Please visit link below

Insomnia

How to help solve sleep problems

 Is there a specific reason for the insomnia, such as bodily symptoms (pain, heart burn), psychological problems (anxiety , depression, over stimulation due to late studying) or chemical stimulants (caffeine alcohol, decongestants antidepressants - SSRI's)?

External stimuli such as light or noise- use black out curtains,eye masks, ear plugs.

Although too much light can be a problem , in some circumstances where you have difficulty waking refreshed down stimulating lamps help some people.

Next establish good sleep hygiene

Moderate caffeine early in the day before 2pm and take no day time naps

Moderate alcohol - although seeming to get people off to sleep it can disturb the quality of sleep which may become unrefreshing or brken

Avoid large meals, exercise and "stimulation' in the evening

Take 4-6 hours of moderate exercise a week in the day time

Do not stay in bed if you cannot fall asleep in a reasonable amount of time.

Stop work atleast 2 hours before trying to sleep and wind dowm with something less intellectually stimulating

Simple relaxation as taught in yoga or meditation

Address anxiety/ depression via brief Cognitive behavioural therapy - visit free on line resources Mood gym or Living life to the full ( see link) or discuss with the counselling service or yuor GP

Read Overcoming insomnia by Colin Espie

Try keeping a diary to measure your sleep efficiency

How to calculate your sleep efficiency

This is the proportion of time you spend in bed actually asleep

80-85% is optimal

If you are getting less than 75% this is poor quality, if nearer 100% you may not be getting enough sleep

So if you go to bed at 22.00 and wake at 0700 but only get 6 hours sleep, sleep efficiency is 6/9 ie 67%

In chronic insomnia people tend to go to bed earlier and earlier to try and get enough sleep but their sleep efficiency gets worse. It has been shown that sleep compression or restriction can help the quality of sleep so in the case above the invidual should go to bed later

e.g 23.00 waking at 0700 still getting 6 hours sleep but with a sleep efficinecy of 6/8 ie 75%

It takes 2 weeks for your body clock to adjust so you sleep better and your sleep quality improves

Medication

Over the counter herbal and antihistamine based preparations can help some people usually with short lived episodes of sleep disturbance and are generally safe. Your GP may prescribe a short course of a sleeping tablet in certain circumstances. GPs are not keen on prescriptions for hypnotics as these drugs have the potential to become addictive, and are second best to non-drug methods of improving sleep. 

Melatonin - is helpful in resetting the internal clock in jet-lag but recent studies have shown it to be only marginally better at helping sleep than placebo. It is only licensed for patients over 55.