Sleep apnea is a condition where those who suffer from it have short instances of breathing cessation while they sleep. These brief periods without breathing can occur a multiplicity of times throughout the night. This can adversely effect the quality of your sleep, and in the worst scenarios sleep apnea can lead to a host of more serious medical conditions. There are a variety of available cures for sleep apnea, and the most appropriate one for you depends upon the severity and type of your particular manifestation of sleep apnea.
Some cases of apnea arise due to your sleeping position. This enables one of the easiest cures for sleep apnea, and it is commonly called “positional therapy”. This sleep apnea cure simply entails changing your sleeping position so as to prevent obstruction of your airway. Most commonly this equates to ensuring that you do not sleep on your back in that sleeping in this supine position has been shown to constrict muscles resulting in a narrower airway. Positional therapy can be effectuated by creative home remedies like putting some tennis balls in a tube sock sewn to the back of you sleeping shirt, or alternatively by purchasing a wide range of commercially sold sleep products designed to prevent you from sleeping in the supine (on your back) position.
One of the most salient cures for sleep apnea is to lose weight. Many cases of apnea are tied to weight gain which ends up creating airway blockages. Losing weight is obviously beneficial in many regards, but it often is of paramount importance when it comes to treating sleep apnea. Also on the list of possible cures for sleep apnea is to avoid the consumption of alcohol or medications which serve as central nervous system depressants prior to going to sleep. These CNS depressants can trigger muscles to constrict thus blocking smooth air flow much akin to what can arise from sleeping in the supine position.
Should these cures for sleep apnea not work, there are several others which can be tried depending upon the severity of your sleep apnea symptoms. Special oral devices can be provided by your dentist which facilitate an open airway. A continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) mask is sometimes indicated in severe cases of sleep apnea. In the most severe cases of sleep apnea, surgical procedures might be warranted. Before these more drastic cures for sleep apnea are entertained, it is best to exhaust all other available less invasive techniques. If you are suffering from sleep apnea, then it is important to explore the available cures and take the necessary steps to protect yourself against the potentially serious sleep apnea side effects.
It happens quite often. You’re sound asleep one moment, then suddenly you’re gasping for air. You’re eyes are wide open, you are trying to inhale or exhale, but your throat is clamped shut. While there are quite a few reasons this could be happening, the most commonly known ailment is Obstructive Sleep Apnea, also know as OSA. This type of ailment is common to approximately 5 % of the world’s population.
OSA occurs when a person who is asleep stops breathing because their airway collapses. It does not stay collapsed but it does restrict airflow for a noticeable amount of time. Symptoms of OSA, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, include snoring and being excessively sleepy during the day. Although being overweight is a risk factor for this type of problem, thin people still get it. Allowing this problem to persist can result in heart disease, high blood pressure and even stroke.
There is treatment for Obstructive Sleep Apnea. The easiest type of treatment is positional. The belief is that sleeping on your back can be more harmful to this sort of condition. Try sleeping on your side. Some people have been known to put tennis balls inside a tube sock and pin it to their nightshirt to keep them from rolling onto their back while asleep. Another way to reduce episodes from OSA is to sleep on your back with your chest elevated on a wedge type rest. Make sure it’s not a pillow that forces your chin to your chest. Avoid alcohol and other central nervous system depressants as these tend to me OSA worse by relaxing the muscles to the airway which reduces the respiratory drive and increases the amount of episodes you might have. If weight is an issue, then the simple idea of weight loss will fix the problem. Medical intervention includes the use of a CPAP machine which is worn at night and acts in a splint like manner for the airway using air from the room. The last resort method is surgery to fix the problem. However, surgery is risky in that it could make the OSA better or it could make it worse.
Before jumping into something, consider other things that may cause you to have the feeling of choking in the middle of the night. The temporary conditions of heartburn, post nasal drip and vocal cord spasms can also cause you to feel as if you’re choking. Discuss your symptoms with a doctor in order to determine a correct diagnosis as well as a correct treatment option. Most doctors will recommend an overnight sleep study if they are unsure as to your exact condition.
Not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to get a peaceful and refreshing full night’s sleep. But the unfortunate ones fortunately have drugs such as Rozerem that can to a large extent take care of the problem for them.
Is Rozerem For You ? – Sleep On It
Sleep inducing drugs have been around for as long as sleeplessness and Rozerem comes with a lot of promises for the sleepless. Starting with potions that induced drowsiness to more sophisticated drugs that depressed the nervous system, sleeping pills have come along way. The earlier attempts have had the desired effect of inducing and maintaining sleep. But they were fraught with side-effects. Nausea and dryness of the mouth are some of the discomforts suffered by users. In addition, there was the danger of addiction.
Attempts to formulate a drug that did not sedate the entire nervous system, that was not addictive and that did not have side-effects led to the invention of Rozerem. Rozerem is a melatonin receptor agonist, which means that it attaches or bonds with only specific group of neurons localized in the brain and not in the entire nervous system. It leaves the entire central nervous system free to function normally, while it attacks the area of the brain dealing with sleep overloads. By bonding with MT1 and MT2 and thus blocking the alertness mechanism, Rozerem allows the sleep overload to take over and the person falls asleep naturally. Also, the time taken to fall asleep is significantly reduced with the use of Rozerem.
While this sounds like a fairy tale, bear in mind that often when a medication is tested for safety and efficacy, some side-effects do not come to light and are only seen when the drug is used. So, even though devised as a safe and naturally acting pill, it would not be wise to use Rozerem indiscriminately. Use it only under the doctor’s instructions, in the recommended dosage. Do not stop it suddenly or you will have withdrawal symptoms as your dependence on the pill has affected your ability to fall asleep naturally. Also, many a time, using a pill regularly and over long periods may reduce its efficacy, so do consult your doctor from time to time. Rozerem is not classified as a controlled substance and is definitely not a narcotic, but it could become habit forming.
In fact, there are several DON’Ts associated with the use of Rozerem. Avoid Rozerem if you are taking LUVOX or have liver problems. Also do not pop a Rozerem after having consumed alcohol. Since dizziness is one of the side effects, do not drive or operate machinery till you know how you will react to Rozerem. Many people may have allergic reactions. Rozerem may affect your libido or fertility, so do visit your doctor immediately if you notice any irregularities here.
Typically Rozerem is taken just before bedtime, usually about 30 minutes before and you can sleep for 8 hours after that, so you sleep away the potential nasty effects like nausea or dizziness. So what do these 8 hours of unbroken sleep cost you? A little more than $3, the average price of an 8mg Rozerem pill! With all the precautions and side effects listed, you have to decide if it is worth the cost.
Vanda does all three. In the Phase II trials, 3 different doses of VEC162 were tested against a placebo and were to found to be more effective, for all three levels. It has been found to increase sleep time up to 48 minutes, according to reports. Furthermore, it facilitates natural sleep, so there are no side effects.
WASO (Wake Up After Sleep Onset) is the insomniac’s nightmare. VEC 162 reduced this causing the user to have an efficient sleep, and the time taken to fall asleep was also reduced. In pharma – medical parlance, VEC 162 had the desired sleep onset effect and sleep maintenance effect.
How does Vanda achieve this? Unlike the other drugs that bind to GABA-A receptors, widespread in the Central Nervous System, therefore, affecting the entire nervous system, Vanda is a melatonin receptor agonist, which means it selectively binds to melatonin receptors in the brain’s ‘master clock’. It does not bind with any other receptor in the entire nervous system, thereby avoiding a sedative effect or causing depression in the entire nervous system. It dampens the alerting signal and allows accumulated sleep load to take over, very naturally. This helps treat sleep disorders safely, without the scepter of sedation, and may even help depression, which successive trials would confirm.
The good news is that Vanda will probably be sold as an uncontrolled drug, just as its predecessor Rozerem, since it has no potential for abuse and no withdrawal symptoms. There are also no uncomfortable side effects like a dry mouth or more seriously, hormonal changes. Also, Vanda betters the current favorite Rozerem in sleep maintenance and might even overtake its sales. People will probably clamor for this wonderful pill with no known side effects – but wait! The most innocuous of remedies can be abused by unthinking users.
If you do start using Vanda, please take the physician’s directions very seriously. Do not prescribe your own doses. Secondly, try not to think of the drug as a lifeline for life. Instead, look upon it as a temporary means to get over your current sleep difficulties. It is also suggested that you use it only if your lack of sleep is due to ‘physical’ causes, like an injury or post-surgery pain. If you are under stress, look to first solve your problems cerebrally, rather than just bank on drug-induced sleep. This would insure you against the most serious side effect – drug dependence, dependence more psychological than physiological. Used judiciously, there is probably no parallel to Vanda in the treatment of insomnia and other sleep disorders.
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