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Sleeplessness Insomnia or sleeplessness is a common complaint of women as they enter into menopause. Insomnia means having trouble falling asleep for staying asleep or the feeling that your sleep was no! adequate for you. For women who are having night sweats, their sleep is broken by frequent awakening and therefore not refreshing. Generally once the night sweats are controlled a normal sleep pattern returns. If it doesn't, it may be, or have become chronic insomnia. How do you know? If you suffer from insomnia every night or most nights for a period of one month then you have chronic insomnia. If you're not having night sweats then it's time to look for other causes of sleeplessness. Depression and anxiety disorders are the most common causes of chronic insomnia. If you feel depressed you need to be checked by a qualified health care provider. Movement disorders such as restless leg syndrome are second on the list of insomnia for them; there are new medicines that may help. Other common causes are shift working and pain. In up to 30% of people with chronic insomnia no cause can be identified. Medical treatment of these people has generally been with sleeping pills. It is estimated that 25% of the adult population in America took some type of medicines for sleep last year. It is generally agreed that sleeping pills should only be in the lowest dose and for the shortest possible time. Sleep hygiene is directed at changing bad sleep habits. The recommendations are: -Go to bed only when sleepy. -Do not wait up to a specified time. -Avoid caffeine and alcohol in the evening, etc. |