Insomnia

Most of the time ba href=/insomnia/a/b is caused by anxiety or other mood disorders.

Sometimes it is just the routine stresses of the day that keep people up at night - the sales meeting in the morning, the checkbook badly out of balance, the kids' demands for help with homework, the vacation that must be planned and paid for.

Sometimes, a couple of sleepless nights can snowball into a nightmare of its own, so that the very sight of the bed sets off a lather of anxiety.

Companies that make sleep medications such as Ambien and Lunesta would like you to believe that a little pill magically summons the sandman.

Apparently 8.6 million people believe it, too.

That's how many people took prescription drugs to help them sleep in 2004, according to an analysis of insurance claims by Medco Health Solutions, a company that administers prescription-drug plans.

But sleep specialists say that pills are no more than a Band-Aid.

They might work for a night or two, but after several weeks, patients report taking more and more pills and never sleeping better.

"You should not be locked into a situation where you're taking these pills seven days a week," says Dr.

Keith Dixon, a sleep specialist at Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford, Conn.

Rubman says more than half the people who seek sleep counseling at the New Britain center are taking prescription, over-the-counter or herbal sleep remedies - none of which is working.

While the newer prescription sleeping pills can help with short-term sleep proble...

Carlson most recently co-starred on NBC's short-lived "Law & Order: Trial by Jury." = Sam Page has come on board CBS' drama pilot "Shark," which stars James Woods as a attorney-turned-prosecutor.

Page will play Casey Flynn, an assistant district attorney.

= Ion Overman has been added to NBC's comedy pilot "Andy Barker, P.I.," which stars Andy Richter as an accountant-turned-gumshoe.

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Carlson most recently co-starred on NBC‘s short-lived "Law & Order: Trial by Jury." = Sam Page has come on board CBS‘ drama pilot "Shark," which stars James Woods as a attorney-turned-prosecutor.

Page will play Casey Flynn, an assistant district attorney.

= Ion Overman has been added to NBC‘s comedy pilot "Andy Barker, P.I.," which stars Andy Richter as an accountant-turned-gumshoe.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter ...