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Subscribe to RSSRandy Dotinga writes: Here’s something to keep you up at night: People who have trouble falling asleep are three times more likely to die an early death, a new study shows.
That’s especially bad news since we are such a sleep-deprived bunch. In fact, another study showed that nearly one in five Americans doze off in meetings. It’s not clear, however, whether meetings can actually bore you to death.
If you haven’t nodded off yet ….the Body Odd is here to put this in perspective. Being tired can get so much worse. For a handful of people around the world, sleepless nights are truly a death sentence.
Just ask the members of an Italian family who live outside Venice. Its members have been dying for at least two centuries of a brain-destroying illness that's related to both mad cow disease and a deadly condition that kills cannibals.
The disease, fatal familial insomnia, kills by robbing people of their ability to sleep. "First they have uncontrollable sweating, then their pupils become these tiny pinpricks. Then they have trouble sleeping," said D.T. Max, author of "The Family That Couldn't Sleep: A Medical Mystery."
Nothing helps, not sleeping pills (they actually make things worse) or warm milk or counting sheep. If afflicted people do get any sleep, they fail to go through all the stages. "They don't get the real sleep that makes you feel better," Max said.
Eventually, they start hallucinating, slip into a coma – and, invariably, die.
The disease appears to go back at least to the 18th century in the Italian family, whose members were long mystified why so many of them died before the age of 60. They thought it was "a disease of exhaustion or stress, brought on by sorrow or loss."
It wasn't. The inherited disease, which affects as many as half the members of an estimated 200 families around the world, appears when proteins known as prions start to malfunction and "literally eat holes in the brain" explains Max.
Prions cause other brain-eating conditions, too. Mad cow disease mad cow disease, which strikes people who eat contaminated meat, is the best known.
But even more gruesome, cannibals in New Guinea in the 1950s started dying of kuru, which is caused by eating contaminated human brain tissue. They've since changed their diet.
There's no cure for fatal familial insomnia, and for now, members of the Italian family continues to attract attention from scientists, journalists and gawkers. And they still wonder if one day they will start feeling tired and never stop.
There is a way to predict the future: Those in affected families can get a genetic test that will tell them if they're doomed to sicken and die in middle age. Some take the test and some don't, just like some refuse to have kids and others do despite the risk.
"It may look at times like they're condemning at least some of their children. But I don't really feel that way," Max says. "To live 60 good years isn't nothing. We're all going to die of something."
Have you struggled with insomnia? Tell us about your experiences in the comments.
To read more Body Odd posts, click here. You can also follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bodyodd.
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the last few months i have been getting by with about 3 or 4 hours sleep a night . for some unknown reason , i wake up at 3 /4 a.m and that is IT!! so far it does not have any noticeable bad effects but if this should continue for much longer , i'll have it looked at .
Chris,
Have your adrenal gland function checked. I had those same symptoms in my mid thirties and just enjoyed the amount of work I could get done. It caused high blood pressure and kidney damage. A blood test during a physical can look for this.
My problem isn't falling asleep, it's staying asleep. I can never sleep more than a couple of hours at a time. As the night goes on, I sleep for shorter and shorter periods of time. Sometimes I wake every twenty minutes. It is beginning to take its toll. I have bags under my eyes, I am always too tired to do anything, never want to go out, fall asleep during movies and sometimes even conversations! I have tried sleeping pills but they really didn't help and they added feeling dopey and hung over the next morning to the problem. I wonder if there is help for this.
Kidtamer, what sleeping pills have you tried? if it's anything over the counter, then I would recommend against it. All of them contain the same ingredient, an antihistamine and they leave you with that groggy detached head feeling the next day. I would talk to your Dr. Look at a prescription pills like Ambien or Lunesta. They work wonders and have no next day side effects. One caution, if you do take them, then take them and go to bed. Don't stay up. You may end up doing things you won't even remember the next day.
Kidtamer: Talk to your doctor. There is a test to determine whether or not you have sleep apnea. If you do, there is a treatment for it. The symptoms you describe seem to indicate sleep apnea.
Rhino, I appreciate your input. The only sleeping aid I tried was Ambien. You already know what happened. I truly don't know what to do about this. My doctor is at a loss as well. I wonder if there is a specialist for this sort of problem?? Thanks.
I almost forgot, I also tried Valium. It did help my leg cramps but Calcium did that too. I would rather stay away from drugs if possible.
Mark..I have talked to my doc. She doesn't think it's sleep apnea. I don't have any of the other symptoms. Also, having a mild case of COPD, I frequently sleep with Oxygen on and my head elevated. I rarely have breathing problems. My PO2 is in the mid 90's on room air.
I'm at a loss to know what to do next. Any other ideas?
I know you all might be a little opposed to the idea, but a little herb would help you all out in a big way :).
Kidtamer - There's a number of herbal things that I think are worth investigating (if you haven't already). Melatonin, chamomile, etc. Also you may want to have your vitamin levels checked, there's some blood tests that can do that. The timing you mention also suggests the possibility of REM interruption, which will also add to your exhaustion. You may wish to speak to a neurologist about that, or do some research there. If you cannot afford a doc, I recommend doing searches on the websites of the National Institute of Health and Mayo Clinic; they are great places to start. You could also email to a sleep research center that's reasonably near you. They should at least, at the very least, be able to email you some links or recommend some further research for you to do. A chinese herbalist may also help - you want to look for one who's been in business for a long time. Quacks don't tend to last long, nor do they have a lot of repeat business. An herbal specialist in one of the granola hippie type stores may be able to help as well. My only warning there is to do some double checking on what they tell you, and be sure to write down the specific names of any herbs they recommend, so you can double check that 1) it can be reasonably expected to do what they say and 2) it doesn't interact with medication you are already taking.
Good luck!!!
It isnt good enough for your doctor to "think" you don't have apnea. Ask her to give you a referral to a sleep clinic and have them do the overnight observation of your brain waves and breathing while sleeping. Only then can apnea be ruled out.
Those were the same symptoms I had before I went into heart failure, from sleep apnea. Go see a doctor. I was having 15 sec to 2 minute apnic periods up to 40 x an hour and only 28 % cardiac function before I got deathly ill.
Have you had a sleep test? I did and it turned out I had sleep apnea. Started with CPAP and had problems with it so went the surgical route. Sleep apnea is gone. Turns out that 80% of my daily headaches were due to the apnea. I first got seen for them in 6th grade by the way. However, I still had trouble going to sleep or staying asleep. The headaches being gone was worth all the surgery though. A follow-on sleep study to confirm elimination of the apnea showed I also had Periodic Limb Movement Disorder (night time restless leg syndrome). I guess they thought it was an artifact of the apnea to begin with. Mirapex works wonders for stopping the kicking although it runs through my system in about five hours and after that I go back to waking up frequently. However, hasn`t done much for the basic insomina..... inability to get to sleep to begin with. Ambian put me to sleep quickly but didn`t allow me to stay asleep. Lunesta doesn`t put me to sleep but it allows me to stay asleep until the Mirapex wears off. The doctors cannot tell me why I do not go to sleep like a normal person. However, all told the Lunesta and Mirapex and tylenol pm (to go to sleep more quickly) gives me at least five hours of sleep a night which is a miracle in my mind.
Good luck working on your problem.
I think the health care crisis stems in a big part from the lack of sleep our country gets. Five day workweeks = too much stress and not enough time to exercise and sleep. There is no argument that the two healthiest things people can do are exercise and get enough sleep. Yet we've set up our country so we start sleep-depriving our children when they're as young as five years old and force them to be sleep-deprived straight on through college. As a country we are broke, stressed and exhausted and we're fighting each other tooth and nail over health care instead of tackling the very basics.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37601601/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/ - A clear example.
You may need to check into a sleep study for sleep apnea. I was shocked to find out this is why I was always tired even after 8 or 9 hours of sleep a night. After using CPAP, feeling great again.
i have trouble sleeping at night and have even done drastic things like quit smoking, quit drinking, quit sugar... and now i am on ambien and it helps me get about 3-4 hours of sleep a night. otherwise i am tired all day. i deal with depression and it basically ruins my life/libido/will to live. i am just happy that the study says i don't have to live much longer. iii
kidtamer and trevonbach:
Having too low an amount of the hormone seratonin can cause depression. This deficiency can also cause a sleep disorder (name too long for me to remember) in which the sufferer's brain activity reaches wakeful levels while the sufferer is sleeping, preventing the sufferer from reaching sleep stages 3&4. Under these circumstances even if you do manage to fall and stay asleep you will not feel rested. Both the depression and the sleep disorder can be treated with the antidepressant "Elavil." (While other meds may be more effective for your depression, Elavil or its generic counterpart is the only prescription used for this sleep disorder.) It's normal to still have some restless nights, but now when I do sleep, it's truly sleep.
trevonbach, you're not alone. I've had a sleep disorder for years, and every day is a struggle just to get out of bed and go to work. There have been many weekends where I've simply got out of bed, went straight to the couch, and watched TV all day long. Many days I don't eat much, if at all. After a broken back 4 years ago, I've been on pain killers ever since. They kill most of the pain, but chronic pain and stress, coupled with sleep deprivation are a sure recipe for depression. You coined it perfectly - 'life/libido/will to live'. I quit drinking 15 years ago, quit smoking over 10 years ago. I miss the good old days of the '70's, when I could take some quaaludes or seconal or tuinal and feel "good", at least for a while. Now that I know that there are NO drugs that will make me feel 'good', life seems kind of meaningless. The daily struggle to endure and survive the worst/highest stress job that I've ever had just makes things that much worse. The trapped feeling of knowing that I could NEVER find another job that payed nearly as well, if I could even get lucky enough to find another job at all, just feeds the problem. I'm seeing a therapist, just like I tried a few years ago, and I couldn't get any relief out of it then, either. Good luck to you, as I see no end in sight.
Billy, please see my comment above about my experience with a sleep disorder, it might be helpful.... I have fibromyalgia, reynaud syndrome and neuropathy (the nerves over my whole body start to burn - the nerves are so freaky that if I move I can feel the air dispersing around me.) Sometimes I can't help but cry, so I know what chronic pain is. Depression and sleeplessness make matters worse.
If you're not making any progress with your current therapist, you need to make a change. There are many types of therapy out there - you need to find one that's right for you. However, if you have a chemical imbalance like I do, no amount of therapy will help - you need to treat the imbalance first. Then, if your problem is biological you may not need therapy at all. Please schedule a consultation with a psychiatrist, asap. Unlike therapists, psychiatrists are medical doctors who can prescribe medication if necessary. You may never be pain free (neither will I) but you CAN make your situation better. Good luck.
I am a retired RN and can tell you that narcotic pain killers will interfere with your sleep. Most people think that they relax you and help you sleep but it is just the opposite. They can give you very unusual dreams, sleep paralysis, frequent waking and other problems. You should try not to take them too late in the day. I know what suffering from chronic pain is all about, believe me. I too suffer from severe pain. However, I use heat, pulsating showers, Motrin and positional pillows at night. I still have my sleep problems but they aren't complicated by narcotics anymore. You should consult with your doctor about an alternative for night time pain. Best of luck.
My husband takes narcotics fairly regularly (about 20 a month, no where near dangerous levels) for the spikes of his chronic daily migraine. There's a very, very fine line between "taking enough narcotic to stop the pain enough so you can sleep" and "being zonked out of your head so you cannot sleep". If he can't get to sleep in the 'magic time' about 30 minutes after he takes it, it keeps him up - and talking - for the next four hours. Then again, if he doesn't take it when he's in that much pain, he winds up beating his head on the wall to get those few seconds of distraction from the migraine.
...also, I suggest a new pain scaled developed by a blogger known as hyperbole and a half. She has much more realistic expressions of pain, ranging from 'This is unpleasant and I don't like it' to things like 'actively being mauled by a bear'. The only one she's missing is 'I am now afraid I *won't* die. It won't really help anything, of course, but it's good for a laugh, and it's fun to bring in to doctor visits.
I've found a couple of natural supplements that solved my sleep problems. I take 1,000 to 2,000 mgs of the amino acid L-Ornithine, along with 2 - 1000 IU Vitamin D3/K2 capsules before bedtime. I'm also on time-release niacin (2,000 mgs) which raises good HDL. I use the NOW brand. Also try 500 - 1000 mgs of Tryptophan. Google the above for more info.
The combo works wonders for me. The niacin would be optional. The Ornithine and Vit D really helps, and it's all good. Vit D/K helps the cardio system, and Ornithine helps stimulate the nocturnal release of growth hormone, as well as converting to Arginine which produces NO, which relaxes the blood vessels. The Ornithine works some by itself, but with the Vit D/K I really notice a difference.
Camomile tea from Celestial Seasonings also helps calm the system.
There is nothing like a good night's sleep!
I have the worst time going to sleep - and have since I was a really young girl. I remember as a child laying in bed at night wishing for sleep that didn't come and it's pretty much the same today. I get a few hours a night if I'm lucky. I've tried the OTC stuff - I find that the doxylamine succinate pills - Unisom - work better than the Tylenol PM - diphenhydramine.
I've tried Ambien, too, and it worked pretty well for a couple of days at a time - not much longer than that, though. Then I lost my medical insurance. I wanted to try Lunesta, but then I read an article about deceptive prescription drug marketing practices that mentioned that people taking Lunesta only got like 20 minutes more sleep than those who don't take it, so it sounded like a waste of my time.
Anyway, I can't wait until something that really works becomes available, because during the really bad times when I'm living off only a couple hours nightly, I feel like a zombie...
I find (cardiac) exercise helps, and also reading a book till my eyes get tired.
Many pills have side effects, and as Kidtamer rightly says, one has to be very careful taking them as some are addictive.
But it is very boring to "T&T (toss & turn).
try smoking a joint. I smoke 1 every night and get about 6 hours of sleep. it also helps with back and leg pain, and cramps
in pa its illegal so coming up with a dude anymore is pretty rough but i know all about the benefits of a joint. i am helping out norml in spreading the word to the reps (HB 1393) and senators (SB 1350) n such to get the bills looked at. once the stigma is lifted and more people find benefits and cures in mmj research (much like opiates) more pain pill companies will go out of business, which is reason #2 why its illegal.
I agree..it helps a lot of medical conditions..
O I know the stigma PotHead doper etc... but it does help with all kinds of pain. I started smoking 30 +yers ago and stopped for years. then, like you, sleep problems, back, leg, neck, body pain. started smoking just 1 joint just before bed and i'm doing well . Try it! it works
I have been having trouble sleeping for most of the past19 yrs, all after having major surgery. I have extreme pain in both hips and it runs thru my body from one side to the other, and causes major pain in my bladder. I am up and down ever 90 mins or so, rolling from one side to the other, somtimes not sleepning more than 35-45 mins then wide awake, not being able to return to sleep; the most I have slept is two to three hours. It finally subsided about 1998-1999 and I was able to sleep 7+ hours.
In Aug 2004, this 'thing' flared again and since then I have one 1 night where I slept like a baby for 9 hours, two nights where I sleot 7 to 8 hours without walking up, and even had 3 or 4 nights where I could not go to sleep and have been awake for 23- 26 hours at a stretch.
All the doctors want to do is say I am depressed and put me on antidepressants, which do not help. I have been on as many ad 10-12 different types of anitdepressants and no help at all. I kept telling them I was NOT depressed, I had horrible pain and yet no one has suggested I see a urologist or a neurologist. Today, doctors don't want to spend a lot of time trying to find out what is wrong, as it must cut into their profit margin. Easier to say you are depressed and let you suffer than to spend time and try to find out the problem and find a way to treat it.
That last paragraph seems like something I would have typed. I had to look up to make sure. I am having the same problem with sleep and doctors. I can't stay asleep longer than 4 hours. It is like my brain has a limit and refuses to go past that limit, not even for 30 minutes past it. I have seen literally over two dozen doctors who all think I am depressed. I keep telling them that I am not depressed, just sleepy and frustrated that non of them knows what is causing the problem. They all seem so lazy as if to run some tests on me will cut into their pleasure time. I have insurance so I don't understand what the problem is with running tests. I lost count how many prescriptions I have been written. It is hard to believe they all spent more than a year in college and medical school just to tell me that I must be depressed about something. Well, unless they want to count having incompetent lazy doctors then okay then I am but I think I am mostly angry and frustrated that they are wasting more of my time and money. They are getting paid a lot of money to write a lot of prescriptions. Okay, that's a thought. I'm paying their student loans off while I am still no closer to getting more than 4 hours of sleep. I would be glad to get 5 hours, at least that would show some type of improvement. I am so desperate I would try just about anything to get more sleep. What, eat dirt, bugs, or whatever somebody please help me to be able to sleep past 4 hours in a night.
-sleeplessindallas
My trouble has been hypersomnia. I could sleep the clock around some days and still be tired and want more sleep. I rarely felt alert and productive. Forget about day to day routine tasks like housework. No energy and no drive. Desire for more sleep almost always won over will-power and caffeine.
Years of various antidepressants and, 'Let's see how this works for you,' followed, with inadequate results. I struggled mentally and physically to hold my job and get there awake and on time... and home again, alive. I often had to stop along the 50 minute commute to sleep in my car until I felt capable of continuing.
After my second serious single-car accident in two years - a rollover - plus a variety of close calls over ten to twelve years, I left my job and sunk into a low that I tried to cure by sleeping as much as I could. I thought that someday I would get enough sleep to 'outgrow' or 'outsleep' whatever was wrong with me.
Finally this year, a psychiatrist decided to have me try a low dose of the stimulant Adderal, generic dextroamphetamine salts (I also use Cymbalta, so it might be the combination of both). I still have some trouble really being active, such as getting outside to take a walk and becoming less sedentary. But I wake up now feeling better. And if I take my meds, I don't require a mid-morning nap. If I miss my meds, I'm sacked out again within 2 hours.
I know my situation is different from many of yours. But if sleeping pills make matters worse, maybe the opposite treatment, like stimulants given to hyperactive kids to calm them, would be an option for study or trial.
I have my own behavioral habits to change to keep getting healthier and more effective in my life and family. Lately though, I'm tired much less often and I have the consciousness to make the effort. I hope it continues!
Good luck with sleeping and getting rested. God bless.
I haven't been able to sleep much since I was 7 (turning 50 in October). I'm very much a night owl; as soon as the sun goes down, I wake up. For decades now, I've lived on no more than 5 or 6 hours sleep every night, and probably half the time, 4 hours. My sleep is constantly broken (probably each 2.5 hours I wake up), and then I can't seem to go back into REM. I just lay there until it's time for work or whatever I'm getting up for. I HATE IT. I've been taking Melatonin now for years, and that works... kinda. It kicks my ass after about 40 minutes, but I only sleep 3 to 4 hours and then wake up. I've basically given up on trying to sleep, and have found the ONLY place I sleep the best is in my recliner. Not sure if it's because my head is tilted up a little or what. The strangest part is mostly, I'm not tired during the day or falling asleep anywhere, as if the little sleep I get is all my body needs. Not sure what is wrong with me, and it seems to be getting worse, and I think I'm going to go to the sleep disorder center near me and see if they can help. If anyone has any ideas to help me, write me at twilite47@hotmail.com (an no, my address has NOTHING to do with the damn move! I've had it for years...). :)
I am 57 years old. Have had some kind of insomnia for many years. I sleep 3 hrs./4hrs wake up, go to the bathromm every 2 hours until it is time to get up and get ready for work. Some nights I can sleep 5 hrs. straight.
I have been an early riser since I was in grade school. Never used an alarm clock and take OTC sleeping aids every other night or 2. And they only last for maybe 4 hours and then I wake up. I don't eat or drink anything (except a little water to take sleeping aides) after 6PM. So am I doomed? My dad is 85 and he doesn't sleep for 8 straight hours either, he wakes up 3 or 4 times a night (for years). Yes, I close the lights, turn off the TV, no music not noise what so ever. I even sleep on 1 pillow instead of 2. So what now.
I can fall asleep easily in pretty much any situation (flying, reading on the sofa, stopping the car in a nice shady spot for a mid-day power nap, a cool movie theatre, finding a deserted meeting room at work for a refresher nap, etc.) except for going to bed. Getting ready for bed can be such a "production" (pulling back the sheets, setting the alarm, brushing teeth, etc) that when I'm finally in bed, I'm wide awake.
The best "sleeping pill" for me is an old black-and-white movie with the volume low, viewed from the sofa.
Everyone here will sleep better if you do one little thing: TURN YOUR CLOCK AROUND WHERE YOU CANNOT SEE IT. Set your alarm and then turn the clock around. If you wake up, do not attempt to find out what time it is. Just close your eyes back and sleep until the alarm wakes you up. You could've woke up at 1am or 5:45am fifteen minutes before you alarm goes off, but you don't care what time it was when you wake up before the alarm. YOU WANT TO SLEEP, SO YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS!!!
I, too, have trouble FALLING ASLEEP unless I am stoned. When I run out of weed, I cannot fall asleep worth a damn.
I have been smoking for 16 years since I was sixteen. All this time, I paid my bills, paid my taxes, and have excellent credit. I am an upstanding responsible citizen of our great country. I graduated from a well known university with Bachelor's degree. I am a member of the Catholic Church. I am a member of my local gym and I attend aerobics classes 3 days a week at least. I am a mother of a toddler these days. And I work in government from 8-5p, five days a week. I make my life happen and I love smoking weed.
It completely makes sense that the nation needs legalisation for sleep disorders and that the reason we cannot accomplish this is because of the drug companies. I do not like taking manufactured pills at all. If I have a headache or leg cramps, I smoke. I really wish I could grow my own mj legally in my town\state so that I could be Me. I am successful and I have no trouble waking to go to work. And I sleep better because I smoke. I am just tormented by the paranoia that goes along with hiding myself from my friends and coworkers because I smoke pot. I long for "coming out" and I think that will be the next big new population that the world doesn't know about yet!! There are millions of us that use mj daily to relax after work (rather than drinking or popping pills) and for sleep-filled nights. But we cannot admit it because of our jobs and stigma surrounding the "dopehead" stereotype. I LONG TO LIVE FREE SMOKING WEED!!
Sorry for everyone suffering here. Without help I would be up all night indefinitely until I began to lose touch with reality. (That happens if you get no sleep at all for several days-I remember reading an experiment about it in psychology class in college.) All of you should SEE YOUR DOCTOR FIRST, but what helps me is an antidepressant called trazedone. I think the reason I have the problem is because of trauma in my past which makes me unconsciously want to stay up to make sure nothing bad happens. (Talk therapy for that) Addictive stuff has never worked for me, plus I have a lot of addiction in my family as well as addictive tendencies myself. As for the chronic pain part, I have chronic daily migraines and fibromyalgia-my neurologist avoids narcotics and focuses on prevention for the migraines with meds like topomax and keppra. Also triptans for acute migraines. As a physical therapist I have learned many ways to deal with pain that do not involve meds-stretching, relaxation, ice, etc, etc. I'm not talking about mild pain-my pain keeps me from working. Also, I rarely talk about it; and I make sure to focus on other things as much as possible. I have had strong narcotics (IV's) for severe intractible migraines.
I have had problems sleeping for years. I have chronic back pain, fibromyalgia, and severe muscle spasms. I also have a pain pump which delivers narcotics 24/7, I take oral painkillers, muscle relaxers, and sleeping pills. I also drink a glass of wine b4 going to bed. I've had all kinds of tests run, including a sleep study, and was told that I had the worst sleep apnea he had ever seen. Tried a bi-pap for 2 weeks at different settings and all it did was give me severe headaches. My son came home from college and shared some weed with me, and guess what? I slept like a baby and my muscle spasms eased up! Unfortunatley marijuana is still illegal in Missouri. (But hopefully it will be legalized in 2012)My doctor urine tests me constantly, so I only get to sleep good for about 10 days, cause if I test positive he will cut off my oral meds. Get it together MDs use your pts input!!
I've had insomnia for years. Amitryptaline (Elavil) helped a little, but not much. Now I take trazadone (Desyrel). This helps alot, but I'm still tired all the time. My doctor referred me to a sleep specialist, so hopefully I'll find answers there, but for now at least I can sleep at night without side effects. It's actually an old anti-depressant, but now it's commonly used to treat insomnia.
I have written a book entitled, INTO FEAR AND BACK in which I describe a thirty year period of my life. I suffered terrible bouts of sleep deprivation that brought on Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
Out of desperation I had to start doing research to find out what is truly the problem when your body won't 'turn off' or 'stay turned off' when you sleep.
It is an electrical malfunction of the autonomic nervous system. Please, go to my Web site and read the articles I have written there. You will find some answers to your questions about sleeping well.
Susie Macomber
Sorry for the redundant posts, as I had trouble getting my comment posted the last couple of days.
I suffered escalating bouts of insomnia then developed Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I became suicidal because I could only sleep about 2 hours during a 24 hours period. I was prescribed the usual drugs for anxiety and sleeplessness.
Then I started doing research and found that the problem is an electrical malfunction of the autonomic nervous system. I have written a book, INTO FEAR AND BACK, that chronicles my life with GAD and how I learned what to do so as not to suffer from anxiety and sleeplessness anymore.
Not only have I helped myself, but have helped several family members and friends get good regular sleep without prescription drugs.
Please see my Web site: susiemacomber.com, and read my articles on the subject.
I also had terrible insomnia which led to my developing Generalized Anxiety Disorder, GAD. I could not sleep more than two hours in a twenty-four hour period, in spite of taking a sleeping pill and a tranquilizer.
I eventually had a nervous breakdown. I did not find any relief in using the usual prescribed medication which included sleeping pills, tranquilizers, antidepressants, and anti-psychotic drugs.
So I started doing lots of research and found out that sleeping is an electrical process. Therefore, it has to be addressed by restoring your body's electrical function.
I wrote a book entitled, INTO FEAR AND BACK, so that I could help other people who suffer from sleep deprivation and emotional disorders as a result of sleeping too little (anxiety disorders) and sleeping too much (depression disorders).
The book chronicles my nearly thirty year struggle with GAD and how I learned to conquer the disorder without prescription drugs. It has worked for me and numerous others.
Susie Macomber
Look for my Web site: susiemacomber.com and read the many articles I have posted there.
I used to suffer from insomnia too. In fact I developed Generalized Anxiety Disorder because I suffered from insomnia for too long. Yep! It can cause mental/emotional disorders.
I eventually suffered a complete mental/emotional breakdown. I became desperate to find out what the problem was.
What I learned was thrilling.
Sleep problems, just like emotional problems are caused by a malfunction in your electrical circuitry. I wrote a book entitled, INTO FEAR AND BACK. It chronicles my life of nearly thirty years with escalating bouts of anxiety disorder. Then, after doing lots and lots of research, I discovered the causes.
Now I can go to sleep each night without prescription drugs. I made a full recovery. I no longer have generalized anxiety disorder either.
People are going to have to come together about pot. Just because some Man made law says you can't does not make it right. use common sense and if it helps smoke it, thats my take on it. only reason there are these STUPID laws is because the government wants more money. this plant was put on earth for a reason and the reason is NOT for some greedy political person telling ANYONE they can't smoke, drink, cook a God giving plant. and for the stupid people who do not use common sense that is their problem, there will always be those who should not drive, drink and on and on, that does not mean a normal thinking person can not smoke pot.