Cabot Health

Different types of insomnia

The broad categories of sleep disorders are:

Transient (temporary) insomnia – may last a week or so and can be linked to change of occupation, overseas trip etc.
Short-term insomnia – disruptive sleep for a few months and may be triggered by stressful events or illness.
Chronic (long term) insomnia – disruptive sleep persisting for more than a few months.
Secondary insomnia – sleep is diminished because of painful conditions interfering with sleep
Primary insomnia – includes disorders of the body’s sleep clock and sleep apnoea.

What are the signs?

Sleep is basically a restorative process for your body, your mind and perhaps your spirit. Not being able to sleep is distressing and the more you try to sleep the more agitated you become. The more you worry, think and talk about sleep the more sleep eludes you.

Signs of insomnia include trouble falling asleep, waking during the night, waking up very early and not getting back to sleep and non-restorative sleep resulting in fatigue, poor concentration/memory and reduced functioning during the day.

Causes of insomnia and what to do about them

There’s always a cause. The cause may be physical, genetic, nutritional, emotional, mental or behavioural, meaning that you simply prefer other nocturnal activities rather than sleep. Stress and anxiety will certainly exacerbate insomnia.

There are 68 factors that impede restorative sleep and these are listed in “Tired of Not Sleeping?” pages 31 – 33. When you look at the long list of causes in this section, you may wonder how any of us get to sleep in the first place.

Recommended books

--"Tired of Not Sleeping" provides an holistic program for a good night’s sleep.
--"Raw Juices Can Save Your Life" insomnia juicing recipe, pages 108-109.

--"MAGNESIUM The Miracle Mineral You won't believe the DIFFERENCE it makes to your HEALTH!" This is my latest book and discusses Magnesium as being essential for hundreds of chemical reactions that take place in the body every second, with recent findings also indicating that it offers a wide range of important health-promoting benefits. See page 9 for these benefits.

Recommended supplements:

Livatone Plus Power or Livatone Plus Capsules

Take 2 capsules twice daily or 1 teaspoon powder in water or raw juice twice daily - A good liver tonic includes B12 is necessary for the structure and function of nerve fibres and cells and also influences melatonin. The natural hormone Melatonin can assists with poor sleep.

Magnesium Complete tablets or Magnesium Powder

Take 2 - 4 tablets or 1 teaspoon of powder in water or raw juice 1 hour before bed. Recommended for many physical and emotional disorders. Studies show that magnesium supplementation improves sleep quality by increasing slow wave sleep and decreasing adrenal stress hormones. It is a great relaxer.

Other recommendations:

Relaxation, meditation, hypnotherapy, acupuncture, acupressure, aromatherapy, and other natural therapies can be found in Chapter 5 of the Insomnia book along with medications for sleeping and depression such as anti- depressant drugs and sleeping pills.

Avoid stimulants such as coffee, tea, sugar, sweet foods and alcohol during the evening, and avoid drinking excess water during the 2 hours before bed.

INSOMNIA