Dear Readers,

Joy D. is a 42-year-old accounting clerk who works with a private health institution in Kingston. Joy's husband lost his job nearly two years ago and there are many problems at her workplace with which she is trying to cope. Joy says that she is unable to sleep at nights, even when she takes prescribed sleeping tablets, which only work for a couple of hours then leave her drowsy. She asks Lifeline what advice we could suggest to help her get some sleep!

Joy is suffering from insomnia which is the inability to sleep. This is a problem which most people experience at some time during their lives. Almost everyone will experience the occasional sleepless night, often due to some form of stress, or where there is cause for worry over work schedules, health issues, financial matters, or on the odd occasion when too much caffeine, alcohol, or even vitamins are consumed.

For some people, insomnia is persistent, and when this occurs, it often has a significant impact on life in general. Chronic insomnia not only harms productivity at work, but also can endanger the life of the afflicted person and those in his or her company.

Most cases of insomnia are stress related, but insomnia also occurs due to:

Chronic anxiety

Depression

Chronic pain

Breathing difficulties

An irregular work schedule

An undiagnosed infection

Jet lag.

There are some natural approaches one can use to help promote sleep. These include the following:

Avoid taking any stimulants as food or drink. This means avoiding all sources of caffeine, chocolate, or refined sugars near bedtime.

Avoid stimulant medications such as some diet pills.

Avoid drinking alcohol within two hours of bedtime. Alcohol does cause some drowsiness, which results in light, unsatisfying sleep.

Increase dietary content of bananas, fish, cottage cheese, milk, peanuts, turkey, and dates, which are foods containing the amino acid tryptophan, which is a mood stabiliser and stress reliever. Eating complex carbohydrates such as pasta at dinner time also helps with sleeping.

Anaemia and vitamin B deficiency are also associated with insomnia, so taking a good multivitamin can help promote sleep. Vitamins should be taken in the mornings only.

ALSO:

Set a reasonable sleep schedule and stick to it as closely as possible. Adhere to this schedule even on weekends and holidays.

Try to slow down the body metabolism near bedtime by unwinding a bit before going to bed. Read a book, listen to soothing music. Sip herbal tea. have a back rub or foot rub.

Don't sleep with the TV on as the flickering lights prevent restorative sleep.

Soak in a hot bath near bed- time.

Get regular exercise, only not near bedtime. People who exercise regularly sleep better.

People coming off night-shift work should get about three hours sleep that morning, then get up and proceed with daytime living. Usually, the person will be ready to sleep again by night-time and can proceed normally with day-shift work.

The older antihistamines such as Benadryl or Piriton cause drowsiness and are useful to induce sleep. These drugs are available over the counter. Mild tranquillisers such as Diazepam or Xanax can be prescribed for a limited time only and can also help to induce sleep. The older antidepressants such as Amitriptyline are useful in inducing sleep, especially where depression might be contributing to the problem. Sleeping pills such as Ambien or Dormicum can also be prescribed for limited periods when needed.

When insomnia persists, medical help should be sought. There are physicians here in Jamaica who specialise in sleep disorders and who run sleep laboratories which study the sleep patterns of the sleep disordered. They are also useful when more conservative methods fail.

Write to:

Lifeline,

PO Box 1731

KGN 8

AJM