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Insomnia involves having problems falling asleep at night, waking up during the night and erratic sleeping patterns. Insomnia can be a long or short-term problem.

Transient or short-term insomnia lasts for a few days and can be triggered by a sudden change in your circumstances, such as moving into a new home, or anxiety about an upcoming stressful event. You may find it difficult to sleep because it is too hot or too cold, too noisy or too light in your bedroom. An illness can also temporarily change your sleeping habits, and certain prescription drugs can disturb your sleep.

Jet lag or shift-work can disrupt the body clock, which tells you when to sleep and when to get up. Sleep patterns can be severely affected by consuming too many stimulants, such as alcohol, caffeine and nicotine.

Another type of insomnia is called learned insomnia'. After a few sleepless nights, people can become apprehensive about going to bed because they fear they will not be able to get to sleep. This anxiety usually does make it difficult to sleep, which begins the cycle over again.

Other people are affected by night terrors', which occur during deep sleep and may be caused by stress, or when normal sleep patterns have been broken. Nightmares can also make people feel stressed and anxious about the thought of going to sleep.

Symptoms relating to insomnia include:

Difficulty falling asleep
Waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to drift back to sleep
Tiredness
Feeling stressed and anxious about the though of going to sleep.

Try to determine to cause of the insomnia, and eliminate contributing factors, such as stress or too many stimulants before bed. Treatment involves encouraging normal sleeping patters and developing strategies to prevent insomnia from occurring.

Diet: Do not overeat at dinner and avoid having late meals. Also eliminate caffeine, including all caffeinated beverages such as colas and other carbonated drinks, as well as chocolate. If this is too difficult, limit your caffeinated beverages to the morning only. Helpful foods include turkey and tuna, which contain L-tryptophan to induce sleep.

Supplements: Take 1,200mg of calcium at bedtime. Some researchers have found melatonin to be as effective as tryptophan in promoting sleep, and it does not produce side effects. It is available in 2mg capsules; take one a night for two weeks. Discontinue taking them if no results are produced.

Herbs: Try taking 2 capsules of valerian one hour before bedtime to help you

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