od a rest as if it went to sleep through its own processes.

The other issue is that sleep meds may force your body to go to bed right now, but they don't deal with the root cause of why you had trouble sleeping to begin with. This means that if you stop using them you may find yourself right back where you started. They also come with a host of side effects and the potential to be addictive.

If you say I need some sleep then the best thing is to identify the root issue and address it. Whether that's food and exercise, evening routine or dealing with stress from work and home it is important to find and deal with what is affecting your sleep.

If for some reason you are having trouble figuring out why you can't sleep then it would probabl

If you're finding that you can't sleep then never fear there are a number of options that can help you. It is hard for people who deal with sleeplessness to always know what they can do to get a better night's rest, but hopefully this will get you started in the right direction.

If you find yourself saying, I need some sleep, night after night then it could be that you are suffering from insomnia or another sleep related disorder. While many people don't take sleeplessness seriously, it is a harmful problem that can lead to a host of health and mental illnesses if not taken care of properly.

The words I can't sleep are said by almost 80 million people in America according to some recent figures on sleeplessness and sleep disorders. Almost half of those are undiagnosed by a doctor. Why? Because people often don't really see it as a problem that justifies going to the doctor. However, lack of sleep causes more than just tiredness or fatigue the next day. It lowers the immune system making you more susceptible to disease. It increases your risk of developing depression, anxiety and a host of other mental illnesses. It slows down the process of your body being able to heal from injury or illness. The list goes on.

So what do you do if you can't sleep? First, see a medical professional who has experience with sleep disorders if at all possible. It is important to be diagnosed sooner rather than later if you are indeed suffering from insomnia or some other related issue.

Secondly, if you can't sleep then there are things you can do. Start with evaluating your lifestyle. Do you eat well and exercise or are you constantly relying on fast food, coffee and other junk to get you through the day? Do you spend a lot of time sitting in traffic, sitting at your desk, sitting in front of the TV at home? All of these things can play a role in your getting rest. People who eat a health, balanced diet not only do better physically they have better rest. The same goes for exercise.

Next, if you say I need some sleep but stay up late watching the news or Letterman then you are not helping your cause. Our bodies work best if we both keep a regular pattern for sleep as well as ensure enough time for sleeping. The average adult needs 7 - 8 hours of sleep a night. If you have to get up at 5:30am to get ready for work and beat traffic and you stay up till midnight then do the math. You're not giving your body enough time for sleep. It throws off the body's internal sleep mechanism if we don't give it the proper amount of time. The same is true if we keep messing with the schedule. Wide swings in when we go to bed and when we get up also make it hard for the body's internal systems to know when it should be shutting down for the night or not.

I can hear someone saying now, I can't sleep so why not just take some sleep medicine and be done with it? Good question. Here's the short answer: It doesn't give you the right kind of sleep and can't help you for the long term. What I mean by this is that sleep induced by meds tends to be artificial. Yes, technically you are sleeping and yes it may be better than not sleeping at all, but it is not the quality of sleep that you really need and should be getting. You body doesn't tend to get as good a rest as if it went to sleep through its own processes.

The other issue is that sleep meds may force your body to go to bed right now, but they don't deal with the root cause of why you had trouble sleeping to begin with. This means that if you stop using them you may find yourself right back where you started. They also come with a host of side effects and the potential to be addictive.

If you say I need some sleep then the best thing is to identify the root issue and address it. Whether that's food and exercise, evening routine or dealing with stress from work and home it is important to find and deal with what is affecting your sleep.

If for some reason you are having trouble figuring out why you can't sleep then it would probably

ften don't really see it as a problem that justifies going to the doctor. However, lack of sleep causes more than just tiredness or fatigue the next day. It lowers the immune system making you more susceptible to disease. It increases your risk of developing depression, anxiety and a host of other mental illnesses. It slows down the process of your body being able to heal from injury or illness. The list goes on.

So what do you do if you can't sleep? First, see a medical professional who has experience with sleep disorders if at all possible. It is important to be diagnosed sooner rather than later if you are indeed suffering from insomnia or some other related issue.

Secondly, if you can't sleep then there are things you can do. Start with evaluating your lifestyle. Do you eat well and exercise or are you constantly relying on fast food, coffee and other junk to get you through the day? Do you spend a lot of time sitting in traffic, sitting at your desk, sitting in front of the TV at home? All of these things can play a role in your getting rest. People who eat a health, balanced diet not only do better physically they have better rest. The same goes for exercise.

Next, if you say I need some sleep but stay up late watching the news or Letterman then you are not helping your cause. Our bodies work best if we both keep a regular pattern for sleep as well as ensure enough time for sleeping. The average adult needs 7 - 8 hours of sleep a night. If you have to get up at 5:30am to get ready for work and beat traffic and you stay up till midnight then do the math. You're not giving your body enough time for sleep. It throws off the body's internal sleep mechanism if we don't give it the proper amount of time. The same is true if we keep messing with the schedule. Wide swings in when we go to bed and when we get up also make it hard for the body's internal systems to know when it should be shutting down for the night or not.

I can hear someone saying now, I can't sleep so why not just take some sleep medicine and be done with it? Good question. Here's the short answer: It doesn't give you the right kind of sleep and can't help you for the long term. What I mean by this is that sleep induced by meds tends to be artificial. Yes, technically you are sleeping and yes it may be better than not sleeping at all, but it is not the quality of sleep that you really need and should be getting. You body doesn't tend to get as good a rest as if it went to sleep through its own processes.

The other issue is that sleep meds may force your body to go to bed right now, but they don't deal with the root cause of why you had trouble sleeping to begin with. This means that if you stop using them you may find yourself right back where you started. They also come with a host of side effects and the potential to be addictive.

If you say I need some sleep then the best thing is to identify the root issue and address it. Whether that's food and exercise, evening routine or dealing with stress from work and home it is important to find and deal with what is affecting your sleep.

If for some reason you are having trouble figuring out why you can't sleep then it would probabl

you constantly relying on fast food, coffee and other junk to get you through the day? Do you spend a lot of time sitting in traffic, sitting at your desk, sitting in front of the TV at home? All of these things can play a role in your getting rest. People who eat a health, balanced diet not only do better physically they have better rest. The same goes for exercise.

Next, if you say I need some sleep but stay up late watching the news or Letterman then you are not helping your cause. Our bodies work best if we both keep a regular pattern for sleep as well as ensure enough time for sleeping. The average adult needs 7 - 8 hours of sleep a night. If you have to get up at 5:30am to get ready for work and beat traffic and you stay up till midnight then do the math. You're not giving your body enough time for sleep. It throws off the body's internal sleep mechanism if we don't give it the proper amount of time. The same is true if we keep messing with the schedule. Wide swings in when we go to bed and when we get up also make it hard for the body's internal systems to know when it should be shutting down for the night or not.

I can hear someone saying now, I can't sleep so why not just take some sleep medicine and be done with it? Good question. Here's the short answer: It doesn't give you the right kind of sleep and can't help you for the long term. What I mean by this is that sleep induced by meds tends to be artificial. Yes, technically you are sleeping and yes it may be better than not sleeping at all, but it is not the quality of sleep that you really need and should be getting. You body doesn't tend to get as good a rest as if it went to sleep through its own processes.

The other issue is that sleep meds may force your body to go to bed right now, but they don't deal with the root cause of why you had trouble sleeping to begin with. This means that if you stop using them you may find yourself right back where you started. They also come with a host of side effects and the potential to be addictive.

If you say I need some sleep then the best thing is to identify the root issue and address it. Whether that's food and exercise, evening routine or dealing with stress from work and home it is important to find and deal with what is affecting your sleep.

If for some reason you are having trouble figuring out why you can't sleep then it would probabl

p. It throws off the body's internal sleep mechanism if we don't give it the proper amount of time. The same is true if we keep messing with the schedule. Wide swings in when we go to bed and when we get up also make it hard for the body's internal systems to know when it should be shutting down for the night or not.

I can hear someone saying now, I can't sleep so why not just take some sleep medicine and be done with it? Good question. Here's the short answer: It doesn't give you the right kind of sleep and can't help you for the long term. What I mean by this is that sleep induced by meds tends to be artificial. Yes, technically you are sleeping and yes it may be better than not sleeping at all, but it is not the quality of sleep that you really need and should be getting. You body doesn't tend to get as good a rest as if it went to sleep through its own processes.

The other issue is that sleep meds may force your body to go to bed right now, but they don't deal with the root cause of why you had trouble sleeping to begin with. This means that if you stop using them you may find yourself right back where you started. They also come with a host of side effects and the potential to be addictive.

If you say I need some sleep then the best thing is to identify the root issue and address it. Whether that's food and exercise, evening routine or dealing with stress from work and home it is important to find and deal with what is affecting your sleep.

If for some reason you are having trouble figuring out why you can't sleep then it would probabl

od a rest as if it went to sleep through its own processes.

The other issue is that sleep meds may force your body to go to bed right now, but they don't deal with the root cause of why you had trouble sleeping to begin with. This means that if you stop using them you may find yourself right back where you started. They also come with a host of side effects and the potential to be addictive.

If you say I need some sleep then the best thing is to identify the root issue and address it. Whether that's food and exercise, evening routine or dealing with stress from work and home it is important to find and deal with what is affecting your sleep.

If for some reason you are having trouble figuring out why you can't sleep then it would probably be safer and easier on your body to try using a natural supplement that is geared toward helping your body go to sleep naturally rather then using drugs. There tends to be less side effects and issues with this approach. However, it is important to discuss this with your doctor whether you choose meds or supplements. The power to sleep is in your hands, don't just attempt to push through a lack of sleep...do what you can to get it.