Hypnotic medicines should only be used in cases when the expected period of
treatment will be short term. For example during an illness, or an overnight
stay in a busy hospital ward or because of jet lag.
You should be given the smallest, effective dosage possible for the shortest
length of time necessary. For example, for a week at the most. In some cases,
your doctor may advise that you only take the medication 2 or 3 nights a week,
rather than every night.
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Difficulties with sleep can appear in a variety of ways:
* Difficulty getting to sleep (sleep onset insomnia). This is most common in
young people.
* Waking in the night (frequent nocturnal awakening). This is most common in
older people.
* Waking early in the morning - the least common type of sleep disturbance.
* Not feeling refreshed after sleep. You may have trouble functioning
normally during the day, feel irritable, tired, and find it difficult to
concentrate.
* Waking when you have been disturbed from sleep by pain or noise.
Insomnia can last for days, months or even years and can be split into three
categories:
* Transient insomnia lasts for 2-3 days.
* Short-term insomnia lasts for more than a few days but less than 3 weeks.
* Chronic insomnia can be defined as insomnia most nights for 3 weeks or
longer.
Chronic insomnia can lead to mental health problems such as depression, or
misuse of alcohol or other medicines in order to gain sleep.
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Every individual is different so, it is hard to define what normal sleep is
for you. Other factors include your age, lifestyle, diet and environment.
Newborn babies can sleep for 16 hours a day, while children of school age
need an average of 10 hours.
Adults usually need, on average, 7 to 9 hours sleep a night. As we get
older, it's normal to need less sleep. Most people over 70 need less than 6
hours sleep per night; and they tend to be light sleepers.
It is important to know that nearly everyone has problems sleeping at some
time or other and it is thought that a third of people in the UK have bouts
of insomnia.
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INSOMNIA
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Insomnia - The various passages cited above prove and illustrate that no author
has written so feelingly, so appreciatingly, as Shakespeare on the subject of
sleep and its loss.
The diligent commentators on his works have investigated laboriously the sources
from which he drew his plots and many of the very lines of his poems. He was a
great borrower; absorbing, digesting, and making his own much of the material of
his predecessors. But it is a noteworthy fact, that none of the exquisite lines
in praise of sleep--that gift which the Psalmist says the Lord giveth to his
beloved--can be traced to other source than the master. These are jewels of his
own; transcripts from his own mournful experience. In middle life he remembered
hopelessly
the tranquil sleep of his lost youth, as
"He that is stricken blind cannot forget
The precious treasure of his eyesight lost."
He had suffered from insomnia, and he writes of this, not "as imagination bodies
forth the forms of things _unknown_, " but as one who, in words burning with
indestructible life, lays open to us the
sombre record of what was experience before it was song; who makes us the
sharers of his griefs; who would awaken in the similarly afflicted of all time
that compassionate sympathy which goes out to those whose burdens are almost
greater than they can bear.
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We hope these have been helpful and look forward to your comment
contribution...
Resources: Wikipedia, SHAKESPEARE'S INSOMNIA, NHS Direct |
