Treat anxiety and insomnia without drugs !

Although drugs such as Ambien and Xanax usually work, the side effects they can cause (Ambien is associated with nightmares, sleep walking and amnesia, Xanax cancause drowsiness, poor coordination and is addicting) make me reluctant to prescribe them particularly if the prescription is for more than a few pills and is intended for chronic use.

I prefer to dig a little deeper to see if the underlying root cause for the symptom can be identified and treated more directly. Insomnia, for example may be a matter of eating sweets or other carbohydrates late in the evening or may be due to a lack of progesterone or melatonin. While Ambien will still help you fall asleep, a hormonal deficiency problem is more appropriately treated with the hormone as the hormonal deficiency can have more serious consequences than just lack of sleep. Progesterone, for instance, helps protect against breast, uterine and prostate cancer.

If my investigation does not turn up any identifiable cause for the symptom there are still other safer alternatives to anxiety or insomnia. CES or cranial electrical stimulation is a safe, effective method that utilizes a painless microcurrent delivered through little clips on the ears for 20 minutes to an hour. Having reviewed the scientific literature on this technology I have tried it myself and tried it on patients with excellent results. The therapy also helps many people with depression and pain. It has been around for many years and is more widely utilized in Europe.