Chronic Insomnia

Archive for the ‘lifestyle’ Category

You would think one of the easiest causes of chronic insomnia to cure would be those caused by our lifestyle. I mean you know what is causing it. It’s something you can identify and stop. Simple. But as we all know, stopping the things we like to do, feel, taste, that stimulate us, cause euforia, etc., is not quite as easy as it sounds. I mentioned that I still drink coffee knowing that stopping it all together along with all other sources of caffein would inevitably improve my ability to sleep. But when I do sleep, and I get up in the morning smelling the coffee, counting the cost at that moment seems to go in favor of having some coffee. It’s when I can’t sleep that the thought, “I probably need to quit coffee” comes pounding on my brain.

But, the fact remains that some of the most common causes of chronic insomnia or at least contributing significantly to it are the things we choose to do habitually day to day. Consequently, we know we’re doing some of this to ourselves. And if there are other, more serious underlying causes to our insomnia, doing these things can increase our sleeplessness significantly. So, below are just some reminders of what our favorite habits are causing.

-Coffee, tea, cola and other sources of caffein. Drinking or otherwise ingesting caffein any time during the day can cause problems sleeping. Ingesting it later in the day almost guarantees it for someone prone to insomnia. So, the next time you think how good a cup of coffee would taste with that evening piece of pie, or a glass of tea with dinner, think about yourself lying in the dark, eyes wide open unable to sleep. Might not taste so good then.

-Alcohol is a drink people most often associate with relaxation, and in general, it does initially relax you. But the immediate effects are deceptive as often, alcohol is determined to prevent deep stages of sleep and causing a person to wake later unable to go back to sleep. So, don’t go for that “relaxing” drink before bed. The effect may very well be the misery of waking in the middle of the night unable to go back to sleep, until….oh about time to go to work.

-Heavy evening eating. A banana, a little yogurt or some milk before bed is fine, but heavy eating is likely to cause some disturbance of your sleep. The digestive system is the largest system in the body and requires a lot of energy to digest a large quantity of food. The restlessness, feelings of being over full, stomach distress all work to interfere with sleep.

-Poor sleep habits. Sleeping with the tv on. Going to bed at different times every night. Stimulating activities such as exercise or intensive conversation or work can keep you from going to sleep for hours. I take martial arts and after an extra intense evening workout, it commonly delays my ability to go to sleep for up to three hours longer than usual.

These and other life style choices can keep us from getting the sleep we need or exacerbate our already difficult sleeping abilities. How much you want to sleep is what will determine how and what you control that is within your ability to do so.