Insomnia and Natural Remedies

Posted by sanjay on Monday 20 Apr 2009

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Insomnia can be defined as a chronic inability either to sleep or sleep for adequate duration. People affected by insomnia have difficulty in sleeping regularly and also for adequate length of time. Nowadays the lifestyle is such that people are highly stressed because of which many people are getting affected by insomnia. In particular, upper class people in the urban areas are affected the maximum.

What causes Insomnia?

The reasons for insomnia can be broadly categorized into the following.

1. Emotional factors
2. Chronic diseases
3. Lifestyle issues

The emotional factors are anger, anxiety, bitterness, bottled up resentment, excessive stress, mental stress and strain, overexcitement etc.

Chronic diseases are allergies, arthritis, asthma, constipation, decrease in melatonin, dyspepsia, heart disease, changes in women due to hormones, pain/ discomfort etc.

Lifestyle issues are excess intake of coffee and tea, excessive smoking, going to sleep with hunger, jet lag, overworking both at home and office, overeating – mainly in the night, shift changes etc.

What are the symptoms for Insomnia?

The symptoms for insomnia are as follows.

• Sleeplessness
• Poor sleep quality with changes in timings and duration
• Changes in patterns of sleep
• Worried mentally about sleep
• Waking up in the midnight or early morning,
• Feeling fatigued and sleepy during the day
• Lapses in memory
• Loses concentration and coordination
• Makes errors and gets into accidents
• Getting irritated
• Depressed feeling
• Anxiety
• Headaches because of tension
• Confusion
• Emotionally unstable
• Gastrointestinal problems

What are the natural home remedies for insomnia?

It is possible to treat insomnia at home using natural remedies. Some of the natural home remedies for insomnia are detailed in the following paragraphs.

Perform Pranayam which is effective in making you sleep. Perform yoga exercises; also exercises such as walking, swimming, jogging etc. also help in giving good sleep. Add sugar to thirty gm of poppy seed milk and drink prior to going to bed. Take powdered nutmeg in the night before going to bed. Take milk with honey prior to going to sleep.