Tag: insomnia

Nocturnal Eating Syndrome – A Food Related Sleep Disorder

Nocturnal eating syndrome is a sleep disorder that is more common in women than men. It is one of two eating disorders that are related to sleep. The other is called sleep-related food disorder. Nocturnal eating syndrome and sleep-related food disorder are parasomnias

Nocturnal eating syndrome is a sleep disorder that is characterized by compulsive raids on the refrigerator at night. Usually people with this sleep disorder are very light sleepers. When they awake during the night they have an overly compulsive feeling that they will not be able to fall back to sleep unless they eat something. Once out of bed and at the refrigerator, the compulsion to eat makes them gobble down food. People with nocturnal eating syndrome are fully awake and remember eating the food the next day. This syndrome is a combination of a sleep disorder and an eating disorder. Insomnia is also a factor in nocturnal eating syndrome. Treatment for this disorder is usually received from a mental health professional that specializes in people with eating disorders. Improving sleep hygiene can also help with this disorder.

Sleep-related eating disorder also affects more women then men and is a variation of sleepwalking. During an episode of this sleep disorder, a person will eat during partial arousal form a deep sleep. Often they will eat very unhealthy or strange foods that they normally would not eat when awake. During an episode of sleep-related eating disorder, a person might eat frozen pizza, raw cookie dough, peanut butter on fish and even dog food.

Often they are very careless and sloppy and may get burns or cuts while preparing the food. It is very difficult to wake a person during an episode and they have no memory of it in the morning. There does not seem to be a correlation to hunger during a sleep-related eating disorder episode, even if the person has eaten just before bed, an episode can still occur.

Although the cause of food related sleep disorder is not known, several triggers have been identified. Medications such as lithium, a mood stabilizer, and the benzodiazepine receptor zolpidem are two of those triggers. People with mood and personality disorders or psychological problems such as bulimia are at higher risk of developing one of these food related sleep disorders. People suffering from other sleep disorders including insomnia, sleep apnea, periodic limb movement disorder or narcolepsy are also at higher risk

People with sleep-related eating disorder usually have a history of sleepwalking. Because of this, people suffering from this parasomnina are considered having more of a sleep disorder then an eating disorder. Treatment with prescription medication is often very effective. Antidepressants, dopimine agents, anticonvulsants and opiates are often prescribed. Once sleepwalking is stopped so are the trips to the refrigerator.

Sleep eaters often are overweight because of the high caloric intake at night. The weight gain can lead to other sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea. Seeking treatment, either from a medical or mental health professional is essential for good health in the treatment of sleep eating disorders.

Narcolepsy – A Rare Sleep Disorder

Narcolepsy, a relatively rare sleep disorder, causes people to fall asleep when they do not want to. This is caused by a neurological disorder. The brain sends signals to the body that are sleep inducing; however, they are sent at inappropriate and unpredictable times. Often it happens when a person is involved in a quiet activity, such as watching a movie or during a meeting. Sometimes a person with this sleep disorder falls asleep while driving, which is obviously extremely dangerous. Others fall asleep while they are eating or talking. The overwhelming need to sleep can come at any hour of the day during any activity.

People suffering with narcolepsy often do not realize how sleepy they are, nor how often they fall asleep. It is often a family member, friend or coworker that convinces them that they need to seek medical help for their sleep disorder.

Narcolepsy has five main symptoms. These are excessive daytime sleepiness, insomnia and fragmented sleep, sleep paralysis, cataplexy and hypnagogic hallucinations. Some people with this sleep disorder experience only one symptom but others can experience all five.

Excessive daytime sleepiness is generally the first symptom to appear. Everyone with narcolepsy has this symptom. The feeling of needing to sleep is so strong that sufferers are unable to fend it off, regardless of how hard they try. These sleep attacks, as they are usually called, can happen several times and last for five to ten minutes.

Insomnia and fragmented sleep are a very common symptom of this sleep disorder. People with narcolepsey often have a very difficult time falling asleep at night, even though they fall asleep easily throughout the day. When they do fall asleep at night they wake up often and do not follow a typical REM / non REM sleep pattern.

Sleep paralysis occurs in about half of the people that suffer from this sleep disorder. For several minutes before falling to sleep or waking up, the person with this symptom cannot talk or move.

The loss of muscle function while awake is cataplexy. These episodes are usually very short in length. Over half of the people with narcolepsy experience this symptom of this sleep disorder. They are caused by a part of REM not functioning correctly. Often, episodes are brought on by anger, laughter or any other strong emotion. Sometimes knees buckle, necks and jaws become weak or the person may fall to the ground. Even though the person looks like they are asleep and cannot talk, they are fully awake and aware of what is happening.

A hypnagogic hallucination is experiencing very vivid and often frightening sounds, images or physical sensations. These occur from dreams just before the person is falling asleep or waking up. It is very difficult for a person with this sleep disorder to distinguish between the dream and reality. These hallucinations often have very dangerous themes and are extremely frightening. Often they are accompanied by sleep paralysis.

There are also several lesser symptoms of narcolepsy. These include blurred vision, migraine headaches, memory or concentration problems and automatic behavior. An apostate of automatic behavior can last for several minutes. During that time a person with this sleep disorder will perform a routine task. The task is often done incorrectly, such as placing a turkey in the dishwasher or writing past the end of a page.

Narcolepsy can be diagnosed and treated with various drugs. If left untreated this sleep disorder can ruin a person’s life.

Homeopathy Remedies – The Case For

Many people, disillusioned and disgruntled with conventional medical practices and medicines, have begun to seek out homeopathy remedies to help them manage and treat all manner of medical conditions and diseases. However, before jumping in and opting for homeopathy it is best to have an understanding about just what homeopathy is and how it differs from conventional medicine.

Homeopathy plainly put, is using like for like to treat. That means if a patient presents with insomnia, then coffee what we traditionally consider to be one of the a reasons for insomnia, is what a homeopathic practitioner would use to treat insomnia. It should be further explained that the coffee would be prescribed in the most minute of proportions.

What homeopathy remedies are also concerned with is treating the patient and not simply the disease or the condition. This is why when someone goes to see a homeopathic practitioner for a consultation, it will take some time for a full patient history to be taken. The practitioner is interested in documenting all areas of a patient’s life from diet, to family medical history, personal medical history, mental background, allergies, exercise regime, everything! Only then can a full picture of how to treat the patient be reached.

One of the homeopathy remedies for allergies that clearly indicates the like for like principle, on which all homeopathy is based, is the use of honey. Local honey is prescribed to beat allergies because in local honey can be found the exact geographical allergens that will trigger Hay Fever, for example. In exposing the body to these local allergens via the local honey, homeopathic practitioners believe that the body’s own immune system then has a basis on which to fight local allergies. It is this same belief that underlines the use of many vaccines that conventional medicines make use of: small pox, measles etc.

Homeopathy and conventional medicine though at times operating at different ends of the spectrum, do at times make use of the same ingredients. Take acne for instance, the recognized homeopathic remedy for acne is sulfur. Sulfur is often mixed with alcohol and salicylic acid to make an anti-bacterial paste that is applied to the skin. If you look closely at the tubes and boxes of conventional medical ointments for acne, that are available from your local pharmacy, you will see that the base ingredient of these ointments is sulfur.

The other great thing to remember about homeopathy remedies is that one of the main positives is that there are no side effects with using them. That means they are perfectly safe for young children, pregnant women and they can even be used in conjunction with many conventional medication.

So, do your research and find yourself a reputable homeopathic practitioner!

Myths on Hypnosis for Children

Current info about hypnosis is not always the easiest thing to locate. Fortunately, this report includes the latest hypnosis info available.

Hypnosis for children is done to help children combat cases of pain, insomnia, depression brought about by divorce or death. It can also be used to combat excessive weight, night mares and even lessen asthma attacks. There are significant advantages or contributions that hypnosis can do for children.

Unfortunately, amidst all these gains and benefits, there are still some people who believe drag hypnotic myths. The following are some of the myths on hypnosis and what we can yak about them.

Myth1. The person under hypnosis has no control over his mind and actions.

Hypnosis is induced in a tie when the person is still conscious and powerful to take and understand suggestions. Children who are undergoing hypnotherapy can comprehensively talk with the hypnotherapist. Hypnotherapy is done when the person is in subterranean relaxation and not in deep slumber. Things are said as a suggestion and not as an efficacious command. People who hold undergone hypnosis would definitely remember what transpired during the session.

Myth2. Hypnosis is an evil act. Intrinsic can be compared to voodoo in some levels.

Hypnosis is not at all connected to any evil or Satanic acts. Hypnotism intends to help people of their emotional, mental and existing problems not injure them with any satanic and demonic ritual. Actually, hypnosis is a natural state that people see in different times a day.

Myth3. Hypnosis only affects those who are weak in personality.

Hypnosis is something which happens positively to our lives. Actually, children ages 7 to 8 are uttered to be expanded prone to lapse into hypnotic stages. Their mind is more creative and more sage. This enables them to enter into a daydream or deep relaxation even during class or any time of the day. Anybody can induce into a moment of self – hypnotic state.

Myth4. You can get stuck clout a hypnotic state.

Hypnosis is not a limbo where souls get stuck and unable to go to the next territory. Hypnosis is a state of awareness and consciousness. Getting into the hypnotic state enables the children and adults, as well, to get to comprehend their deeper feelings and thoughts.

Myth5. Hypnosis can be used as a truth serum, extracting the truth from other people.

A person could not go care hypnotic state if that person would not allow the hypnotherapist to. Before children undergo any hypnotism, therapist would talk to them and explain what it is that they would do and how it would help them. Upon hypnotism, if a suggestion is in contrast with the principles of the client, they would not accept the suggestion. So if the person being investigated would not give the answer to the question, forasmuch as hypnosis could not do anything about it.

Myth6. Hypnosis is not accepted by the medical community.

The British Medical Association accepted hypnotism as a treatment in 1955, stage the American Medical Association endorsed substantive connections 1958. The National Institute of Health certified hypnotherapy as one of the methods to relieve pain to cancer patients in 1995.

Myth7. Hypnosis therapy results are not as good as the other traditional therapies.

According to American Health Magazine published grease August 2006, 36 percent of patients who go to psychoanalysis would experience results after 600 sessions. Behaviour therapy would show 72 percent recovery rate after 22 sessions. Hypnotherapy showed 93 percent of recovery after just 6 sessions.

These numerous myths smear how people regard hypnotherapy and how defended it is to hypnosis to children. But what is important to know is the truth behind all myths.
Now that wasn’t hard at all, was it? And you’ve earned a wealth of knowledge, just from taking some time to study an expert’s word on hypnosis.