My wife has just returned from a long haul trip to the States with work. After a couple of weeks with her struggling to sleep and waking me up in the middle of the night to look at paint samples I thought I’d better start looking at how I can stop this from happening again!
So I’ve decided to pull together some facts on the causes of jetlag and some tips on things that you can do to avoid it. Even if you’ve not got a long flights across timezones coming up soon – hopefully you can remember the tips and they will come in handy in the future.
So what is jet lag exactly?
Well, one of the downsides of long distance travel across different timezones is that it confuses your body clock – this can lead to throwing peoples sleep patterns.
The syptoms manifest themselves as severe tiredness and fatigue as well as minor disorientation.
7 Top Tips on avoiding jetlag
The tips below have been proven to help with minimising the effects of jetlag.
1. Your watch
Change your watch to your destination time as soon as you board the plane. It’s a small thing but it really helps you mentally adjust to arriving at your destination.
2. Eating
Eat after you land, rather than just on the plane. This will help your body clock adjust. It will also help you feel dozy as long as you keep to a light meal. A salad is often good as lettuce has been found to actually help people sleep.
3. Bedtime
When you arrive at your destination – force yourself to stay awake. It’s best not to sleep until it is bedtime in that timezone.
4. Routine
If it is bedtime when you arrive, follow your normal bedtime routine. This will encourage sleep.
5. Dehydration
This makes jetlag worse. It is important to try and avoid too much alcohol on your flight and instead drink lots of water.
6. Light
If you have arrived in daylight when it should be dark in the time zone you’ve come from – try and avoid light as much as you can the first day or so.
7. Active
Finally, be as active as you can during daylight hours. This will help you naturally feel tired at night time in the new timezone. Fatigue can be a great way of getting back into a sleep routine.
Hope these tips come in use at some point in the future
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Sleep restriction
Really interesting YouTube clip on Sleep restriction as a cure for insomnia
There was a really interesting documentary on BBC television I caught the end of, about people with sleep disorders. The bit that really caught my attention was about a TV presenter called Dominic Diamond – who I had met about twenty years earlier at a comedy club when he was plying his trade as a budding stand up comic.
To be honest he wasn’t much good – so I can see why he’s ended up as a TV presenter as opposed to the next Chris Rock or Ricky Jervais!
In the documentary, Dominic admits to sometimes going 72 hours without sleep and they interview him and his family about how this effects their life. It really brought back memories of my sleepless night and how it effected my marriage when I was at the height of my insomnia.
His sleep depravation was really making his life a misery and he would be classed as a particularly chronic insomniac – having suffered from long bouts of sleeplessness since his teenage years.
I think you’ll find it interesting and it may help you see that you are not alone with this condition.
Edinburgh Sleep Centre
I won’t spoil it for you – but there is an amazing simple technique offered up by Colin Epsie one of the Directors at The Edinburgh Sleep Centre. Called Sleep restriction – it appeared to show some stunning results. I’ll let you make your own mind up…
Check out the clip yourself…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrsCl_hnaWc
Hope you find it interesting and of some help.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
There was a really interesting documentary on BBC television I caught the end of, about people with sleep disorders. The bit that really caught my attention was about a TV presenter called Dominic Diamond – who I had met about twenty years earlier at a comedy club when he was plying his trade as a budding stand up comic.
To be honest he wasn’t much good – so I can see why he’s ended up as a TV presenter as opposed to the next Chris Rock or Ricky Jervais!
In the documentary, Dominic admits to sometimes going 72 hours without sleep and they interview him and his family about how this effects their life. It really brought back memories of my sleepless night and how it effected my marriage when I was at the height of my insomnia.
His sleep depravation was really making his life a misery and he would be classed as a particularly chronic insomniac – having suffered from long bouts of sleeplessness since his teenage years.
I think you’ll find it interesting and it may help you see that you are not alone with this condition.
Edinburgh Sleep Centre
I won’t spoil it for you – but there is an amazing simple technique offered up by Colin Epsie one of the Directors at The Edinburgh Sleep Centre. Called Sleep restriction – it appeared to show some stunning results. I’ll let you make your own mind up…
Check out the clip yourself…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrsCl_hnaWc
Hope you find it interesting and of some help.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
Monday, 13 September 2010
Understanding Sleeping Pills – The Z Drugs & Anti Depressants
The Z Drugs include hypnotic medications such as Zolpidem, Zopiclone and Zaleplon.
On the whole these drugs cause less problems than the benzodiazepines and do help to promote sleep. But there are still serious problems associated with dependency and withdrawal.
There is also a much bigger risk of being involved in a car accident the day after taking the drugs.
The Z drugs are also much more expensive than the benzodiazepines but there is no evidence to say that they work any better. In fact doctors find the drugs work differently depending on each patient – so we have to find out the right combination or individual dose.
Anti depressants are often prescribed for insomnia as they can sometimes work as sedatives in low doses. The most common anti depressants include – Amitripyline, Dothiepin, Clonazepam, Venlafaxine, Mirtazapine and Trazadone.
Evidence show that these drugs can work to help with insomnia where the insomnia is linked to depression.
But again there can be a number of common side effects. As well as dry mouth and blurred vision – the drugs can also cause difficulty urinating or sweating. In some cases they can cause anirregular heartbeat.
People also need to be careful when coming off anti depressants as this needs to be gradual to avoid any rebound effects.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
On the whole these drugs cause less problems than the benzodiazepines and do help to promote sleep. But there are still serious problems associated with dependency and withdrawal.
There is also a much bigger risk of being involved in a car accident the day after taking the drugs.
The Z drugs are also much more expensive than the benzodiazepines but there is no evidence to say that they work any better. In fact doctors find the drugs work differently depending on each patient – so we have to find out the right combination or individual dose.
Anti depressants are often prescribed for insomnia as they can sometimes work as sedatives in low doses. The most common anti depressants include – Amitripyline, Dothiepin, Clonazepam, Venlafaxine, Mirtazapine and Trazadone.
Evidence show that these drugs can work to help with insomnia where the insomnia is linked to depression.
But again there can be a number of common side effects. As well as dry mouth and blurred vision – the drugs can also cause difficulty urinating or sweating. In some cases they can cause anirregular heartbeat.
People also need to be careful when coming off anti depressants as this needs to be gradual to avoid any rebound effects.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
Definitions of Insomnia - L to P
More jargon busting descriptions for terms you’ll come across when researching insomnia – this week L through to P.
LIGHT SLEEP – the second stage of sleep.
MELATONIN – a hormone produced in the pineal gland that promotes sleep. More of this is produced naturally in dark conditions. Supplements can be brought from pharmacists to top up levels and aid sleep.
NARCOLEPSY – a sleep disorder linked to excessive daytime sleepiness. The sufferer can fall asleep without any warning.
NON RAPID EYE MOVEMENT (NREM) – The type of sleep which occurs during sleep stages 1 to 4 . It’s different from REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep in that there are not any darting eye movements.
PARASOMNIAS – Sleep disorders involving moving, seeing or hearing things that don’t exist.
PERIODIC LIMB MOVEMENT DISORDER – This is where a sufferers limbs move involuntarily whilst they are asleep.
PLACEBO – This is where a patient is given an inactive substance to compare its effects with those of an actual treatment. Or a patient can benefit from just believing that they have received a treatment and subliminally feel better.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
LIGHT SLEEP – the second stage of sleep.
MELATONIN – a hormone produced in the pineal gland that promotes sleep. More of this is produced naturally in dark conditions. Supplements can be brought from pharmacists to top up levels and aid sleep.
NARCOLEPSY – a sleep disorder linked to excessive daytime sleepiness. The sufferer can fall asleep without any warning.
NON RAPID EYE MOVEMENT (NREM) – The type of sleep which occurs during sleep stages 1 to 4 . It’s different from REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep in that there are not any darting eye movements.
PARASOMNIAS – Sleep disorders involving moving, seeing or hearing things that don’t exist.
PERIODIC LIMB MOVEMENT DISORDER – This is where a sufferers limbs move involuntarily whilst they are asleep.
PLACEBO – This is where a patient is given an inactive substance to compare its effects with those of an actual treatment. Or a patient can benefit from just believing that they have received a treatment and subliminally feel better.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
Eat a lettuce sandwich before bedtime helps you sleep easier!
This is a really weird bit of advice that someone told me about this weekend. It was apparently mentioned on a BBC documentary a couple of years ago as a way to help cure insomnia.
The advice on a programme about how to get to sleep faster and stay asleep suggested you eat a lettuce sandwich before bedtime.
So is there any science behind this or is it just an old wives tail?
We traced back and it appears that this is the basis of a very old English recipe for curing insomnia dating back to the eighteenth century.
So I asked Maureen Lumsden a nutritionalist friend of mine to explain why this should be?
It turns out that there is a lot of truth in this – but the sandwich needs to be made more specifically of the lettuce stem and it needs to be fresh. It’s the white latex from the plant’s stem — known as lettuce opium — that does the job.
Looking into it further Food expert and Author Anne McIntyre explains in her book Simple Home Remedies for Common Ailments that the substance in the plant’s stem “looks and works the same way as the opium poppy.”
So salad for supper tonight – At least it will be healthier than biscuits or a slice of toast!
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
The advice on a programme about how to get to sleep faster and stay asleep suggested you eat a lettuce sandwich before bedtime.
So is there any science behind this or is it just an old wives tail?
We traced back and it appears that this is the basis of a very old English recipe for curing insomnia dating back to the eighteenth century.
So I asked Maureen Lumsden a nutritionalist friend of mine to explain why this should be?
It turns out that there is a lot of truth in this – but the sandwich needs to be made more specifically of the lettuce stem and it needs to be fresh. It’s the white latex from the plant’s stem — known as lettuce opium — that does the job.
Looking into it further Food expert and Author Anne McIntyre explains in her book Simple Home Remedies for Common Ailments that the substance in the plant’s stem “looks and works the same way as the opium poppy.”
So salad for supper tonight – At least it will be healthier than biscuits or a slice of toast!
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
Learn about sleeping pills- the downside of Benzodiazepines
This group of sleeping pills includes temazepam, nitrazepam , lormetazepam and diazepam.
They are often prescribed to insomniacs to help calm people down and make them feel sleepy. These drugs tend to be prescribes when the doctor believes the source of the anxiety is anxiety related.
But one of the big downsides with drugs from the benzodiazepines family is “tolerance”. As the body gets used to the drug – the higher the level it needs to have the same effect.
Other serious problems include dependency. This means that you can only ever get to sleep with the pills. But to make matters worse – symptoms appear to get worse when people stop taking the drugs.
There are also side effects to taking benzodiazepines such as drowsiness and dizziness. Research has also linked these side effects as increasing the risk of road accidents.
One final thing to point out – if you’re taking benzodiazepines – whatever you do, don’t drink alcohol. The sleeping pills enhance the effects of the alcohol by 100% or more!
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
They are often prescribed to insomniacs to help calm people down and make them feel sleepy. These drugs tend to be prescribes when the doctor believes the source of the anxiety is anxiety related.
But one of the big downsides with drugs from the benzodiazepines family is “tolerance”. As the body gets used to the drug – the higher the level it needs to have the same effect.
Other serious problems include dependency. This means that you can only ever get to sleep with the pills. But to make matters worse – symptoms appear to get worse when people stop taking the drugs.
There are also side effects to taking benzodiazepines such as drowsiness and dizziness. Research has also linked these side effects as increasing the risk of road accidents.
One final thing to point out – if you’re taking benzodiazepines – whatever you do, don’t drink alcohol. The sleeping pills enhance the effects of the alcohol by 100% or more!
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
Gaby Roslin gives up coffee to get a good nights sleep...
BBC TV Sports Presenter Gaby Roslin recently admitted to suffering from insomnia.
Worried about how it was affecting her career – she was willing to try anything to
get over her sleep depravation.
So how did Gaby get over insomnia?
Simple, she curbed the coffee. She commented “I recently gave up coffee and now I’m sleeping much better”
She added that she had started to be concerned about how much the lack of sleep was affecting her appearance – and how she had started to look drawn. She went onto admit that she had started to use more and more make up to hide the bags under her eyes.
Now cured – she recently said “Sleep is the best beauty fix I know of!”
I’ve already posted information on the effects of coffee and caffeine on sleep – but it’s good to get a celebrity to come out and admit a problem with sleep and back up the positive effects of giving up coffee.
If you have problems sleeping – its a simple first step to make.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
Worried about how it was affecting her career – she was willing to try anything to
get over her sleep depravation.
So how did Gaby get over insomnia?
Simple, she curbed the coffee. She commented “I recently gave up coffee and now I’m sleeping much better”
She added that she had started to be concerned about how much the lack of sleep was affecting her appearance – and how she had started to look drawn. She went onto admit that she had started to use more and more make up to hide the bags under her eyes.
Now cured – she recently said “Sleep is the best beauty fix I know of!”
I’ve already posted information on the effects of coffee and caffeine on sleep – but it’s good to get a celebrity to come out and admit a problem with sleep and back up the positive effects of giving up coffee.
If you have problems sleeping – its a simple first step to make.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
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