Have you thought about taking sleeping pills? If you are reading this article, you are probably a person with sleep problems. You are looking to improve your quality of life, as you have tried numerous alternatives and nothing has worked for you.
You may find that you have been unable to fall asleep or stay asleep all night for a long time now. This is affecting your life, your performance at work, and your relationship with your boss and co-workers. Or perhaps you have problems with your partner since you wake her up during the night, and you are both very irritable, as expected. You probably don’t find yourself with enough energy during the day to tackle household duties or just go out for a weekend walk. All you want is to be able to sleep, without getting adequate rest.
Fortunately, you have come to the right place, where you can read all the information you need to know. You will know what your alternatives are, without risks, to be able to get the rest you need so much and start living the life you are longing for.
Sleep problems due to the use of sleeping pills
Sleeping pills aim at hyperstimulating a secretion in the brain in order to be able to stay asleep. The problem can arise when the patient snores and the brain tries to wake the person up in order to breathe. When these two pieces of information collide, they cause the time in which the person stops breathing to lengthen.
The consequences of this can be that more energy is expended when asleep than when awake. Likewise, you may suffer from arrhythmias; arterial hypertension, and metabolic syndrome, which leads to obesity. Also, problems with insulin and sugar levels, and heart and brain strokes. When you wake up in the morning you may have a dry mouth, sore throat, and headache due to lack of oxygen or side effects of sleeping pills.
Dr. Sobalvarro explains the mechanism in detail in the video below:
So when can you take sleeping pills? When you are advised by a sleep clinic, having performed a previous study from which any sleep disorder that can be treated with specific medications or with nocturnal hyperoxygenation therapies, such as CPAP, can be ruled out.
What is sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea is a sleep disease or sleep disorder in which breathing is interrupted or becomes too shallow. This causes a lack of oxygen, causing the brain to tell us to wake up. As a consequence, we have several micro-awakenings, which we may not notice, but which are responsible for making us feel exhausted during the day, even though we have slept for hours. These outages can last from a few seconds to minutes and can happen more than 30 times in an hour. The type that most people consult for is obstructive sleep apnea. This causes an obstruction or collapse of the airway during sleep. Breathing then returns with a snore or snort. People with apnea often snore very loudly. This does not mean that all people who snore have apnea. Patients who may be at higher risk for apnea are people who are overweight, men, patients with small airways, or family history. Children with swollen adenoids and tonsils may also have apnea. The diagnosis is based on your family and medical history, a physical examination and the results of a deep sleep test, the gold standard being polysomnography.
Patients with sleep apnea are at increased risk for work-related accidents, traffic accidents, and other medical problems. If you have sleep apnea, it is essential that you receive treatment. This may include oral appliances, lifestyle changes, breathing devices, and surgery.
What does it mean to sleep well?
Proper diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders can restore good sleep. Sleeping well will make you feel rested and energized to face the next day. You will be able to learn new information, form memories, and reflect. Thanks to good sleep you can rest your heart and vascular system, release sex hormones that help fertility, and increase muscle mass. It also promotes cell and tissue repair. These are hormones that help the immune system fight infection. The immune system uses sleep time to regenerate itself, which enables it to fight effectively against the germs and toxins that continually threaten us.
What to do to fall asleep without taking sleeping pills?
Before resorting to sleeping pills, you can create certain sleep habits that can help you sleep. The first step is to make sure you have enough time to sleep.
Then a specialist in sleep disorders makes the following recommendations for a good night’s sleep:
- Go to bed and get up at the same time. Going to bed at the same time every night trains your body and brain to relax and prepare for sleep.
- Do something quiet and relaxing like reading a book. This can also help distract you from the fact that you are not sleeping. When you feel drowsy, go back to bed.
- Control sounds. Make sure your bedroom is as quiet as possible.
- Avoid large meals and alcohol before bedtime. Eating lightly at dinner will help you have better digestion, which will not interfere with falling asleep and a good night’s rest. Additionally, it is advisable to wait 2 hours after eating before going to bed.
If you have tried to fall asleep without taking sleeping pills with the habits and tips we have mentioned above, and you have not succeeded, then it is time to contact the clinic Sueño Center, to get medical advice and find the best way to treat your symptoms and achieve together the rest you are looking for.
