by Carla Hubbard

Created on: August 30, 2008

At some point in your life you will suffer from insomnia. It could be short-term or it could be long-term either way it is a serious issue that can affect your life in many ways. A good night's sleep is very important for everyone but as we grow older we need less sleep and this can become a problem especially if you keep a hold on the idea that everyone needs a good eight hours of sleep every night.

A very simple but true fact is that a great deal of people only get five or six hours of sleep every night throughout our lives and function very well with only five or six hours of sleep. A great deal of people will begin a vicious circle of catnapping during the day after they reach retirement.

A great misconception is that people don't think that they get a lot of sleep but people actually sleep a lot more than they think. When a person says that they haven't slept all night it usually means that they woke up a couple of times during the night and the time gets amplified by the aggravation it caused by the waking during the night.

There is nothing wrong in waking with the dawn chorus in fact it is quite normal but if you are starting to worry about it or feel tired all day or you are not fully mentally aware then you could possibly have true insomnia.

There are several possible causes for insomnia like cramps, diet, fatigue, pain, stimulants and even hunger caused by insufficient food. The first and most important step is to remove the problem. If your problem is diuretic and you have to go to the bathroom frequently during the night you should cut down on fluids, especially before going to bed.

If you are feeling pain and discomfort because of flatulence this is usually caused by eating to late so you should eat earlier. Fatigue is caused by working late into the night. Did you know that even reading before going to bed can cause overstimulation and cause the tired but can't sleep syndrome?

You should evaluate you habits in the hours prior to going to bed and make the changes necessary so that you can get a good night's sleep. Stimulants should not be taken before going to bed or even 4 to 5 hours before going to bed because this will affect your sleeping because of noise from a ticking clock then you should change to one that doesn't tick.

Problems such as anxiety and other emotional problems are more difficult to control but even these can be helped with the use of essential oils and listening to some relaxing music before you settle into bed for the night. You

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