Tag: Sleeping Pills

Sleep Disorder and Teenagers

There is a sleep disorder that affects between seven to ten percent of teenagers called Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder, also known as DNS. Most teenagers outgrow this disorder by the time they reach young adulthood. Less then one percent of adults are believed to have DSP. Often people mistake this sleep disorder for insomnia.

Left on their own, people with delayed sleep phase disorder would stay up until very late, sometimes until 4 or 5 a.m. They like to get up very late in the morning or early afternoon. Often they are referred to as night owls.

Many teenagers like to stay up late and sleep late in the morning. Sometimes this is because they want to socialize at that time of the day. However, it can also be due to the natural delay in the circadian sleep / wake rhythm at their age of development.

Teenagers with this sleep disorder often have a very hard time getting up in the morning for school. Even if they go to sleep at a regular time, such as 11 p.m., they toss and turn for hours like someone with insomnia. They difference is, unlike an insomniac, people with delayed sleep phase disorder have no difficulty staying asleep. They do have a very difficult time getting up early in the morning. Teenagers with this sleep disorder are very tired during the day and may even fall asleep in the classroom. The exact cause of this sleep disorder is not known. It is known for certain that it is a circadian rhythm problem.

Treatment for this sleep disorder is available for people that need to get onto a more traditional sleep / wake schedule. The types of treatment include, bright light, chronotherapy, melatonin and over- the-counter prescribed sleeping pills.

Bright light treatment for delayed sleep phase disorder uses bright light to trick the brain’s circadian clock . Exposure to bright light shifts the circadian rhythm if it is administered within a few hours of the body’s lowest temperature at night.

Using chronotherapy as a treatment for someone with delayed sleep phase disorder requires a block of time one week long. Each day bedtime is delayed by three hours successively. For example, for someone that falls asleep at 2 a.m. but wants to fall asleep at 11. p.m., their bedtime would move to 5 a.m. on the first day. The next day it would move to 8 a.m. and continue this cycle for a week. A teenager suffering with delayed sleep phase disorder would need a week off from school in order to complete this therapy. Once the desired bed time is reached it is very important to keep a consistent wake up time.

There are several treatments involving various drugs that are used to treat delayed sleep phase disorder. Melatonin has been successful in changing the sleep cycle of people with this sleep disorder. Prescription medication such as Ramelteon, and other sleeping pills, have been successful in treating teenagers and adults with delayed sleep phase disorder.

If your teenager has trouble falling asleep and always wants to stay up late, be aware of the possibility that a sleep disorder may be present.

Medications Used for the Sleep Disorder of Chronic Insomnia

People that suffer from the sleep disorder of chronic insomnia must decide whether or not they are going to take a sleep medication. This decision is usually made with their physician. Many people decide to take a sleeping pill because it offers relief from the symptoms of their sleep disorder and the extreme sleepiness they are always feeling. Taking a pill can improve how they fell and also the quality of their life.

However, many people worry about the side effects and health risks that come with taking sleeping pills. Sleeping pills are among the most widely used drugs in the United States, and their use continues to increase.

The types of sleep medications that are available to people with insomnia fall into two categories, prescription and over-the-counter medications. Each sleep medication affects the body differently. The effectiveness of the sleeping pill is a major factor when dealing with sufferers of this sleep disorder. How quickly the pill will take effect and how long the effect will last are very important. The effect should match the individual’s sleep problem.

The fast acting drugs would benefit a person who has difficulty falling asleep while a longer lasting pill would better benefit someone who has difficulty staying asleep.

Other important factors concerning medications for people with this sleep disorder include the impact the medication has on sleep quality, the tolerance that a person has for the drug, the possibility of developing a dependence on the drug, and the side effects associated with the drug. Each of these points has to be considered when deciding to take sleep medication for chronic insomnia.

Many over-the-counter sleep medications contain some type of antihistamine as a primary active ingredient. Antihistamines are widely used to treat allergies and they are also effective in helping people fall asleep. However, there has been little research done on their long-term effectiveness or safety.

Prescription medications for the sleep disorder of chronic insomnia are classified into four general groups: benzodiazepine receptor agonists, antidepressants, melatonin receptor agonists, and barbiturates. Each one of these drug groups has specific benefits in regards to treating insomnia. However, it is very important that the right type of for chronic insomnia medication is prescribed for each individual person with this sleep disorder.

Before choosing a sleeping medication, it is very important to determine the source of the insomnia. For example, perhaps the source of the insomnia is the result of another treatable illness, or a side effect of a medication that is taken. The insomnia is then called secondary insomnia. The focus on medication should then be on the primary illness. Often the insomnia will disappear once the underlying cause is treated.

The decision of whether or not to take sleep mediation for chronic insomnia has to be a personal decision. There is no right or wrong decision. However, it is important, if the choice is to take a medication for this sleep disorder, to become as educated as possible about the medication prescribed.

Insomnia

When you think of insomnia you’re thinking of someone who can’t sleep for a reasonable amount of time. A typical complaint from an insomniac is not being able to close their eyes or rest their mind for over a few minutes at a time. There are many reasons for this ranging from anxiety to bipolar disorder. Yet sometimes there’s no real causes and can just happen for any given reason, but too much activity and physical pain can be causes for someone not to be sleeping at night.

Finding the underlying causes is key to finding a cure for this problem. It’s also been found that not eating has contributed to someone not sleeping. There are 3 types of insomnia and they are transient insomnia which lasts anywhere from a single night to several weeks, acute insomnia is the inability to sleep well for a single period of 3 weeks to up to 6 months, and chronic is deemed the most serious where it’s happening nightly for at least a month or longer.

There are options to treat insomnia the most common is medicinal since there’s commercials on for Ambien, Ambien CR (Controlled Release) , Rozerem, and Lunesta prescribed for people dealing with sleeping disorders.

It seems in this day and age that sleeping disorders are becoming more common and prevalent because with the new line of sleeping pills coming out explains clearly shows that there is an increase of sleeping disorders of many variations. Some of the medications out there that’s used in treatment of insomnia have proven that it was effective in helping insomniacs wake and sleep at the right time, but it lacks the data information to prove the theory as truth and factual. Lunesta and Ambien are noted to having a high psychological dependence than the older brands of sleeping pills and now cognitive behavior therapy is one of the many options widely used in someone dealing with insomnia and using the medication Rozerem because of the like hood of getting hooked to the drug is reduced and is widely prescribed for people who have a history of overusing their medications.

Some insomniacs have used herbs like chamomile when drunk in tea and lavender for aromatherapy as a means to relax. Insomnia can also result in a deficiency of magnesium and getting the right amount has proven to improve the quality of a person’s sleeping patterns.

Pomegranates are also good for insomniacs since there’s a nutrient in the fruit key for everything from immunity to cardiovascular health and are good for improving sleep. Insomniacs are also advised to eliminate a lot of the stress and tension in their lives because this is a triggering problem in the everyday life on an insomniac. Chinese medicine has also been introduced into helping those with sleeping disorders and other issues surrounding that. According to statistics taken from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services it’s estimated that 60 million Americans suffer from some type of insomnia and is noted to increase with age. 40% of women and 30% of men suffer from this.

Women tend to deal with this more because of increased level of responsibilities in their lives since more and more households in the United States are becoming single run homes and 75% of women are the heads of them which makes them the sole bread winners and taking on the role of mother and father which makes their lives increasingly difficult when they don’t have a partner or spouse to give them the support they need.