SLEEP
·
Difficulty
sleeping is a common problem. It
affects most people at some time in their lives.
·
It
is usually a short-lived problem, often brought on by stressful events, and
will usually settle on its own.
·
As
a person gets older it is normal for their sleep pattern to change and often
they require less sleep during the night.
·
It
is rarely harmful to lose sleep.
If
you are having difficulty sleeping:
There are many things you can try to do
yourself
v
Have
a set time for going to bed and for waking up in the morning. Try and keep
to these times even at weekends.
v
Reduce
the amount of caffeine that you drink during the day. Caffeine is in coffee,
tea, chocolate, coca-cola and in some painkillers e.g. solpadeine. Try not
drink coffee etc after 4pm or try decaffeinated coffee or tea.
v
Take
regular exercise.
v
Wind
down before going to bed – have a hot drink, read a book, have a warm
bath.
v
If
you find you cannot get to sleep, get up and go to another room.
Reasons for not sleeping
There can be all manner of reasons
for not being able to sleep.
It may be due to anxiety, for
example an exam coming up.
Sometimes people can’t sleep due
to pain – it is then important to try and treat the cause of this pain.
Sometimes sleep can be disturbed
as part of a wider problem such as depression – treating this problem
should help sleep disturbance.
If you think you are depressed,
come and tell your doctor
Sleeping tablets
These
may occasionally have a role in the short term treatment of insomnia.
Sleeping
tablets on prescription are members of a group of tablets called benzodiazepines
which include valium and temazepam. There are also tablets of a related
group, such as zopiclone & zolpidem.
They
are all potentially addictive and the body gets used to them (tolerance)
which means that if used long term, they would need to be given in higher
doses to have the same effect. If stopped suddenly in such a situation they
can give rise to unpleasant side effects.
They
do not produce a natural sleep and so often leave a “hangover” effect
the following morning.
Summary
·
Sleep
disturbance is common
·
It
is usually short lived
·
Following
some of the guidelines given above may help
·
It
is rarely necessary or desirable to prescribe sleeping tablets
