Sleeping Pills Facts and Tips

Frequently called sedatives, nerve pills or muscle relaxants, sleeping pills are drugs used to reduce anxiety, nervous tension, sleeping problems and muscle tension.

Belonging to a family of drugs called benzodiazepines, most medications used to reduce anxiety and stress, or help with sleeping problems, must be prescribed by a doctor.

Benzodiazepines depress or slow down the central nervous system. They are frequently used for relief of depression, anxiety or sleeping problems which may be caused by life changes such as retirement, reduced financial income, poor health, the loss of loved ones, or physical and social loneliness. As we age, typical changes in sleeping patterns may be interpreted as a sleeping disorder. Less frequently recommended than in the past, sleeping pills are still used more than they should be to releive these symptoms.

Effects
Since they treat the symptoms of stress and not the cause, sleeping pills only releive anxiety and sleeping problems momentary. They may help during an exceptionally stressful time, but they are not meant to be used for more than 8 to 12 days.

Side Effects
Body?s sensitivity to sleeping pills augments with aging and severe illness.The side effects of these medications are more to be expected in seniors. The property of medication can be more altered in a senior than in a younger individual because drugs stay longer in seniors? bodies. The following side effects may be experienced:
?drowsy during the day
?groggy
?confusion and lack of concentration
?forgetful
?dizzy or uncoordinated which can result in a fall or another kind of accident
?irritable
?anxious
?depression
?headache
?nausea
?constipation
?changes in heart rate

Unlike other medications, the side effects do not fade away with persistent use.

Dependency
More than ever when used repeatedly for more than a few weeks, all prescription sleeping pills can cause corporeal and ! psycholo gical addiction. Signs of addiction can be the need to get more of these drugs to get the similar effect, or finding it hard to do with no drugs.

Withdrawal Symptoms
If a dependence on sleeping pills has developed, withdrawal from these drugs have to be supervised by a health professional to lessen the risk of severe withdrawal symptoms which may be life threatening. Watch for the following withdrawal symptoms:
? anxiety
? irritability
? agitation
? abdominal cramps
? vomiting
? diarrhea
? sweating
? increased heart rate
? tremors
? seizures

Drug Interactions
Damaging reactions can take place when taking sleeping pills with other prescription or non-prescription medications. Alcohol will augment the consequence of sleeping pills and can generate inadvertent side effects. Do not drink alcohol when taking these medications. You should tell your doctors and pharmacists concerning all the drugs you are taking and the quantity of alcohol you drink to diminish the risk of these reactions.

Alternatives to Sleeping Pills
The following healthy ideas can help out with sleeping, aloneness and anxiety problems as a replacement of taking sleeping pills. If you can't sleep:
? Get fresh air and exercise throughout the day, but bear in mind: exercise before bed can keep you awake;
? Keep your bedroom cool and quiet, make it more comfortable;
? Before you go to bed, drink warm milk or hot water;
? Read a little, listen relaxing music in the evening or take a warm bath;
? After 5 p.m., avoid soft drink, coffee or tea, alcohol, smoke and spicy food.

For those already taking sleeping pills, here are a few essential tips

Take sleeping pills only during a stressful period. Since they treat symptoms and not causes, keep in mind that these drugs do not solve your aloneness, anxiety or sleeping problems.

Except if your doctor advises otherwise, avoid taking sleeping pills for more than ! 8 to 12 days. In fact, one of the effects of continuing use of sleeping pills is not being able to sleep.

Know your medication; what is it called? How often should you take it? How long should you take it for?

Ask for written information concerning the medication or put in writing answers from your doctor.

Always ask your doctor for the smallest effective dosage.

Don't drink alcohol when you are taking sleeping pills.

Tell all the doctors and pharmacists you visit about all the prescription, non-prescription and herbal remedies you take. Combining medications can cause undesirable reactions.

Do not carry on taking medication if it is not helping you or if you have uncomfortable feelings after taking it. Speak to your doctor and pharmacist.

Keep in mind: If you have been taking sleeping pills for a long period, stopping this medication rapidly can cause severe withdrawal symptoms.

Under no circumstances borrow or share medication.

In conclusion, what you should know is that sleeping pills can be an answer to your problems if taken carefully, along with the indications of your doctor.

Eszopiclone (brand name: Lunesta) is a non-benzodiazepine, oral, sedative medication that is used for treating insomnia characterized by difficulty falling asleep and difficulty maintaining sleep during the night and early morning. Buy Lunesta from our reliable Online Pharmaceutical Ordering Services at http://www.SimplePharma.com

Traditional Medicine For Acne And Its Side Effects

If you are thinking why acne affects only you, you are terribly wrong. Acne is the most widespread skin disorder in the world, according to statistics. That?s the reason why experts and laboratories spend a lot of time doing research to determine how acne forms and how it is eliminated. Different treatments, medicines, and products have been produced to help control and eliminate this skin disorder.

In traditional medicine there are about 7 different treatments that are used in prevention and elimination of acne. There are also much different products that use these treatments in one way or another.

Some of these acne treatments that help to reduce or eliminate acne problems are: Accutane, antibiotics, Benzoyl Peroxide, herbal remedies, Retin-A and Salicylic Acid, among others.

Accutane (Isotetinoin) is a powerful drug that is normally prescribed for severe acne in cases where other treatments have failed to work. It is normally taken for a 4-6-month period.

Antibiotics were designed to fight bacteria. These are used to control acne mainly from the inside. Some topical antibiotics (clindamycin) are applied directly to the skin. Other antibiotics (tetracycline) are in pill form.

Benzoyl Peroxide is an anti-bacterial agent that has been used to control acne for many years. It has been proven to work very well in the elimination and prevention of acne.

Herbal Remedies are a relative newcomer to mainstream acne fighting. It is thought that certain herbs are effective in regulating oil levels and other body functions that are cause of acne.

Retin-A (tretinoin) is a combination of retinoic acid and vitamin A acid. It was designed to treat acne, sun damage, and wrinkles. It unplugs follicles and turnovers over dead skin cells.

Salicylic acid helps to slow down the shedding of cells inside the follicle and it is available in many treatments purchasable without a doctor's p The best way to prevent post-inflammatory changes caused by acne is to prevent acne lesion! s from o ccurring. This is done by understanding the factors that cause acne and using the appropriate treatments for the different acne types.

Choose with a professional guidance your treatment, go to your dermatologist and explain the symptoms you are developing. Most acne treatments fight the symptoms of acne, while ignoring the biological processes that actually allow oil to build up in the first place.

If your acne has not improved within two to three months, your treatment may need to be changed. In these case you must also visit your dermatologist who, according to the type of acne and providing an updated history of what you are using on your skin or taking internally, will indicate the right new treatment.

Indeed, there are no nippy fixes in treating acne and acne scars. It may involve a lot of processes and products which may vary depending on how you will utilize them or what your doctor will prescribe.

Although, many of these acne treatments (even those that claim not to cause dryness) can still end up agitating your skin and causing more harm than good. Unfortunately, natural acne treatments are often just too weak to give people the results they need. Hopefully, there?s a new natural product that works like a skin regenerating activator.

Natural Bio Skin Care Cream is made with a natural substance gathered from a little creature that nature has endowed with the ability to repair his skin quickly when damaged, and to protect it from environmental hazards and pollution.

Bio Skin Care Cream is a gentler, yet most effective solution. It actually utilizes biological activators of skin growth factors collected from mucins produced by land snails to regenerate their own skin and shell when injured and to protect themselves from the sun and environmental hazards.

Now, for the first time, BIO SKIN CARE CREAM brings you an effective skin renewal product that incorporates natural skin renewal activators to gently exfoliate the worn out cells while at the same time trig! gering t he reproduction of new collagen and elastin cells, resulting in a coordinated biological regulation of the skin renewal process and thus advanced skin rejuvenation.

About The Author
Martha Fitzharris is a free lance journalist for http://www.naturalbioskincare.com a website offering a new biological natural skin care product that activates skin renewal for Strech marks.

Here's a Free Abdominal Workout Routine Caution You Need 5 minutes to Spare

This free ab workout routine is great if you do a lot of travel and also if you do a lot of sport and don?t always get time to get to the gym and train your abdominal muscles. The great thing about building your abdominals is that it can help prevent back injury and sciatica.

Before we get going, if you have a history of back problems, it?s always a good idea to consult with your health care practitioner.

This routine involves just 8 exercises that you perform one after the other and do 10 to 15 repetitions each. When you are starting out, you may only be able to perform around 6 to 8 of each exercise. Don?t worry, stick with it and in a couple of weeks you will be able to do the 10.

OK, here we go:

Elbow to Opposite Knee Sit-up While lying on your back and with your legs slightly bent, perform a sit up and each time you come up, touch your elbow to the opposite knee. Keep your hands beside your head and not behind

Lying crunches While lying on your back and with your legs slightly bent, elevated and crossed , bring the upper half of your body to your knees. This is a short and sharp movement. Keep your hands beside your head and not behind.

Elbow to Leg Crunches Same as crunches, except this time you are bringing your elbow to each opposite knee before lying down and repeating the movement.

Leg raises With your legs outstretched and slightly elevated and with your hands underneath your backside, raise your legs to 12 inches (30cm) from the ground and back down to just off the ground.

Rowing Exercise Start by lying on the ground with your legs elevated just off the ground and extended and with your hands beside your head. At the same time, bring your knees and upper body together in one ?rowing? movement.

Cross-over Crunches Like crunch, raise only one elbow to the opposite knee at a time. Perform 10 ? 15 repetitions on one side before changing.

Straight-leg Crunches Perform the cru! nch with your legs straight and extended vertically.

?Windmills? With your legs wide apart, start from a standing position and with your back straight, reach down with your hand to the opposite foot. Extend the other arm vertically into the air. Repeat this ?windmill? action to perform 10-15 repetitions each side.

Finish the workout with a ?cobra? stretch ? lie on your stomach, and with your knees on the ground and your hands in a ?push up? position, push up the upper half of your body so your back is arched. Only push up far as comfortable. Next, with your arms still extended in front of you, move back so you are sitting on your calf muscles (with your knees bent) and stretch your shoulders ? a wonderful and relaxing sequence to finish your free ab workout routine.

Paul Newland is a health writer, sports training consultant and martial arts instructor and runs the Global-Longevity.com website. He is the author of numerous health information books and guides, including the Wellness Report, The Ultimate Sports Nutrition Guide and The Healthy Exercise Guide - available Free through Global-Longevity.com.

Is Accutane Safe?

Isotretinoin, sold under the brand name Accutane, is the only drug that can cure acne, but it can cause horrible birth defects when taken by pregnant women. Reports from Britain and Israel show that Accutane otherwise is much safer than we used to think.

Acne is a condition in which normally colorless, liquid skin oils are converted to solid white material. Then the skin responds to the trapped solid oil by turning red and swelling. A three- or four-month course of Accutane damages the oil glands and markedly reduces the amount of oil that your skin produces, making Accutane the most effective drug to treat acne. Having less skin oil should not cause any serious side effects as its only known function is to keep you from feeling too cold in the winter, because it slows evaporation of sweat. Dry skin is associated with lack of water, and aging of skin is associated with lack of collagen, not with lack of oil.

In the British study, ninety-three per cent of the people taking Accutane reported no long-term side effects. The British researchers reported that two percent suffered muscle aches at follow up, and 5 percent suffered from dry mouth. Fewer than one percent claimed that they had dry eyes and skin and joint pains. Higher doses were not associated with more side effects. The authors concluded that their study showed that isotretinoin is a safe drug with no serious long-term side-effects. However, it causes birth defects when taken during pregnancy.

A study from Israel also shows that Accutane is far safer than many doctors think. Many doctors refuse to prescribe Accutane for severe acne because they are afraid that Accutane will damage livers, raise triglyceride levels and cause heart attacks. In this study, none of the patients had liver tests that were abnormal enough to stop treatment. Only 1.5 percent of patients had serum triglyceride levels above 400 mg%, but all continued treatment. Only 3.5 percent of patients required a second treatment.

I insist that all women who t! ake Accu tane do nothing that could cause a pregnancy while they take it. Three months after stopping Accutane, a woman has no increased risk for birth defects.

I check liver tests and triglyceride levels and if normal, prescribe 40 mg of Accutane twice a day for 14 weeks. I check liver tests every four weeks and stop the drug immediately if the liver tests become abnormal. I repeat liver tests two weeks later, and if normal, restart Accutane. Eighty-two percent of those who follow this regimen are cured of acne for life. If the acne returns months or years later, I usually prescribe 40 mg of Accutane four times a day for one month. Check with your doctor.

For Journal references on Accutane see http://www.drmirkin.com/morehealth/G200.htm

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports at http://www.DrMirkin.com

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Obtain Your Tan With Used Tanning Beds for Sale

It can be a really good idea to have your own tanning bed, but it can also be expensive. However, there are ways to buy really good models for very cheap prices. Although new tanning beds are costly there are also some great deals around if you search in the right places. If you really want to cut your costs then you could try to find a good source of used tanning beds for sale and actually they are not hard to find. There are several different places that you could look or start your quest to find used tanning beds for sale. For instance, there are the classified ads in your local paper. Sometimes you can find a used tanning bed for sale and they have the advantage of being in your local area. This is a big plus because you don't want to find a good deal on a tanning bed and then realize that you have to drive for several hours to get it.

You might also try looking in or visiting your local stores that may have used tanning beds for sale. If they sell new models then sometimes they take older models in part exchanges. Even though you might not see any used tanning beds for sale in the store it is worth asking whether they have any. If it turns out the answer is no there is still a good chance the store can put you in touch someone who does have some used tanning beds for sale, and who knows they might even offer you such a good deal that it could be worth you buying a new one.

When you are looking for used tanning beds for sale you should remember that it is an electrical item and you should always have it checked to make sure that it is ok to use. There is not a lot to go wrong with a used tanning bed but it is always a good idea to make sure, after all you don't want to buy a cheap tanning bed and then find that you have to spend a lot of money fixing it in order to be able to safely use it for your sun tanning purposes.

If you are able to spend a bit more then it is a good idea to buy a factory refurbished tanning bed. These are ones that have been totally refurbished by! the fac tory and are nearly as good as a brand new tanning bed. Obviously they will cost more, but if you can afford them, they might well be the best ones to go for. Remember, if you are looking to find used tanning beds for sale then you do have a few choices and there is no reason that you should not get a really good bargain. Just make sure not to buy the first one that you see because inmost cases it is always worth seeing a few tanning beds for sale so that you can decide which one is the best for you.

Timothy Gorman is a successful Webmaster and publisher of Tanning-Bed-Solutions.com He provides more information on where to find the best deals on used tanning beds for sale, tanning lotions and lamps that you can research in your pajamas on his website.

Achieve Fitness Goals by Being Easy on Yourself (A Story of a Cheetah)

Sometimes we get down on ourselves.

Maybe we didn?t perform the way we wanted to at a presentation for work, didn?t do all the studying we could for an exam or review, needed more time and put out a product that was only good?not the best.

When this happens, most people?myself included!?tend to get a bit down on ourselves. We feel like we have failed our expectations and didn?t live up to our standards. And maybe this is true, maybe we could have taken some more time to prepare that PowerPoint for a presentation, studied a little bit harder or spent more quality time developing a killer product?all these, we could have done and the end result would have been better.

These are our lessons, the reason we have them is to grow. So let?s look at it that way?as growing experiences?and STOP BEING HARD ON YOURSELF!

Being hard on yourself will only bring you into a dark place where the only thing around is question marks about your potential success. What is going to happen to me? Who noticed that I messed up? Will I ever do what I want to do? Get out of the negative and your life will ease up, I promise.

This is no different with your fitness and health goals. If you become your own worst drill sergeant?screaming and shouting at your last mess up?you will not build the positive support within yourself to sustain an enlightened and lasting fitness and health program. I promise you this as well.

You can see how this affects professional athletes all the time. Watch tennis and take careful notice of how the players react to their own missed shots. If a player hits the ball into the net and reacts poorly, chances are the next three or four rallies will have more errors on his or her part. What is happening is this?

His conscience is being a drill sergeant. He is screaming his head off at the player telling him to stop screwing up! While he?s still screaming, he?s still playing tennis and so now he?s listening to his drill sergeant and trying to hit a first s! erve tha t?s over 100 mph! Talk about some serious multitasking! These conversations are negative and counter-productive.

Instead, to avoid this berating, he should acknowledge his mistake and calmly peacefully let it go. How? Take a breath. Concentrate more. Don?t correct his swing or positioning, just concentrate on what his doing?in this case hitting a tennis ball. I guarantee he will not flub his next few shots.

Same with baseball pitchers. You?ve seen the guys who miss a few strikes then start getting into their heads and swearing and cursing on the mound. What happens is the same, the drill sergeant gets talking and the concentration is out the window. This is when they give up homeruns and unintentional walks.

Master pitchers have learned to shrug off bad pitches and concentrate on the task they are there to complete. I?ve seen many games where a great pitcher has missed on one pitch and given up a homerun, then come back and shut the other team out for the remaining innings. Pitchers like these are masters not only at throwing the ball hard?but of concentration.

You cannot do everything perfectly.

If you get off track, take a day to breathe, look over your goals and then refocus your concentration. For many of us, fitness and health require a lifestyle change that creates LASTING habits! You?re bound to slip up once and a while, so don?t kill yourself.

Here?s a great story my coach, Nick, told me when I was struggling with being too hard on myself.

There was a young boy named Michael, about 10 years old, that Nick had been counseling for a short period of time. Michael was overweight and was having a tremendously difficult time in school. He had trouble with his math and was a level or two behind in reading. He just didn?t feel good about himself and the other kids were starting to pick on him because of his reading deficiencies and, of course, his weight.

Nick had met with Michael a few times and now the issue they were discussing was his p! erforman ce at school. After pulling some teeth to get Michael to talk about his problems in school and with the other kids, Nick was unsure of how to proceed with the session. So he asked Michael a very blunt and straightforward question. ?How do you felt about yourself??

Michael responded with this, ?I feel like a big fat failure.?

?Whoa, whoa, hold on a second,? Nick said, ?What makes you feel like that??

?I don?t know, I just am.?

?Well Michael, why don?t you tell me about something that you really like.?

Michael looked up to the ceiling. ?I like animals!?

?And tell me, what?s your favorite animal??

?The Cheetah!? Michael nearly jumped out of his seat.

?Great!? Nick matched his enthusiasm, ?and tell me about the cheetah.?

In double-time, Michael began to tell Nick all about the cheetah, how it walks, how it eats, how it sleeps, when it sleeps, again what it eats?to the point where a non-caring Nick would have kicked himself for asking this question at all.

When Michael seemed to be winding down, Nick gently interrupted.

?Wow, you certainly know a lot about the cheetah don?t you? You mentioned something that I want to talk about. You said that the cheetah eats zebras, right??

?Yeah, and antelope, and??

?Well, Michael, when the cheetah goes out and hunts, so you know how many times he gets the prey and can eat dinner??

Michael thought for a minute then exclaimed, ?All the time!?

Nick?s face became more serious, knowing Michael was wrong and he slowly gave Michael his lesson, ?That?s not true, Michael. The cheetah is lucky if he gets to eat once or twice a week. He hunts many times and doesn?t catch a thing. Did you know that??

?No, I didn?t?

?Michael, the Cheetah is a very special animal because it keeps trying all the time, day after day so it can eat. He may miss his dinner 4 or 5 times in a week. Now would you call the cheetah a big fat failure for not being successful every time??

Michael ! got the lesson Nick was trying to teach him and started performing better in school.

We can?t be at our prime all the time, and when we aren?t we absolutely cannot punish ourselves for it. Be more like the Cheetah, go out everyday knowing that you are doing what you need to be successful.

If you fail, breathe, and come back more concentrated the next day. You will be a success, I?m sure of it!

How to be a Cheetah

Here are the tools that will allow you to tell your drill sergeant that he or she?s better off making sure we don?t forget our business appointments that interfering with our fitness and health successes!

Step One: When you start to hear the drill sergeant, listen to his speak for a short time. Listen to what he says. They will probably be similar to things like this ?You stupid?? or ?I don?t believe you just?? or ?Why can?t you ever keep a commitment for?? For this step, just be aware that this is happening so you can recognize it when it happens again.

Step Two: Tell your drill sergeant that you are thankful he is around. Seriously. Thank him for sharing his thoughts because this same drill sergeant is the one who gets you out of bed in the morning (he?s not all negative!).

Step Three: Take a few deep breaths.

Step Four: Ask your conscience to move on to the next thought. If the next thought is just as negative and just as degrading, repeat the four steps!

When you master this, you will be able to deal with your drill sergeant easily and quickly before you begin to start the self-doubt that can destroy your chances of reaching your ultimate fitness goals!

Kevin Gianni is the holistic fitness expert. He is a certified personal trainer and co-founder of Lifestyle Fitness, a home workout program that gives you the tools to radically change your views on health and fitness for the rest of your life.

Be sure to sign up for our free email newsletter that has the fitness and health tips other gurus are charging big bucks for.

ht! tp://www .yourlifestylefitness.com
kevin@yourlifestylefitness.com

Whatever You Do Don't Exercise!

You can't turn left, right, go forward, backwards, or even just stand still these days without someone telling you that you have to exercise.

Whatever happens, DON'T do it!

People talk about the many benefits of exercise, and indeed, the list seems very long, and it seems to touch pretty much every aspect of our lives. Let's examine this:

? Increases Energy: I can't imagine why anyone would want to increase their energy level. As if the world isn't already too full of caffeinated coffee and energy drink junkies, now we're being told to try to get MORE energy from exercise.

Don't do it people! Just try to make it through your long and boring lives with barely enough pep to get from point A to point B, and then drag yourself home every night and plop down on the couch for another brain-draining evening in front of the TV.

? Lowers Your Risk for Heart Disease: Heart Disease?!? Yeah right - this sounds like too many doctors weren't making enough money, so they came up with a general term that would cover everything from indigestion to breathing hard.

The fact that it kills more people in the United States than any other disease or condition combined is irrelevant. Your heart is in great shape! Keep eating potato chips, hamburgers, and fried shrimp. You'll be just fine.

? Cranks up Your Metabolism: What IS metabolism anyway? Everyone is talking about it, but I don't see it around anywhere. If it's so important to have a fast metabolism in order to burn off bodyfat, wouldn't someone have come up with a magic pill or special sauce that took care of this issue?

Stay up really late eating ice cream and washing it down with root beer. While your body turns every one of those calories into bodyfat, you can catch an infommercial that is sure to be selling The Metabolism Master Blaster!

? Helps You Lose Weight: Oh sure - here is another example of mass hysteria. If exercise is so good at making people lose weight, why is it that America is fatter today than it ! has ever been, even though there is a gym on every corner?

Seriously, being fat HAS to be healthy, or else everyone wouldn't be doing it! Go ask the owner of any fast food restaurant if they think that people are truly concerned about losing weight.

? Increases Self-Esteem: This must be why anti-depressant drugs are so rampant in our society today. Half of our teenagers are on Valium, and the other half have ADD. Marriages are breaking up left and right over emotional conflicts, and psychologists get paid big dollars to assure people that they are OK.

Besides, overweight people must already have great self-esteem, because they are able to hide in their homes dying of bad health instead of feeling the need to go be healthy with the rest of the world.

So, in conclusion, I think we have demonstrated that there is a perfectly acceptable way to use logic to convince ourselves that we don't need to exercise. Let the members of the Health and Fitness industry keep selling their wares, putting together new products and facilities, and generally wasting their lives away.

The rest of us are smart and we will boycott this thing called Exercise. As our stomachs grow larger, our backsides get bigger, and our clothes get smaller, we can take solace in the fact that we didn't get swept up by that whole Health Craze!

Hey - pass the chocolate cake covered in caramel and whip cream! I want a third piece of that while my french fries deep-fry for another five minutes and I catch the end of some completely unrealistic reality show!

About The Author
Aaron Potts is the owner of http://www.fitnessdestinations.com, the author of http://www.fitnessdestinations.com/dc.html and offers Free Daily Fitness Tip Podcasts http://www.fitnessdestinations.com/fitnesstips.html.