Addicted to sleeping pills

Every day more and more people are addicted to sleeping pills. This is a result of insomnia, a symptom of several different sleep disorders, that is blamed for billions of dollars in lost productivity in the United States. Over the years various medications have been developed and test to help one get a full night of sleep. All of these man-made pill have one thing in common. To one degree or another they are all addictive.

Sleeping pills are addictive in two different ways. First they are addictive in a physical sense. Like any other addict the person who is addicted to sleeping pills won't function properly if they don't consume them. They might be lethargic, cranky, jittery. A more concerning side effect, particularly for people with COPD is that sleeping pills slow down your respiratory rate which can cause people with compromised lung function to suffer an attack.

The other way sleeping pills are addictive is you become dependent on them not just to sleep but to function. You find that if you skip taking your pill you'll be up for days at a time. This is called rebound insomnia. In short it works like this -

Your body develops a dependency on the sleeping pill you are taking and then when you cut off the supply suddenly your body doesn't know what to do. It no longer knows how to "wind down" and go to sleep. This usually happens after long term habitual use of a sleeping pill. That's why so many sleeping pills have a warning on the package about being habit forming and that you should avoid more than a week or so of use at a time.

In order to overcome an addiction to sleeping pills you need to wean yourself off of them. If you take them 7 days a week, cut it down to 5 days a week for a couple of weeks. Then drop down to 3 or 4 days a week, then down to 2 or 3 days a week, keep going until you aren't taking them at all. Some things to help you get plenty of natural sleep are

• Get plenty of exercise
• Eat healthy foods
• Avoid or drinking anything except water for at least 2 hours before you go to sleep
• About 30 to 45 minutes before it is time to go to sleep shut off tv's computers phones radio and read a book. You want to avoid all stimulation as best as you can.