DEFINITION :

Insomnia or sleeplessness is a common complaint of women as they enter into menopause. Insomnia means having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep or the feeling that your sleep was not adequate for you. For women who are having hot flashes at night, called night sweats, their sleep is broken by frequent awakening and therefore not refreshing or restorative. Generally once the hot flashes or night sweats are controlled a normal sleep pattern returns. If it doesn't it may be, or have become chronic insomnia. How do you know?

CAUSES :

If you suffer from insomnia every night or most nights for a period of one month then you have chronic insomnia. If you're not having hot flashes or night sweats then it's time to look for other causes of sleeplessness. Depression and anxiety disorders are the most common causes of chronic insomnia. If you feel depressed you need to be evaluated by a qualified health care provider. Movement disorders such as restless leg syndrome are second on the list of causes of insomnia for them; there are new medications that may help. Other common causes are shift working, respiratory disorders and pain.

TREATMENTS :

In up to 30% of people with chronic insomnia no cause can be identified. Medical treatment of these people has generally been with hypnotic drugs (sleeping pills). It is estimated that 25% of the adult population in America took some type of medication for sleep last year. It is generally agreed that sleeping pills should only be in the lowest dose and for the shortest possible time. Sleep hygiene is the name for behavioral techniques that offer the best hope for chronic insomnia.

SLEEP HYGIENE :

Sleep hygiene is directed at changing bad sleep habits. The recommendations are;

1. Go to bed only when sleepy. Do not wait up to a specified time.

2. Use your bedroom only for sleep and sex. Do not read or watch TV in bed.

3. If you're not sleeping, get out of bed. Get up and read in another room.

4. Go to bed and get up at the same time each day.

5. Avoid caffeine and alcohol in the evening.

6. Exercise and do enough during the day so you are tired at night.

HERBS :

The following herbs may be helpful in promoting sleep.

KAVA

( Piper methysticum )

Other Names: Kava kava, Kawa.

General Description: Kava is a sprawling Polynesian evergreen shrub. A member of the pepper family.

Parts Used: The large root.

Active Ingredients: kavalactones.

Traditional Uses: Kava is central to many Polynesian ceremonies and has been compared to the use of wine in the west. First brought to the West by Captain James Cook it became known as the "intoxicating pepper".

Current Status: Kava is now used throughout the world as a remedy for anxiety and insomnia.

Unlike many traditional sleep remedies Kava does not lose effectiveness with time.