Sunday, July 27, 2008

Could I trouble you for a glass of warm milk?

Most people's mothers have told them at one point or another to drink a warm glass of milk and go to sleep. But really, what does it do?


A cup of warm milk will not drop you like a sack of bricks, but it may help. Milk contains substances that are related to sleep and relaxation; melatonin and tryptophan. The amount of melatonin in a glass of milk is minute, less than what would be taken in a supplement. The amount of tryptophan in milk is also small. In addition, our digestive process is complex. Considering these factors, it is unlikely that a glass of warm — or cold — milk would shorten the length of time that it takes to fall asleep.

Warm milk might have psychological significance on putting you to sleep, but temperature is not a factor in the sleep process. The routine of consuming a glass of warm milk may produce a feeling of nostalgia of your mom, home, childhood comforts that help relaxation. This is part of the natural transition from being awake to a sleeping state.

Of course as stated earlier, melatonin and tryptophan help promote a sleepy feeling and can be taken in the form of supplements. This can be taken an hour or more before bed time so you can ease the transition and go to sleep comfortably and peacefully.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Stories... Your Stories

If anyone has any information or stories (funny or not) regarding a sleep disorder, leave me a message/comment on here and I'll try to post it up.

Feed Shark

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

INSOMNIA

Insomnia is the most common of all sleeping disorders. It is estimated by the National Institutes of Health (NHI) that nearly 60 million Americans suffer from some form each year and that more women are effected than men. This was further broken down by the Standford University School of Medicine to be 40 million with chronic insomnia and another 20 million with occasional bouts, but nothing systemic. This is due to the numerous causes and symptoms not to mention the range of severity of the condition. Insomnia can be having trouble falling asleep at night, not being able to sleep the whole night, waking up continuously during the night, or just the quality of your sleep isn't good enough to keep you going when you're awake.

There are a lot of factors that can contribute to insomnia, the most common are:

-Stress: Persistent stress from any source can keep you from getting good sleep. Stress can come from any source. Work, school, relationships, family, children, bullying, finances, and just general worry can all cause stress.
-Consumption: Consumption of different foods/drinks can keep you awake. The first to mind is of course caffeine. Caffeine during or after dinner is not recomended if you suffer from insomnia. We all know about tea and coffee, but other foods such as chocolate, some ice cream, sodas, and candy bars all have some caffeine in them too.
-Alcohol: While, after drinking alcohol, you will feel dizzy tired, or simply just pass out, your sleep cycle will not be as satisfying and you are much more likely to have interrupted sleep during the night.
-Inactive Behavior: If you're not active enough during the day, you may have hard time falling asleep at night.
-Irregular Work Times: Shift work for example can lead to insomnia conditions. Regular sleeping times promote better, more fulfilling sleep. Irregular work times or staggered times of work will make a irregular sleep cycle. Excessive napping can also cause insomnia conditions.
-Sleeping Environment: Sleeping environment can be a large factor in your sleep cycles. Temperature, light, size and type of bed, and other objects in your room can affect your sleeping. I will do a specific entry about all of this another time.

Sleeping Disorders

For starters, I would like to go over some of the different types of sleep disorders as there are many different kinds. Some are psychological in nature while others may relate to physical problems. So here goes.

Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a common, serious disorder that can be life-threatening. In sleep apnea, your breathing stops or gets very shallow durring sleeping. Each pause in breathing can last up to 10 to 20 seconds or more. These pauses can occur 20 to 30 times or more an hour.

The most common type of sleep apnea is called obstructive sleep apnea. During sleep, enough air cannot flow into your lungs through your mouth and nose, even if you are trying to breathe normally. When this happens, the amount of oxygen in your blood stream will decrease. Normal breaths then start again with a loud snort or choking sound.

Symptoms can be scary - frequent waking episodes at night, usually accompanied by a feeling of “choking” or gasping for air like you had been held underwater and are coming up for breath. People living with others suffering form sleep apnea will often hear gasping, gagging, or choking sounds from the person they are living with. The severity of this disorder makes treatment essential. Treatment may include behavioral changes, physical and mechanical devices, and in some cases, surgery.

Restless legs syndrome (RLS)

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a sensory disorder causing an almost irresistible urge to move the legs or less often the arms as well. The urge to move the legs is usually due to uncomfortable, tingly, or creeping sensations that occur when at rest. Movement eases the feelings, but only for a while. Like you have the feeling that you need to move even when you should be relaxing/sleeping.
RLS is not necessarily confined to your sleep time. Symptoms most often occur when you are relaxed or lying down. You may also notice small, jerky movements of the toes, feet, and legs as you are trying to fall asleep. This order is involuntary but can be treated.


Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a disorder that causes a person to have difficulty staying awake. Narcolepsy can cause a person to suddenly fall asleep during the day.
These “sleep attacks” can happen even if you are getting enough sleep at night. The unusual sleep pattern that people with narcolepsy have can affect their lives in many ways; schooling, work, social life and anything else.
Falling asleep during activities in public places like when walking, driving, cooking, or talking can have dangerous results, both professionally and personally.

Symptoms can include:

  • Uncontrollable episodes of falling asleep during times outside of your normal sleeping times
  • Excessive daytime tiredness and general grogginess
  • Sudden, short loss of muscle control during emotional situations (cataplexy)

As narcolepsy involves your nervous system, treatment of it requires a combination of medication, behavioral treatment, and counseling sessions.

Sleep Well, Sleep Now

So, I was in California this past week and I bumped into an old friend of mine from college. Well, truthfully I was looking up old friends and then showed up at his work. We hung out a bunch the next few days and he showed me his blog so I can keep tabs on him from here in Florida, so I decided to start my own blog too.
I had met my friend Kevin due to a related condition, we both had problems sleeping. When you're young, not being able to sleep at night is cool. In high school I had my whole nocturnal and goth stage, then early in college I was a raver, then later started to work night jobs, but by my 28th birthday, I was realizing that not sleeping wasn't my lifestyle choice it was something I just had a problem with. So after doing a lot of research into sleeping disorders and insomnia related conditions, I thought it might be a good idea to help other people out as well. I hope it all helps.