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Beautiful Dreamer

Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,
Starlight & dewdrops are waiting for thee,
Sound of the rude world heard of the day,
Lulled by the moonlight have all passed away,
Beautiful dreamer, queen of my song,
List while I woo thee with soft melody;
Gone are the cares of life's busy throng,
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me,
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me,

Beautiful Dreamer

Beautiful dreamer, out of the sea,
Mermaids are chanting the wild lorelei,
Over the steamlet vapours are borne,
Waiting to fade at the bright coming morn.
Beautiful dreamer, beam of my heart,
E,en as the morn on the steamlet and sea;
Then will all clouds of sorrow depart,
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me,
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me.

Stephen Foster

Sound Sleepers May Have Genes to Thank

Discovery could explain why some experience deeper slumber than others

teenage sleeper

welcome! to anxieties 101!
 
after looking things over here at anxieties 101, try out "the layer down under," (part of the emotional feelings network of sites) & read a special "i just gotta say it" column concerning porn addiction by clicking here! Be sure to scroll down towards the bottom of the right hand column to find it!

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Making the site work best for you!
 
You'll notice that there are many underlined link words in each article below. The reason for this is that you've reached not only, "anxieties 101," but the emotional feelings network of sites.
 
There are many sites included within the network that'll be visited by clicking on these underlined link words. They're all linked together thru the underlined link words to offer the opportunity for a more thorough understanding of whatever problem you're investigating!
 
The reason for this opportunity is very simple & yet you may be unnerved by all those underlined words! I've been in recovery from post traumatic stress disorder, depression & many other dysfunctional ventures & thru it all I've discovered that emotion & feeling work may be the missing link that many people miss when trying to find solutions to their problems.
 
Developing a sense of curiosity about why you feel the way you do, is essential in finding the solution you so desperately are searching for.
 
If you can't find what you came here looking for, visit the homepage for the emotional feelings network of sites by clicking here & read the options on the homepage for the networks index of sites. Try to be specific when looking for an emotion or feeling & click on the site you need!
 
It's very simple & very interesting to follow your way thru the layers of your buried or stuffed emotions & feelings that have accumulated throughout the years!
 
Best of luck & if you're still stuck, send me an e-mail anytime, by clicking here & I'll be glad to send you an immediate personal response!
 
Sincerely,
Kathleen

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Sleep off the extra weight

Posted: 01/02/2003 16:28 pm
Last Updated: 01/02/2003 04:28 pm

How to lose weight? It's the question on many minds this time of year & the answer may be as easy as getting into bed. 2 in 5 Americans all made the same New Year's resolution:

to lose weight.

Most of those same people will begin the new year by dieting & exercising but doctors now say getting a good night's sleep may be the ticket to losing extra weight.

Sleep loss increases your appetite & affects the body's metabolism. Dr. Michael Thorpy, a neurologist, says, "Most people don't realize that good sleep habits are important for a successful weight reduction program.

If people have trouble falling asleep or remaining asleep then they should see their physician because there are safe & effective treatments available for sleep problems."

Dr. Thorpy has some tips for sleeping off extra weight.

  • Don't go to bed hungry.

  • Do avoid eating a big meal right before bedtime

  • Exercise regularly but make sure to do it at least 3 hours before going to sleep

  • Make sure you get up at the same time each day to get used to a healthy sleep pattern.

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Experts Spot New Form of Sleep Apnea: 'Complex sleep apnea' is especially tough to treat, researchers say 

Almost 2/3 of Pacemaker Users Have Sleep Apnea

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Too Little Sleep May Pack on Pounds

Study links insufficient slumber to obesity

By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDayNews)  It sounds like the best diet plan of all time - sleep more, weigh less.

It could be a reality, say researchers who have produced more evidence linking less sleep to obesity.

The findings, which appear in the Jan. 10 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, don't say which came first - sleepy people or fat people.

But study co-author Dr. Robert Vorona, an assistant professor of sleep medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School, suspects that lack of sleep sets off hormonal changes that affect appetite.

"It's very possible that, over the long haul, restrictions in sleep could dispose you to obesity," Vorona said.

He acknowledged that his theory is a bit odd, especially considering that people use more energy when they're awake. "It's counterintuitive that restricting sleep should lead to obesity, that sleeping more should make you more apt to lose weight," he said. "That doesn't sound like it makes sense."

Other researchers are on the same track, however. "There's a mounting body of evidence that suggests the systems that regulate sleep & appetite are linked," said Dr. Joseph Bass, a professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine who studies sleep.

Vorona & his colleagues first became interested in the link between sleep & obesity after reading that insufficient sleep disrupts the body's endocrine system, which regulates hormone levels. Vorona said they decided to launch a study to see if weight was affected, too.

The researchers surveyed 1,001 people from southeastern Virginia about their sleep habits. They also checked where the subjects landed on the body-mass index scale, which uses a mathematical formula to indicate whether a person is of normal weight, overweight, obese or severely obese. The typical subject was 48 years old & obese.

The researchers found that people of normal weight got more sleep than their overweight & obese counterparts, by an average of 16 minutes per night, or 1.9 hours a week.

The research reflected previous studies in Japan that linked lack of sleep to obesity in children, Vorona said.

Oddly, this latest study found that severely obese people actually got more sleep than other people. According to Vorona, this may be because their bodies are more likely to produce sleep-inducing chemicals.

The next step, Vorona said, is to launch more definitive studies that will closely track how much people sleep each day - instead of relying on their own memories & examine changes in sleep & obesity levels over time. He hopes to "get funding to see if extending sleep really does help people lose weight effectively."

It's possible that further research into the link between insufficient sleep & obesity may explain why shift workers - who often don't get enough sleep - are more likely to develop diabetes, said Bass, who wrote a commentary that accompanied Vorona's study.

"Sleep is a fascinating, enigmatic process," Bass said. "We kind of hand-wave at it as physicians & maybe we shouldn't."

More information

Get the myths and facts about sleep from the National Sleep Foundation (www.sleepfoundation.org target=new).

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10/23/03  Sleep Problems in Children Appear as ADHD

(Ivanhoe Newswire) Children who struggle with sleep disorders often appear sleepy & inattentive during the daytime. A new study shows symptoms in 5-year-olds are suggestive of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Doctors say there is an increasing understanding of obstructive sleep disordered breathing. It's estimated to affect 2 - 3% of children.

Researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine led the study of 3,019 5-year-old children. Parents completed a survey about their child's sleep patterns, snoring & the presence of daytime sleepiness & behavior problems.

Hyperactivity was reported 19% of the time, while inattention came in second at 18% & aggressiveness followed at 12%. Daytime sleepiness was reported only 10% of the time.

The researchers write, "Compared with children without snoring or other symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing, children with sleep-disordered breathing symptoms were significantly more likely to have parent-reported daytime sleepiness." The prevalence of daytime sleepiness was similar for boys & girls.

Overall, the presence of sleep-disordered breathing symptoms was associated with a 2 fold increase in behaviors suggestive of ADHD.

The study investigators believe when a child exhibits signs of sleepiness, hyperactivity & inattention, they should be looked at for sleep problems. This is especially important to handle prior to the child beginning school. They write,

"Identification of the problem at 5 years of age may be particularly valuable, as it would allow therapeutic intervention."

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Pediatrics, 2003;112:870-877

visit night eating....

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visit our new site!
night eating is open for information & support for those experiencing compulsive or binge eating habits at night only or those who wake up realizing that they had been eating but don't remember it - nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder....
 

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Some Facts
 

About 70 million Americans suffer from a sleep problem; among them, nearly 60 % have a chronic disorder. 

Sleep deprivation is a growing concern in the world today. The net results of not getting enough sleep are:

  • Impaired judgment

  • Diminished creativity & productivity

  • Inability to concentrate

  • Reduced language & communication skills

  • Slowed reaction times

  • Decreased abilities to learn & remember

The NCSDR [U.S. National Center for Sleep Disorders], estimates, "$150 billion a year in higher stress & reduced workplace productivity" can be attributed to sleep loss alone.

Shift workers must fight a constant battle against their body's natural rhythms.  Lack of sleep is the cause of many traffic accidents. Both Canada & the US reports show that accidental deaths are significantly more frequent during the switch to daylight savings time in spring than before or after the shift.

Why We Need Sleep

 

Sleep is necessary for both the body & the mind to operate properly. Researchers can't say without a doubt what goes on in the brain during sleep, but they believe that this is the time that your brain sorts thru information, stores information, replaces essential chemicals & solves problems.

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10 Tips to Get Better Sleep: Set yourself up to get a good night's sleep

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The Normal Sleep Cycle

The 5 Stages of Sleep - The Hypnagogic State

1st stage - drifting off to sleep brain communicates messages - 

  • tells the heart to beat slower 
  • tells the body to lower its temperature slightly
  • tells the muscles to relax

During this stage, the brain occasionally produces "awake" waves, or alpha waves, which have a frequency of 8 - 13 cycles per second. (Waves are the measurement of electrical impulses of neurons in the brain)

Most of stage 1 brain waves are theta waves, at 4-7 cycles per second. These brain waves are slower, but they have high amplitude. For most healthy sleepers, this stage of sleep doesn't last long, only a few minutes.

2nd stage - you're in a light sleep. You may wake up still from a noise or a touch. Stage 2 of sleep has two unique patterns of brain waves. Sleep spindles, in which the peaks of the waves get higher & higher in succession are followed by K-complexes in which the peaks descend.

 

During sleep spindles, the wave frequency is 12-14 cycles per second. Surprisingly, about 70% of sleepers awakened during stage 2 sleep will claim to have already been awake.

Third stage - you're in a deep sleep. The brain tells the blood pressure to go down, you're not very sensitive to the air temperature around you.

 

Stages 3 & 4, often both considered "deep sleep," are characterized by delta brain waves, commonly called slow waves because of they have a very low frequency (.5-4 cycles per second). 20-50% of stage 3 sleep usually consists of delta waves. More than half of stage 4 sleep consists of delta waves. During this stage the rest of the brain waves are slow theta waves. 

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4th stage - This stage is the deepest sleep of all. It's difficult to be awakened at this stage of sleep. It's in this stage of sleep that people sleep talk & sleep walk. The following is what the body experiences during non-REM sleep:

  • Heart rate decreases & stabilizes
  • Breathing pace slows & steadies
  • Muscles relax
  • Blood vessels dilate (open wider)
  • Blood flow to muscles increases
  • Blood pressure decreases
  • Metabolic rate decreases about 20% from that during wakefulness
5th stage  - REM Sleep - Rapid Eye Movement although your muscles are totally relaxed, your eyes move back & forth quickly & the heartbeat increases. This is the stage when you dream.

As the night goes on you repeat stages 2, 3, 4 & REM every 90 minutes thats about 4-5 times a night. REM sleep is also sometimes called paradoxical sleep because the brain waves are closer to those of being awake than to those of any other type of sleep.

Body Temperature

 

An average, healthy person's body temperature starts to decrease at about 11 PM. It then reaches its lowest at about 4 AM. It continues to rise during the morning & after a slight mid-afternoon dip, the temperature will rise to it's highest during the early evening. The range in body temperature throughout the day is typically about 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit).

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During the night, humans have less concentration. (a personal note stuck in here... this is why I believe that the night eating syndrome is set into action with binge eating at night, your concentration is so compromised by being so sleep deprived.)

Our ability to estimate time becomes worse. Accuracy in simple arithmetic deteriorates. Our arithmetic becomes worse. It even becomes harder for us to do simple, repetitive tasks. The lowest point of these disabilities occurs around 3:00 AM.

All of these functions are synchronized in Circadian Rhythms to our biological clock.

"Circadian rhythm" is an expression often used in the sleep research field. The word circadian comes from the Latin Circa Diem, meaning "about a day." The circadian rhythm is a 24-hour biological cycle. All animals & most plants possess this & many other biological clocks.

At the base of a human brain is the hypothalamus - a pinhead-sized structure. The suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus serves as a biological clock that regulates the sleep-wake cycle. Information about light travels from the retina to the hypothalamus thru the nerves.

The hypothalamus continually measures the light exposure, & accordingly adjusts the timing of the sleep-wake cycle. For this reason, daylight savings time & solar eclipses present challenges to our biological clocks.

To prove that our circadian rhythm isn't just a reaction to external stimuli like daylight, alarm clocks or watches, but much more an internal biological action, two German scientists conducted an experiment in which they locked up volunteers in a bunker where no sunlight could enter.

The volunteers were kept there for 1 month without having any idea of the time it really was outside & were encouraged to go to bed whenever they wanted. The results of the experiment after 1 month showed that the natural repetitive cycle for these volunteers came to "settle" at above 24 hours, at about 25 hours (of which one third was spent asleep)!

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How to Sleep When You Feel Upset

Read below about establishing a bedtime routine... this is considered "healthy sleep hygiene."

Other Important Factors for Healthy Sleep Habits

Use your bed only to sleep & for sex. The bed has become our society's 2nd couch! We sleep, read, listen to music, watch TV, cry, daydream, rest & sometimes even eat in it.

By doing so, we make our mind forget what a bed is actually for. If we get in the habit to use the bed exclusively for sleep, our mind will automatically say, "Hey, it's time to sleep" the moment we lay ourselves into bed.

Keep televisions out of the bedroom so you're not tempted to turn it on, thus again - being distracted from why you're in your bed - to sleep!

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Exercise in the morning & in the early afternoon - Apart from contributing to our health, exercise during daytime also improves the quality & quantity of our stage-4 sleep. A greater amount of stage-4 makes us feel fresh & relaxed the next morning.

So get your sport shoes, because you now have another reason to exercise! Try going out for a mid-morning walk & take in some sunshine. Sunshine also enhances our sleep. It also spurs the production of serotonin! Try to get some fresh air everyday... you'll feel better while you're awake & asleep!

Don't exercise in the evening - Although exercise is good for your health, it isn't a good idea doing strenuous physical exercise near bedtime. This programs your metabolism to still be in 4th gear for "daytime activity", while you would want to be in a "Parking" gear for preparing for sleep.

You can feel free to take a "leisurely" walk after dinner, but strenuous exercise should be done at least 3-4 hours before bedtime, earlier if you're experiencing sleep problems.

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No alcohol prior to bedtime. Alcohol is known as a calming drug w/many using it as a "sleep promoter."   It may help you fall asleep more easily, but more than just about 1 gram of alcohol per kilogram of body weight, will negatively interfere w/your sleep rhythm.

This happens because the Important Stage-4 sleep is decreased. The REM-Phases become shorter; our sleep seems more unstable & superficial. 

Getting up the next day is usually accompanied by the feeling of not having rested enough, better known as a "hangover".  The alcohol can dramatically drop your blood sugar, causing you to wake up only a few hours after you have fallen asleep.

No Stimulants after the early afternoon hours

Stop all caffeine consumption after the early afternoon hours. Drink more water. If you must have coffee, try decaf, but only a few cups. Try drinking hot tea that has no caffeine. There are many types available that can enhance your day & night time hours. Check on the Lifestyle Diet Page for more information about this. 

Always Avoid Nicotine.  Nicotine is a stimulant. Quitting smoking is a generally known step in changing your lifestyle for the better. Nicotine could affect your sleeping habits also, so there is one more reason to "quit smoking."

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Eat a light snack about an hour & a half before bedtime, but keep it light!  Food w/tryptophan, an amino acid, is thought to produce sleepiness. Some foods with tryptophan include milk, bananas, fish, & turkey. The reason foods w/tryptophan are thought to enhance sleep is that tryptophan is essential in triggering the production of serotonin in our bodies.  Adequate amounts of Serotonin in our system is certainly a definitive factor in calmness & sleep readiness. 

Avoid spicy foods for the dinner meal. Eating spicy foods can cause indigestion, heartburn & acid reflux. Sometimes these ailments can interrupt sleep.

Eat your biggest meal at lunch time.  This allows for plenty of time for your food to digest. Eating a lighter dinner is much better for you. You have a chance to burn off that heavier meal earlier in the day than you do in the evening.

Stop looking at that clock after you go to bed! It's a well known bad habit: for some reason you have problems falling asleep & instead of doing something good, you do the worst thing possible! 

Looking at the clock on your bedside table only makes you realize that another 30 minutes have passed & you're still not asleep! The worries created by knowing what time it is will just contribute to your sleeplessness.

So next time when the clock is stealing your sleep, simply turn it around so that you can't see the time.

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Do not take naps in or after the late afternoon hours. When tiredness sets in between noon and 4 p.m., an occasional nap may seem like the right quick fix solution. Naps do not substitute a good night's sleep. Keeping that fact in mind, naps should not become a habit or be longer than an hour to avoid slipping into a REM sleep. Instead of beating your tiredness by napping, try to find out if anything is interfering w/the quality of your night sleep or if you are lacking quantity of sleep because of your napping. Experts generally advice to avoid naps when possible but, if necessary, to do a 30-40 minute, so-called, "power nap."

I can personally vouch for this tip. My sleep habits are a mess right now. I go to bed very late at night, about 2-3 a.m. I wake up around 6 a.m. By the time I get home from work or by 4 p.m. I am exhausted & can't keep my eyes open. I almost always take a nap. The nap unfortunately can sometimes last for 5-6 hours. Sometimes, I am in such a deep sleep that I just can't wake up, even when I try. If I do wake up too soon during a nap, my eyes will keep closing until I go back to sleep.

Then, when it's time to go to bed, I am not tired. It's a vicious cycle that I am in & definitely not an easy one to break. I am trying to take my own advice on this habit though!

Keep the bedroom dark, quiet, & cool. The only way for our body to adapt to the ambient temperature while we enter deeper sleep stages is to perspire or activate our metabolism.

We should be sure that our room is neither too warm nor too cold when we go to bed. Not doing so might strain our body, instead of giving it a possibility to rest. Although our hearing senses are less sensitive during deep sleep phases, noise could disturb our sleep while we are trying to fall asleep or even might interrupt it during one of the few Stage-1-REM Phases we have every night. In this stage remember, our senses are more sensitive to external stimuli so we can be awakened easily by noise.

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Don't lie awake worrying for too long. If you can't fall asleep for quite a while (over 30 minutes), don't let it eat itself into your mind. Instead, get up & do some simple activity, like reading (but nothing too emotional or stimulating!) or listening to the radio. After awhile go back to bed to try to sleep again.

When you feel awake & are thinking about problems:

A.  Never think about problems in bed (or bedroom), instead go to B.

B.     If you start thinking about problems, give yourself a choice. 

1.       Stop thinking about problem (set another time to think about it - - think  about something else more positive & involving & relaxing - - for example, count sheep).

2.       Exercise &/or stretch / yoga

3.       Consciously decide to think  about the problem (& exercise periodically).

4.       If can’t sleep - - do work (e.g., mop kitchen floor).

If you get a fear of not going to sleep, remember, “I’m not going to die from not sleeping”.

Attitude = “I’ll just see how long I can go without sleeping”.

Trust in your body to take care of its own sleep needs.

Keep pad & pencil handy so you can write down anything you’re afraid you won’t remember &/or make a date to think about the problem later.

Avoid all medications for sleeping.

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more exercise reinforcing material!

 

In a 1997 Study, the Journal of American Medical Association placed sedentary men & women w/sleep problems on a program of moderate exercise. After 16 weeks the exercisers were getting to sleep twice as fast & sleeping more than 40 minutes longer each night.

 

Be sure to incorporate a regular exercise routine to your Lifestyle Change Plan. Exercise also causes the body to produce "endorphines" which are chemicals of "well being" & happiness that take an edge off anxiety & depression.

Lifestyle Diet's connection with Sleep
 

Eating foods that are filled w/tryptophan, an amino acid which encourages the production of serotonin in our bodies, in the evening may help calm you for sleep. Serotonin has a relaxing & calming effect on us.

  • Turkey
  • Tuna
  • Whole-grain crackers or bread
  • Bananas, dates, & figs
  • Avocadoes & grapefruit

are all packed w/serotonin.

 

Carbohydrate rich foods can enhance sleep because they trigger the brain to release the neurotransmitter known as serotonin, which produces a feeling of relaxation. Tryptophan, an amino acid, as stated before promotes the secretion of serotonin. Vitamin B3, which is niacin, when processed in the body is important in the production of tryptophan.

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Sleep Problems During Pregnancy

During pregnancy, it's not uncommon to contend w/sleep disturbances. These are usually due to anxiety & stress, hormonal fluctuations & physical discomfort. As your pregnancy progresses, you may find it more difficult to find a comfortable position, or you may have to get up several times during the night to empty your increasingly cramped bladder.

But take heart! Read our tips to get a better & more comfortable night's sleep. Critical rest time that your body & mind need during this time is very important to consider.

1. Drink up! Drink plenty of fluids during the day, but cut down before bedtime to minimize frequent nighttime urination.

2. Keep moving. Exer