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This page is just a personal (not medical) view of what must be a very common problem at any age but which probably affects older people more than the young.
First, can I draw your attention to the website of a good friend at www.circlecity.co.uk. The author suffers from severe sleep apnoea but the site deals with insomnia generally but also has pages devoted to many aspects of computing plus a long list of amusing photographs, jokes and cartoons. After reading this I suggest that you have a look at Bob's site. It is much prettier than this one and, as he is a good site programmer he has several interactive pages where you can comment or put questions to him.
Sleep apnoea can be a very serious condition whereby people stop breathing whilst asleep. This not only disturbs their sleep as they wake up with a start and begin to breath again but it can, in the worst cases, put a strain on the heart. I do have a slight tendency towards it myself and find that sleeping in certain positions (on my back) makes my throat close up momentarily and I choke and have to change my position. I find that having a single pillow and sleeping with my head turned almost towards it does help.
Apart from this, which is comparatively recent, I have often had periods when I found sleep difficult, although I cannot say it has been a serious problem. My sleeplessness has been almost entirely due to too many things going round in my head. It has rarely been a question of worry. More often a question of excitement. In fact when I started a new job many years ago I was so full of ideas of what I would do the following day that I even asked the doctor for a prescription. It was late in the afternoon when I arrived at the chemist and I could see, across the High Street that the owner was just about to lock the glass doors of his shop. I ran across the road and pushed open the door, much to the surprise of the pharmacist. When I asked what the pills were for he said "To stop you running around like that!". I had never had sleeping pills before and made the mistake of not taking them until I had been lying awake for an hour or so. The following day I had an appointment in a school 15 miles away. Normally I was very keen to arrive on time but that morning I was late and didn't give a damn ! I have never relied on sleeping pills since that time.
I do, however, have a few techniques to help me go to sleep or get back to sleep if I wake in the night. It may be psychosomatic but I take a half or a whole Paracetomol but it seems to reduce the occasional aches and itches which make sleep more difficult.
In addition to this pill I use a technique which I gather is used in Yoga : i.e. to completely relax each part of the body in turn, starting with the left foot, then the leg, then the left arm, then the right arm and so on. If I haven't fallen asleep by the time I have reached the centre of my body I do this all over again. I rarely get as far as that, though. I believe it is similar to the 'counting sheep' method. One is getting one's mind off the subject of what you must remember to do tomorrow or some project (or web page update) and onto something which is utterly boring.
If this fails I may get up and write down the ideas that are running round my head. And, if all else fails I will get up, disappear downstairs and read for a while.
There has been some publicity recently because of the untimely death of a young film star, which was related to sleeping pills (including Ambien) found by his body. So, what is the news on sleeping pills ?
The Good Health section of the Daily Mail (Tuesdays) says (29th Jan 08) that Ambien and the commonly prescribed 'Z' drugs such as Zolpidem (made by Sanofi-Aventis) (+ Zopicione , Zalepion and Tamazepam) appear to affect a small percentage of people in unusual ways such as sleepwalking, amnesia and hallucinations. In some cases people have been found to sleep drive, finding themselves in police custody in their pyjamas, some having driven into other cars or lamp posts. MHRA, the regularitory body in the UK recommends that sleeping pills should only be used in the short term and for people suffering from acute distress. Sleeplessness is often caused by life problems (or, as in my case, thinking too much) and that CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) is a better answer. In any case the article maintained that many older people take a nap in the afternoon or early evening and the fact that they wake up early and cannot get back to sleep may not matter. It even suggests having a cup of coffee so that they don't feel like going to bed until later. Sleep well.
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