Insomnia - the inability to fall asleep even when tired - is caused by dozens of problems, from being too tired to not being physically tired enough, from worry, from illness, from age or a lack of physical fitness. Often, insomnia is caused by overuse of sleeping pills, a situation where your insomnia cure actually makes the problem worse. Fortunately, there are many ways to cure insomnia, starting with determining why you can't fall asleep.

Most causes of insomnia are easy to pinpoint: irregular sleeping schedules, stress from work or home, or age. Those that you cannot identify may require medical diagnosis. Until you know what is causing your insomnia, sleep aids should be avoided or at least used lightly. Sleeping pills and other sleep aids are not insomnia cures, but only ways to treat the symptom - insomnia - of an underlying problem.

One of the most common sleep disorders you don't realize you have is sleep apnea, a condition in which you periodically stop breathing during the night. This may be caused by an obstructive problem or by a brain disorder; many people find their apnea goes away when they lose a little weight. Sleep apnea often causes chronic insomnia in which the patient wakes up in the middle of the night and cannot fall asleep again. If you snore, have asthma, or are overweight, there's a good chance that your mysterious insomnia is caused by apnea.

Once you've pinpointed your insomnia problem, you can start seeking a cure for insomnia. Remember, what worked for your best friend may not work for you at all. Your insomnia treatment should be personalized, a specific remedy for the underlying problem that caused your insomnia.

There are many insomnia cures, each of which works in a different way. You can start with a mild natural cure for insomnia such as aromatherapy using lavender or other naturally soporific scents. If you've pinpointed the primary cause of your insomnia, this may be all you'll need to do; just creating a sleeping schedule and then using a very mild insomnia remedy like this may cure insomnia for you.

More often, though, curing insomnia is more difficult than just smelling lavender. You can start with normal-dose antihistamines - Benadryl and its clones, for instance, will put most people to sleep. Combined with changes in sleep patterns, lightly-used antihistamines are often the perfect insomnia cure without any other intervention.

Some people swear by melatonin as an insomnia cure. This a chemical found naturally in your brain that fluctuates in concentration throughout the day. Evening doses of melatonin may be enough to encourage your brain to go to sleep when nothing else works. Like antihistamines, melatonin should be used in combination with a change in your sleep patterns; ultimately, you should be able to get to sleep without any chemical assistance.

If all else fails, your insomnia cure may come from the pharmacy. There are dozens of new treatments for lack of sleep today, and one will probably work well for you.

What to choose:herbal insomnia medicine or prescription medications?

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