Tag: Insomnia

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Causes and Solutions for Insomnia

Person holding alarm clock; insomnia causes and solutions.

Trouble sleeping is a problem most people have had at some point in their life, but when it is frequent and begins to affect your day-to-day life, you may have a type of insomnia. Insomnia is a common problem, and it can come in the form of chronic, acute, middle, late, initial onset, and comorbid insomnia, with each referring to different types of sleeping issues. Insomnia tends to be more common in people who have depression and/or anxiety, and it can have several different causes. Let’s take a look at some of the causes of insomnia and what you can do about it.

Causes

As is the case with most health problems, insomnia can have many possible causes, which can make it more difficult to find the solution for each person. Insomnia can come in many forms and may be due to certain medications, drug and alchol usage, restless leg syndrome, chronic pain, sleep apnea, stress, anxiety, and/or poor sleep habits. When these issues are addressed and improved, it usually becomes easier to fall asleep and stay asleep. It is important to try to determine the cause of insomnia because it may make it easier to find a solution that works for you.

Solutions

Having insomnia can make sleep a stressful thing which may worsen the problem. Practicing stress-reducing techniques like yoga or taking a hot bath, and getting into a daily bedtime routine may help you fall asleep each night. Avoiding screens at least one hour before bed is recommended because the blue light emitted from phone screens, televisions and tablets can negatively affect your sleep. You should also try to avoid caffeine for about seven hours before bedtime. If your insomnia is caused by restless legs you can try a mineral supplement like Active Multiminerals may help reduce muscle spasms and cramps. If you need something to help you relax before bed, EZ Relax may work for you. It contains L-theanine, GABA, ashwagandha extract, valerian extract and passionflower extract to help promote relaxation.

It is important to get enough sleep each night as chronic sleep deprivation can contribute to the development of many different health conditions, and can affect your emotional health and energy levels. Do your best to form good sleeping habits and work on reducing stress so you can feel your best each day.

You can listen to our Counting Sheep, Need Some Sleep? podcast episode here. You can also listen on our YouTube channel here.

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Counting Sheep, Need Some Sleep?

Microphone and computer; exercising consistent health habits.

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Trouble sleeping is a problem most people have had at some point in their life due to a stressful event or drinking too much coffee, but when it is frequent and begins to affect your day-to-day life, you may have a type of insomnia. Insomnia is a common problem, and it can come in the form of chronic, acute, middle, late, initial onset, and comorbid insomnia, with each referring to different types of sleeping issues. Dealing with insomnia can be stressful, and it tends to be more common in people who have depression and/or anxiety. Insomnia can have different causes, including:

  • Stress
  • Chronic Pain
  • Restless Legs
  • Sleep Apnea
  • Poor Sleep Habits
  • Certain Medications
  • Caffeine Late in the Day

Having insomnia can be difficult, and can make sleep a stressful thing which may worsen the problem. Reducing stress and getting into a routine may help you fall asleep. If your insomnia is caused by restless legs you can try a mineral supplement which may help reduce muscle spasms and cramps, and there are some different treatment options for sleep apnea. It is important to get enough sleep each night as chronic sleep deprivation can contribute to the development of many different health conditions, and can affect your emotional health and energy levels.

Product Mentioned in Today’s Show

  • EZ Relax – We’ve teamed nature’s greatest stress management ingredients to create a uniquely effective combination. Formulated with Ashwagandha, valerian extract, L-theanine, and GABA.

You can also listen to Counting Sheep, Need Some Sleep? on our YouTube channel here.

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Chasing Sleep

Sleep issues are one of the most common things we see people suffering from. Sleep is crucial for good mental, physical, and emotional health, and chronic sleep deprivation can greatly impact your health. There are many potential reasons for the rise in insomnia, with stress and anxiety being the most common. Fortunately, there are many things you can do that may help you sleep better.

Insomnia

Insomnia is often used as a general term for a broad range of sleep issues. It may be trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, not feeling rested upon waking up, unable to fall back asleep after waking up, lying awake for long periods of time during the night, etc. Some people experience this for a night or two every once in a while, which is usually due to a stressful event. However, some people suffer with these problems nearly every night. This can lead to sleep deprivation, which can cause fatigue, food cravings, difficulty concentrating, and irritability. Chronic sleep deprivation can also contribute to high blood pressure and weight gain, and may increase your risk of experiencing a stroke, diabetes, or a heart attack.

Causes

First, let’s talk about what can cause insomnia. As with most problems, sleep issues have many possible causes ranging from adrenal fatigue, to anxiety, to liver sluggishness, etc. When these issues are addressed and improved, it usually becomes easier to fall asleep and the quality of sleep often improves. Trouble sleeping and poor sleep quality may also be due to certain medications, drug and alchol usage, restless leg syndrome, sleep apnea, asthma, allergies, stress, anxiety, and shift work (switching between working day shifts and night shifts). If you’re consistenly not sleeping well, you should ask yourself these questions: Am I having trouble breathing? Am I waking up during the night, and if so, what time do I usually wake up? Am I getting up more than once to use the bathroom? Answering these questions may help you figure out what’s causing your sleep issues.

Solutions

It can be difficult to find the right solution without knowing what’s causing the insomnia. If it’s due to stress, then practicing stress-reducing techniques, and taking supplements that promote relaxation may help. If the cause is poor liver function, then eating organic foods and taking certain vitamins and herbs that promote liver health and detoxificaiton may improve sleep. This is why getting blood work done can be helpful because it shows problems you wouldn’t have known about.

There are steps you can take to help your insomnia, but determining the cause is crucial to fixing it. So, pay attention to your sleep patterns, stress level, and caffeine and alcohol intake, get your blood work done to see what needs to be optimized, and try out some supplements!

Don’t forget to listen to our Chasing Sleep podcast here.

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Adrenal Fatigue or Holiday Blues?

We’ve talked about adrenal fatigue before, but it’s worth discussing again. Adrenal fatigue is very common, but most sufferers don’t realize they have it, and considering how much it can affect your quality of life, it’s something you should know about. However, with the holidays comes a lot of stress, and for some people it can be a depressing time of year, making it difficult to know whether it’s adrenal fatigue or just holiday blues.

Adrenal Fatigue

Adrenal fatigue occurs when a person has low cortisol levels due to being overly stressed for a long period of time. This condition is very common, and it’s believed that almost everyone will experience it at some point in their lives, but most people don’t recognize the symptoms. We lead high-stress lives nowadays due to work, school, kids, social media, holidays, family or marital issues, or a variety of other potentially stressful things. Though most of these things are out of our control, we can control our reaction to them and our nutritional intake. Nutrition can make a big difference in our ability to deal with stress both physically and mentally. Having vitamin or mineral deficiencies makes your body and mind more susceptible to stress, and most people are suffering from at least one nutritional deficiency.

Symptoms

Adrenal fatigue usually occurs when a person is under a lot of stress, which eventually causes the adrenal glands to stop producing cortisol the way they should. These symptoms could be due to a different condition, but adrenal fatigue can cause:

  • Brain Fog
  • Fatigue
  • Weight Gain
  • Body Aches
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Mood Swings
  • Hair Loss
  • Trouble Sleeping

Holiday Blues

Anxiety and depression are more common during the winter months for different reasons, there’s even a mood disorder called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) that causes people to feel depressed during the fall and/or winter seasons. Seasons affect our moods for different reasons including less sunlight (which means less vitamin D), stressful holidays, social gatherings, etc. Sometimes it can be hard to distinguish between adrenal fatigue or holiday stress, but taking certain supplements can help you deal with stress regardless of what’s causing it.

How to Fix It

Our Comprehensive, Comprehensive Plus Hormones, and Super Panel blood tests include a cortisol test which can tell us if your cortisol is too low or too high. For low cortisol you can take Adren-All which contains bovine adrenal glands, vitmins A, C, E, B6 and B12, licorice root extract, and a few other ingredients that promote healthy cortisol levels. For high cortisol levels you can take AdreneVive which contains ashwagandha root extract, l-theanine, skullcap root extract, and a few other ingredients that can help lower and re-balance cortisol levels. Supplementing with a high-quality multivitamin like Alpha Base Without Iron, and a mineral supplement like Reacted Multimin can help fill in any vitamin or mineral deficiencies which will help your body deal with stress. Anxiety and depression tend to become more common during the winter months, and CereVive is a great choice to help lessen the symptoms of anxiety, stress and depression.

Work on eating a balanced organic diet, try out some supplements, practice stress-reducing techniques, set aside time for a relaxing bath or something else that relaxes you, and focus on the positive. It’s difficult to heal adrenal fatigue without reducing the stress that caused it. Remember to enjoy the holidays, and not let them stress you out!