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Fall into Sleep
If you ever laid for hours a night
staring at the ceiling willing yourself to fall into
sleep, then you know what it’s like for a third of
adult Americans who suffer from
insomnia.
The question is ‘what is being done
to counter this epidemic?’ Unfortunately for 40% of
insomnia sufferers the answer is in sleeping pills,
whether they’re prescribed or over the counter sleep
aids.
Is this really the answer to
insomnia? Are sleeping pills really an effective
solution to insomnia? Do they really work? And what
are the downsides to taking sleeping pills? All these
questions will be answered shortly.
Did you know that the pharmaceutical
industry is the most profitable in the world? Can you
guess how much they make a year? The combined gross
profit of the major pharmaceutical companies in 2004
was 550 Billion Dollars!
Considering how much they make and
considering that only a handful of new drugs to combat
insomnia are released each year, how much do you think
of those billions go back into research?
How much do you think goes back into
their advertising campaigns? On average how many
pharmaceutical adverts do you see on TV a day? It
wouldn’t surprise me if you saw at least half a dozen
a day. In fact many of these pharmaceutical drugs have
become household names.
But before you go out rushing to
your doctor (although I do recommend that you seek
professional medical advice) be aware of the following
facts; Since the majority of the pharmaceutical
industries profit comes from prescription medication,
they have been targeting doctors as well as
advertising that you ‘Ask your doctor’ about their
brand medication; secondly in a recent survey it was
revealed that only 10 % of doctors rated their sleep
knowledge as good.
Sleeping pills are generally bad
news as they will break down your body’s natural sleep
cycle and make sleep very difficult in the long term.
It may also affect the amount of deep sleep you attain
during the night as most major sleeping pills
interfere with normal brain wave patterns. You should
also avoid taking them for more than 2 or 3 nights in
a row, as prolonged use can cause
‘rebound’ insomnia.
You may find that you wake up
feeling groggy, drowsy or tired. Other Side effects
include urinary retention, blurred vision, dizziness
and palpitations. Sleeping pills may help you get to
sleep but with continual use your body will build
tolerance, and you may find that you need to ‘up’ your
dose to attain the same affect.
So you have to ask the question; do
these big corporations have our health and wellbeing
in mind? Considering that an estimated 100,000 deaths
occur in America alone due to adverse drug reactions
and we never seem to be informed of this, I’ll leave
you to decide.
But don’t despair there are far more
effective solutions out their besides sleeping pills.
In fact if you really knew the truth about sleep ad
sleeping pills, you probably wouldn’t touch sleeping
pills with a barge pole.
So you maybe wondering, what are the
alternatives? Firstly insomnia should not be treated
as a cold or cough. Sleep is a complex process and the
idea that you can just pop a few pills and be rid of
your problem for good is ridiculous. It’s one thing
being able to fall into sleep one night, but a
completely different thing being able to sleep well
every night.
When tackling insomnia, the
underlying problem needs to be dealt with as well as
the symptoms. The easiest step to take in correcting
your sleep cycle is by paying attention to your sleep
habits.
Other therapies and practices such
as acupuncture, reflexology and hypnosis are all
highly effective and drug-free. If you really have to
consider taking something to fall asleep, try herbal
and
natural remedies.
If you would like a detailed look on
how you can fall into sleep easily every night and
conquer insomnia, sign up for our free newsletter.
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