The Price Of A Good Night's Sleep (or: How Do They Sleep At Night?)

UpInArms

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Sun Apr-02-06 11:58 AM
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The Price Of A Good Night's Sleep (or: How Do They Sleep At Night?)

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/02/sunday/printable1461872.shtml

But when it comes to really putting their money where their mouths are, more and more Americans are beating a path to the pharmacy. Since 2001, sales of sleeping medications have increased 55 percent. Last year, customers spent $2 billion on state-of-the art drugs like Ambien and its competitors, Lunesta and Sonata.

<snip>

"The major increase in use of these sleeping medications are due to the direct advertising to consumers. And the advertising has become very intense. Very sophisticated. And does sell the medications," Jacobs says.

<snip>

"A sleeping pill is a sedative. And a hypnotic," Cramer-Bornemann says. "When you take a sleeping pill there is a lack of recollection."

<snip>

Sounds too good to be true, but a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that for long-term treatment, cognitive behavior therapy actually worked better than pills.

I've been wondering how others have been sleeping - I seem to have lost much of that ability since Dec 12, 2000.

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LynzM

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Sun Apr-02-06 12:07 PM
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1. This doesn't surprise me....

I'm not much a fan of big-pharma drugs as a first resource, except Insulin, as I'm diabetic. I did recently find tea that helps me sleep better at night, and at $6/month and no bad side effects, I'm sticking with that!

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dmoded

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Sun Apr-02-06 12:12 PM
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2. I can not sleep easily either.

The tension now surmounts anything i've experienced in my life concerning global relations. It seems we are in the crosshairs of many countries and i've had insomnia for many years.

What I suggest is going to your doctor and telling them you are working a night-shift, you come home at 8am, you try to drink to put your problems away but it doesnt help, by the time "the price is right" is on even Bob Barker looks sexy.

One very clean sleeping pill is called "nitrazepam". Caution, it's highly addictive but who couldn't use peace of mind right now? I would do that because it worked for me. Although when i wake up and check the headlines, the same stress hits me but at least i've had a good nights sleep and a coffee is that much better.

-depechemode.

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UpInArms

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Sun Apr-02-06 12:19 PM
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3. Welcome to DU dmoded!

I think I have accepted the sleeplessness as a byproduct. Besides, being awake for so many hours has given me that edginess that was obviously lacking in my former self :crazy:

:hi:

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MADem

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Sun Apr-02-06 12:42 PM
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4. A savvy old RN told me

...that the "something to help you sleep" they hand out in the hospital is Benadryl.

Works like a charm, clears out the sinuses too. Cheap, OTC, and you can function the next day.

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stevietheman

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Sun Apr-02-06 12:48 PM
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5. Yeah, when so many people sell out their ethics to work for...

corporations, I myself wonder how many people sleep at night.

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varkam

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Sun Apr-02-06 10:43 PM
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6. I'm not sure if I'm ready to call the mfcs. evil just yet...

Sleeping pills can help, but they're not for everyone. For people with chronic insomnia, Lunesta is the best bet, and clinical trials have only shown that it reduces sleep latency by 10.4 minutes on average (not a big boost, seems to me).

Besides, I think lots of people use sleep meds to maintain an acceptable level of insomnia. People end up taking them, and then they try to stop and get rebound insomnia so take more and so on and so forth. In that sense I think it's just putting a bandaid on a sucking chest wound - like the AIM study says, CBT and other behavioural techniques work better in many instances - they just take longer and cost more.

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