Understanding the origin of your insomnia stops the need for sleeping pills
updated the 13 August 2015 à 18:13Tired of not getting to sleep, and resort to sleeping pills? To stop the medication, you must first discover the cause of your insomnia.
If some people are victims of what is called primary insomnia, which is without known causes, others see their sleep marred by factors that are not always easy to identify. “We must ensure that insomnia is not the result of restless legs syndrome, a thyroid condition, depression or alcoholism. It also ensures that it is not the result of taking certain medications, such as beta blockers or corticosteroids for example, which increase arousal in the body. It is useless to hope to stop the consumption of sleeping pills if we do not treat the causes of the problem,” says Dr. Olivier Coste, somnologist at Bordeaux University Hospital.
IN WHAT CASE SHOULD YOU TAKE SLEEPING PILLS?
There are businesses that weaken sleep. Doing three shifts a day or being frequently exposed to jet lag (like pilots and other flight cabin crew) disrupts the biological clock. In this case, sleeping pills can be taken over longer periods, but from time to time. “Each case is unique and requires a tailored treatment, as every insomniac is different,” says Dr. Coste.
Maureen Diament and Nur Syazana H.
