Homeopathy

Sleeplessness - insomnia

Silence is a great treasure. Silent sleep is more than that. Sleeplessness (owl's night) is a condition where people used to keep awake at night due to difficulty in sleeping. It is called insomnia in medical terminology. t is the condition where sleep is unable to be performed perfectly and peacefully for an expected proper time in a continuous manner. Generally, sleeplessness varies from reduction in sleep time to complete sleeplessness. Mostly, it is accompanied with tiredness, sleepiness and restlessness in the mornings with lack of satisfaction of having slept well.

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Initially, these persons find difficulty in falling asleep, followed by restless and difficult sleep and also in continuing or maintaining the sleeping for the required time. Even a single sleepless night, amidst sleepers, will have an impact on the person in the sense the person will feel bad about it.

Sleeplessness indicates…

• You are in trouble, either with your mind or body

• You are hiding secrets

• You are overconscious

• You are a silent sufferer

Incidence - Sleeplessness is more common in old people. Its beginnings are mostly seen after retirement or emotional stress. The most common sufferers are the unemployed, divorcee or widow or a hospitalised person. Usually, women sleep more than men. In the same manner, they are the leaders in suffering from sleeplessness also.

Causes - As a general rule, there is no smoke without fire. Likewise, without any causative factor or precursor, there won't be sleeplessness. Sleep can be disturbed for everyone due to urination or thirst. But insomniac patients will have any one of the following triggers that drowns them in a sleepless state.

• Habits of overwork or extended sleeping schedule

• Overexcitement or anxiety or depression

• Thoughtful and restless

• Nightmares

• Drugs and smoking

• Excess coffee or tea intake

• Painful and chronic diseases

• Fear of strangers

• Fear of sex, due to failures

• Fear or change of environments due to strange places, loneliness, hospital stay, etc.

• Fear of any other cause

Diseases which often cause sleeplessness

• Nervous disorders - Any nervous stimulation of reticular system will disturb the person and keep him/her awake. Any lesion of mid pontine area which separates lower portions from cortex will prevent going to sleep, causing complete sleeplessness.

• Respiratory disorders - Any breathing difficulty can cause arousal from sleep

• Circulatory disorders - lack of oxygen, due to poor circulation

Symptoms of sleeplessness Sufferer feels - time passes very slowly and finds it difficult to face nights Restlessness Frequent urination Thoughtfulness Effects of sleeplessness In children, sleeplessness can cause  Dullness Lack of concentration Behavioural changes

In adults

• Restlessness

• Psychological impairment

• Accidents in case of restless, waking drivers

• Violent behaviour

• Suicidal tendency

• Leads to rewinding the thoughts of the day and finding fault with what has happened and brooding

• Losing health and wealth by spending a lot on medicines and hospitals, sometimes, loss in business too, due to lack of concentration 

The complaints that can occur on sudden waking

• Palpitations

• Headache

• Giddiness

• Tiredness

Disturbances in maintaining or getting deep sleep may be due to
In children

• Habit of grinding teeth and rolling in bed

• Deliriousness - sleep talking

• Somnambulism- sleep walking

• Nose block due to adenoids or polyps

• Heavily enlarged tonsils obstructing the airway

• Coughing and wheezing at night or lying posture

• Hyperactivity - being restless, they cannot maintain a position to get sleep

• Nightmares

• Aching muscles and aching bones· Frequent urination due to urinary tract infection or bedwetting

In adults or the aged

• Frequent urination due to diabetes or urinary tract infection

• Snoring or respiratory disorders causing sleep apnoea

• Hunger pain or acid pain of peptic ulcer

• Headache

• Hypertension

• Wheezing

• Painful joints or muscles (cramps)

• Abdomen or digestive disorders

• Prostate enlargement and Priapism (persistent painful erection condition of penis)

• Cholesterol stones of gall bladder which float and obstruct the bile duct in lying posture

To get immersed in good sleep and making sleeping easy

Do's

• Better take a walk before sleep

• Relieve tension, anxiety, fear and expect tomorrow's dawn of brightness

• Take a warm bath

• Read mind relaxing books for sometime before sleep

• Take a light meal, if there is any digestive or abdominal disturbances

• Get treated for diseases, if any - nose block, snoring, sleep apnoea, sinuses, diabetes, urinary tract infection, psychological complaints

• Stay in comfortable position and situation to get a good start-up.

Avoid using

• Habit forming sleeping pills

• Stimulants

Sleep promoters

Natural - fruits, nuts, milk & heavy foods usually act as sleep promoters
Artificial - alcohol and drugs (tranquilizer - which calms a person's brain without clouding consciousness, i.e. diazepam group of drugs)

Diagnosis - Being mostly psychological, diagnosing sleeplessness is very much difficult, unless patient reveals everything to the doctor. To do quality service, in an effective manner, analysis of the cause should be done in every case for removing it or getting cured. To attain easy solutions, analyse the physical and mental state of the patient with the history of the patient, from start-up of the complaints which will mostly guide the case. In case of a child, it is much more difficult to find the cause, unless there is a visual pathology or otherwise the child must be analysed in a sleep lab with EEG changes.

Treatment - In allopathy, sedative treatments (which provide tranquilizers) are given for all types of insomniac patients. The tranquilizer works very temporarily. Also, most of the hypertensive patients, psychologically disturbed patients and diabetic patients are given sedative drugs with their routine drugs, in order to avoid tension. In the same manner, allopathic medicines used for allergic rhinitis or allergic skin diseases and cough have sedative soothing effects. Sleep disturbances related to physical problems like pain, breathlessness or psychological problems like anxiety, drug withdrawal, nightmares and depression are not analysed in detail, but given habit-forming sedatives to get temporary relief. The effects of these drugs, in due course, will diminish. Then again, to get better sleep, doctor and patient go on adding the dose and frequency of the medicines.

Likewise, all the chronic disease sufferers suffer from sleeplessness, which may be due to diseases or drug-induced. They are also given nothing but sedatives. In case of local pathology-like adenoids, tonsils, painful arthritis and cough, allopaths provide antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drugs, which work only for a week or so. After that, the complaints usually re-start. Sometimes people resort to surgery, to eliminate pathology.

Side-effects of sedative drugs - Sleeping pills always give only artificial, temporary sleep, which will not refresh us fully due to lack of REM sleep. Also, taking merely sleeping pills is just like shutting off the light, instead of removing the cause. If you are going to take sleeping pills, don't forget your next day is going to be more sleepless than the present-day. Since patients use it as a routine, they are not aware of this symptom. If pills are prescribed for depression or other complaints, the patient can take those drugs only if they are ready to go to sleep even in the daytime, to calm themselves.

Sleepiness and drowsiness are the common side-effects. Also all sleeping pills can cause serious side-effects like tremor, stupor, coma, weakness, dizziness, clumsiness, hallucinations, confusion, depression, rashes, slow heart beat, constipation or diarrhoea and sometimes even death can occur with heavy overdoses. The sleeping pills work in all ways to make the brain dull and sleepy. So, you cannot give those drugs to children or persons whose alertness is important in learning or working (for example - drivers, pilots, etc,). Also, the most distinguishing feature of all sleeping pills is habit forming.

Homeopathic approach on sleeplessness - Sleep arises from the balance of the inhibition and arousal stimuli. First of all, calm your mind and shut all your thoughts, then sleep will not or never get away. Some people go on changing the place and positions, covering the face, legs, ears, hands and eyes, switching off the lights, etc., for getting good sleep. Every tic of the clock will alarm, trigger and wake them up. Sleep is not the matter of all those things, but it is in the calmness of the mind. Removing the actual cause could help.

Usually, in Homeopathy, the remedy is selected on the basis of symptoms of the patient, including physical, mental (emotional states, depression, anxious, etc) and family history. Homeopathy treats the patients, rather than the diseases or its effects. Homeopathy acts neurologically and helps the brain attain calmness. So it can give a permanent solution. It gives psychological support to withstand emotional conditions. Homeopathy, with its dynamic approach, can cure sleeplessness wonderfully. The major credit point with Homeopathy is its nil side-effects and also its effective cure which is permanent without any persistent usage of drugs or dependency or habit-forming.

In Homeopathy, the choice of medicine differs for early awakening, sleeping late, frequent awakening, sleeplessness after midnight or before midnight, sleeplessness at night and sleeping in the morning, etc. The complaints which recur after sudden awakening can also be cured completely. Likewise, Homeopathy considers even dreams for choosing the correct and apt medicine. There are lots and lots of medicines in Homeopathy, particularly fear of snakes, ghosts, strangers, etc., - for every type of dream, the choice of drug differs.

The ultimate secret is no magic prescription can cure all your sleeplessness, unless you reveal everything you feel, including the causative factor and take effort in removing it. So, longing for longer sleep ends here with apt Homeopathy treatment and counselling. One important thing for patients used to tranquilizers - it is better to stop it or withdraw slowly or otherwise there will be a rebound of sickness or more sleeplessness. Likewise, the stimulants should also be withdrawn slowly, under the supervision and advice of the doctor.

The results of Homeopathy treatment are not drowsiness but will be very peaceful refreshment. Homeopathic medicines commonly used in case of sleeplessness are Aconite, Arg Nit, Ars alb, Chamomilla, Gelsemium, Hyosyamus, Ignatia, Kali phos, Nat mur, Nux Vom, Opium, Passiflora, Pulsatilla, Rauwolfia, Staphysagria, Rhus Tox, etc. These medicines should be taken under the advice and diagnosis of a qualified Homeopath. So, you don't have to suffer from sleeplessness any more.

(Concluded)

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Published on March 7^th, 2005