Talk to your physician and always read warning for preexisting sleep disorders conditions that you may which can cause a dangerous interaction. It is also important to make sure that choose products or remedies that aren’t addicting which can cause years and years to get over. Before using a sleep aid, consider these three facts!

• Many sleep aids of an herbal sense contain Kava, which is known to cause permanent liver damage. Read your labels well! This can also cause miscarriage and should never be taken by women who are pregnant.
• The longer you take a product, the more you will have to take in order for it to be effective. The problem is this can lead to overdose and can also lead to stomach upset, ulcers and other problems. Consult your doctor!
• Many people suffer from withdrawal symptoms when they discontinue taking sleep aids . This is true for herbal or prescription products. You may have nausea, vomiting or the shakes.

The best thing you can do for your self is to make sure that you get enough rest and find natural ways to improve your sleeping habits without medications.

• Drug tolerance. You may have to take more and more of the sleep aid for it to work, which can lead to more side effects.
• Drug dependence. You may come to rely on the medication to sleep, and will be unable to sleep or have even worse sleep without it.
• Withdrawal symptoms. If you stop the medication abruptly, you may have withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, sweating and shaking
• Side effects. There are several side effects to sleep medications, such as drowsiness the next day, confusion, forgetfulness and dry mouth. These side effects can be severe.
• Drug interactions. If you are taking other medications, sleeping medications can interact with them. This can worsen side effects and be dangerous with medications like prescription painkillers and other sedatives.
• Rebound insomnia. If you need to stop the medication, sometimes the insomnia can become even worse than before.
• Masking an underlying problem. There may be an underlying medical or mental disorder, or even a sleep disorder, that if treated would be better treated by other means.

In addition, lack of sleep can have a negative effect on children’s performance in school, on the playground, in extracurricular activities, and in social relationships. Sleeping Aids in children are generally NOT recommended and parents need to realize that sleep problems can cause the misdiagnosis of ADHD and other behavioral sleep disorders.

Will Your Child Benefit from Sleeping Aids?

Inadequate sleep causes decreases in performance, concentration and reaction times. It can also cause increases in memory lapses, accidents, behavior problems and mood problems. Do these problems, or “symptoms,” sound familiar? They should if you are familiar with ADHD because many of these “symptoms” are central to the diagnosis of ADHD in children. What does this mean? Well, frankly it means that looking at the sleep pattern of a child or adolescent should always be a part of any diagnostic workup for ADHD, anxiety, behavior problems, or mood disturbance. Sleeping aids can intensify these problems and should be avoided.

Sleep aids have long been reached for as a temporary fix and they can often lead to a long-term problem according to research. Not only are many of them addictive, others can cause serious injury and be detrimental to other areas of health. However, there are some that in studies have been shown to be less addictive and can be used safely for short-term sleep problems.

Non-Addictive Sleeping Aid Choices

Perhaps the most common remedy for sleep problems is passionflower. Passionflower comes in the form of supplements and teas and can be safely used to help you fall asleep and stay asleep long enough to balance out the circadian rhythm that oversees our sleep function. Kava is another natural sleeping aid and lavender oils or rubs are often used to help facilitate relaxation.

Chamomile tea can soothe upset stomachs and is also known for its power of relaxation. One less thought of remedy for sleep problems is having a cup of deeply brewed coffee daily. This should be done in the morning and should not be done in excess. A recent study indicated that light coffee drinkers experienced a better level of sleep than those who did not.

Your best defense may be to learn more about how regular exercise and a steady circadian rhythm are the first lines of defense against insomnia. Often your problems aren’t with sleep, but with stress and alleviating stress throughout your day to day life can help you to sleep better at night.

Exercise as a Natural Sleep Aid!

Exercise can be your best defense. Nevertheless, before you start working out after work; consider that your exercise should be done in the morning. Exercise boosts your metabolism and acts as a natural sleep aid and releases endorphins and chemical reactions that can actually keep you awake. If you wake up early and exercise, your body will be physically and mentally more prepared for sleep and you will be alleviating tension on both levels of your body. Getting into a regular routine is essential and remaining aware of what your mental triggers to anxiety or stress are can be the perfect avenue to explore as a natural sleep aid.

Before spending a lot of money on products just to see which ones might work, use relaxation techniques, which are free and which include meditation and yoga in order to make your body relax enough to sleep. They also work on the mind and help you clear your mind of clutter that will interfere with having the night’s sleep you’ve been wanting. You won’t feel groggy during the day and you will not suffer any negative side effects.

There are things in your diet that negatively impact sleep so you need to remove them from your diet before sleep time. Some of them are caffeine-containing, such as chocolate, colas, some teas and coffee. Don’t consume these things later than three pm.

In addition, sugar should be reduced from the diet before sleep. Sweets give you a sudden burst of energy which can interfere with sleep. It can also cause fluctuations in the blood sugar which can cause mood swings and can impact sleep. Even low blood sugar can negatively impact the sleep experience.

Herbs like melatonin and chamomile tea work great to help you get a good night’s sleep. Melatonin is made by our pineal glands normally and is how we set our Circadian rhythm. Taking melatonin tricks the mind into thinking it is time to sleep so you sleep better. Chamomile tea has been used for centuries for sleep induction.

Chamomile is usually steeped in water and made into a tea along with milk, honey, sugar or lemon. Chamomile acts as a generalized muscle relaxant so you feel sleepy when you take it and relaxed enough to get some sleep. It reduces anxiety and promotes sleep when taken in up to an hour before sleep.

This is just a couple of the natural sleep aids that are out there. You can use passion flower, valerian root and hops, among other things, to promote sleep and to provide you with enough rest and relaxation in order to sleep well.