Novus Medical Detox Center
Novus Medical Detox Center Newsletter
3 September 2008
In This Issue

Sleep, Sleeping Pills and Other Alternatives

Successe From a Recent Patient
Quick Links
 
 
 
 
Be sure to listen to Prescription Addiction Radio, Sunday night at 9pm on WGUL 860am, or live online at
www.860am.townhall.com
  Successes From a Recent Patients:  
 

Construction:
(OxyContin, RoxyContin, Paxil)


 Food: 5 of 5.  Housekeeping: 5 of 5. 
I'm clean.  The stay here has given me time to think and realize what is important to me and what I must do to hold on to those things.    

Disabled:
(Fentanyl, Dilaudid, Ativan, Zoloft)


"The staff here has exceeded mine and my family's expectations.  I know coming here was the best decision I could have made. I want to acknowledge Hayden, Patty, JJ, Jean, Jeff and Natalie.
One of the things I realized while at Novus was that I started to get the desire to want to do the things in life that I did before becoming an addict and overall I just feel better about myself and the future."


 

 

SLEEP, SLEEPING PILLS AND OTHER ALTERNATIVES

PART I

By Steve Hayes, Director

  

   The Irish have a long list of proverbs that they love to quote.  One of them is, "A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book."  All of us have experienced the curative powers of sleep.  We have gone to bed feeling tired and generally out of sorts and felt completely different the next day.
   

   We have also experienced the problems if our sleep is not as good.  We go to bed tired and wake up tired. 


    Many of us can remember sleeping for long periods when we were young, and most of us always assumed that we would have no problems sleeping as we age.  However, as we grow older, sleep seems to elude some of us.


    One of the most common fears expressed by patients who come to Novus Medical Detox Center to withdraw from alcohol, OxyContin, heroin, methadone, Vicodin, Percocet, oxycodone, Xanax or psychotropic drugs is that they won't be able to sleep.


    You would think that something that seems so vital to so many of us would be better understood, but scientists are still struggling to unravel the mystery of sleep.  In this two part newsletter we will first look at what the latest research tells us about sleep, and then next week we will look at the drugs and other methods used by people to help them sleep.


 WHAT IS SLEEP?


    Through our brain we communicate with all the parts of our body using chemicals called neurotransmitters.  If we want to pick up a fork, the instructions from the brain travel from cell to cell via neurotransmitters and relay the instructions to our hand and fingers to pick up the fork.  The brain, apparently often running on auto-pilot or responding to external stimuli like light, uses neurotransmitters to tell us to stay awake or sleep. Some scientists liken these signals to "On-Off" switches.  When parts of our brain are turned off we sleep and when they are turned on we are awake.


    Some research also suggests that the concentration in the blood of a chemical called adenosine (a part of our DNA) increases while we are awake and eventually at the end of the day causes drowsiness which allows us to go to sleep. While we sleep, this chemical concentration decreases which then allows us to wake up and be alert.


    If we get too little sleep, we are drowsy and unable to concentrate the next day.  If our inability to sleep becomes more serious, then hallucinations and serious mood swings may follow along with immune system problems.

 
 FIVE STAGES OF SLEEP


 Stage One


      In Stage One, our eyes still move very slowly and our muscle activity starts decreasing and we can be easily awakened.  In Stage One some of us experience sudden muscle contractions that are similar to how we jump if something startles us.
 

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