If I Can't Sleep, Is My Body Deficient in Ambien?   

We are constantly being barraged by advertisements for pharmaceutical drugs.  Count how many commercials in one TV show "educate you" so you know if you are depressed, have sexual dysfunction, need your cholesterol reduced, how to get a better night's sleep and more problems you never knew you had.   What about the litany of side effects that the spokesperson mentions quickly at the end of every commercial.  Everyone makes jokes about the seemingly endless side effects, but then we still tend to run to our doctors to prescribe these drugs to us for that quick fix.  First, we simply need to slow down and really evaluate our situations.   First, do we even really suffer from these ailments or are they a result of side effects from other drugs we are taking?  Could there be one root problem causing many of your symptoms? Are there other alternatives such as lifestyle and food choices where you don't have to pay down the road with the inevitable side effects?   

Ambien is just one example of a widely prescribed sleep aid drug that may work for some but seems to have consequences that go beyond the disclaimer.  There are many reports of people deep in a hypnotic state of sleep doing things they later have no recollection of doing.  While on Ambien, some unknowingly experience sleep walking, eating at night or even causing accidents while driving cars as Kerry Kennedy just last week and her cousin, Patrick Kennedy, last year.  There is even a growing number of so-called "Ambien-defense" cases around the country in which defendants claim that under the influence of the drug they were not responsible for murders, sexual assaults and fatal car crashes.   There are other alternatives to sleeping better naturally than with drugs that can make you unknowingly inflict harm on you or others.  Reducing processed foods and caffeine while increasing protein and green vegetables help regulate blood sugar levels.  Of course exercise reduces stress which also aids in insomnia.  Many of us actually are deficient in magnesium which is a great muscle relaxer and melatonin is a natural hormone that regulates the human biological clock, both improving sleep.   

The truth is that most of us spend more time thinking about what to put on our bodies to make them look better than what we actually put in our bodies to make us feel better.  There are many incredible pharmaceutical drugs that have changed lives for the better.  Just be sure to think first and realize that you have more choices than you may think.