Want help for insomnia but don't want to use sleeping pills?

Want help for insomnia but don't want to use sleeping pills? - Maybe you've seen those recent news items about the dangers of taking sleeping tablets (risk of earlier death, increased risk of developing cancer, risk of becoming habituated or addicted, risk of falls, memory loss, etc.) Well one of the ways to help with poor sleep is to take melatonin. It is safer than hypnotics, antidepressants and painkillers. - Melatonin is a natural human hormone and you do not require a doctor's prescription to obtain it. I suggest that if you decide to try melatonin you buy the 3mg capsules and take one each day about half an hour before your bedtime.

Anxiolytic and hypnotic medications linked to increased risk of death

Taking sleeping pills or medication for anxiety is linked to an increased risk of death, according to a study by a University of Laval researcher in Quebec City.
Psychologist Geneviève Belleville found a rise of 36 per cent in the mortality rate among Canadians who reported having used anxiolytic and hypnotic medication to treat insomnia or anxiety at least once in the previous month.
Read article on the CBC News website (Canada)

Years ago I took prescribed sleeping pills and experienced many adverse side-effects, the most harmful and distressing of which was probably memory loss. I also found they were extremely addictive and it took me about 8 months of great struggle to get off them. Some months ago I started to take melatonin and have found these helpful and without any side-effects.

Melatonin: I take a 3mg capsule of melatonin near bedtime to help me to sleep

Melatonin: On most days I take a 3mg capsule of melatonin near bedtime. It is a natural human hormone that has many roles, but it is as an aid to sleep that I take it. There are many possible causes for a person not secreting enough melatonin. One of the causes is prescribed medication: e.g. beta-blockers such as propranolol can deplete our bodies of melatonin. So if your sleep has deteriorated and you are puzzled as to what has caused this, it may possibly be a side-effect of tablets you are taking or have taken.

But it may be that, like me, you are in a lot of pain and that pain is keeping you awake. - You may feel pretty desperate at times because of severe lack of sleep. You may be wondering whether sleeping pills would be helpful. - I hope you will decide against that course of action. - If you look on the internet you will find a wealth of research findings about the adverse effects of sleeping tablets, or hypnotics as they are also known. And these side-effects are even more harmful to older people. Sleeping tablets are harmful and dangerous and should be avoided, especially by older people.

Doctors often confuse pain, insomnia and depression, so they sometimes persuade patients, particularly female patients, to take antidepressants when they are in pain. Antidepressants do not work for depression and seldom help with pain. They are sometimes helpful for insomnia, but most of them cause serious weight gain and many other adverse side-effects and also cause brain damage years later, so they are better avoided.

The other medication you may be considering, or have very likely tried, is analgesia/painkillers. And you may, like me, have found that they do not help at all with the pain or with the sleep problem. Or you may, like me, be concerned about the many harmful side-effects from them. And you may, like me, prefer 'natural' help when possible, rather than pharmaceutical products.

Well the natural ways to reduce chronic pain are to avoid salt and salty food, and avoid dieting and calorie-counting. And obesity is linked to poor sleep and to greater sensitivity to pain, so it is helpful to lose excess weight. Eat good, nutritious food, preferably low carb, low sugar and high fat of the good sort, such as from grass-fed cows. See LCHF. Make sure you get enough calcium and vitamin D. - See this Fat Retention page, with further information about calcium and vitamin D.

And one of the ways to help with poor sleep is to take melatonin. I believe it is safer than hypnotics, antidepressants and painkillers. - I'm assuming you have already made sure the bed is as comfortable as possible and that the curtains keep out unnecessary light, etc.

This may help with problem of inadequate sleep

The hormone, Melatonin, is one of the many factors involved in helping us to sleep. Computer screens usually emit a lot of light. Apparently the blue part of the spectrum is particularly ‘melatonin-suppressive’. Here is some free software that filters the blue light out of computer screens at dusk. I've just downloaded it and am running it and my screen is now less bright. It seems more restful for my eyes.
Note: Beta-blockers such as propranolol deplete the body of melatonin.