Achy Legs at Night

The human body is a miraculous thing, but there are many things that can go wrong. We often worry about the big things, as we should, but there are small things that can really be aggravating even though not life threatening. Some people suffer from achy legs at night. Some have this all of the time and some have this for a specific amount of time due to an event. This is not a life or death situation in most cases, but it can mean you are not getting the sleep you need. In fact, some with this problem have such a steep sleep deficit that it begins to affect their health.

Some with achy legs at night also describe them as being too active. This means they feel like the have to move to alleviate the strange sensations in their legs and even in their feet at times. This can also happen in the arms for some people, though that is not quite as common. These feelings are often caused by overactive nerves. For some though, it is just a matter of too much exercise or even growing pains for the younger ones. Muscles growing and repairing quickly tend to be sore and achy.

If you are sure that your achy legs at night are not the result of growing or exercise, you should consider that you have some overactive nerves in your legs. Some people have this as a chronic problem and there really is no easy answer as to why this is. If you are suffering from this problem and you are losing sleep from it, you should talk to your doctor about this so that you can come up with some solutions. There may be things you can do in your daily life to help and in some cases, you may need some help with medications.

If you have problems with your back, you could very easily have achy legs at night due to the problems with nerves, most notably, the spinal cord. If you have ruptured disc that presses on the spinal cord or on the root nerves, you can sustain nerve damage. Once you have surgery to fix the problem, your nerves may have to regenerate. This means misfires and all types of things going on. You can end up with restless and achy legs, feet, or arms, depending on where the damage was done. Talk to your doctor if you cannot sleep in the weeks that follow your back surgery. You need sleep more than ever at this time because your body needs that time to heal properly.

If you take medications for achy legs at night, keep in mind that some of these can help with pain in other parts of the body. Some medications, like Neurontin, can calm nerves as they heal and regrow, and then can be discontinued. How long you should take such a medication depends on the extent of your damage and how much you are bothered by your nerve regrowth. Talk to your doctor and see if any medical treatment is right for you - never self diagnose. Your achy legs at night may be something else entirely.

Trouble Waking Up

There are probably many people in your life that talk about the fact that they have trouble falling asleep, but how many of them have trouble waking up? You expect tired children and teenagers to have problems waking up on time, but what about the adults out there that really have a tough time getting out of bed, even when they know they have to? The problem with getting up late means children are ignored, jobs are lost, and the world goes on without you. If you have problems getting out of bed, make some changes to better your life.

Some people have trouble waking up simply because they do not go to bed at night. This can be because they are naturally night owls and do not tire soon enough, or they could have a sleep problem that leaves them tossing and turning for hours before they can finally sleep. If you have only had a few hours of sleep, it makes sense that you are going to have issues getting up with your alarm clock the next morning. Work on your going to to sleep issues and your waking up issues should clear right up.

If you get enough sleep buy still have trouble waking up, think about how you are waking up. Does your alarm clock wake you up or are you hitting snooze. Try getting a clock that does not have snooze, or only allows it once. You know that you won't get another warning and you will get up. You may also want to wake up more naturally. You can get alarms that slowly light up the room with light so that you wake up naturally and slowly. This works for many that can't seem to get out of bed. You could even try the alarm clock that moves away from you. If you have to get out of bed to turn it off, you are already up so you may as well stay up.

Trouble waking up may have something to do with your personal habits even if you think you are getting enough sleep each night. If you drink, your sleep is not good sleep. Even though alcohol helps you fall asleep, the sleep is fitful and shallow. Stop drinking on nights when you know you have to get up the next day. Some medications can leave you groggy and unable to rise when needed. Another reason for waking up slowly or not when needed can be a lack of exercise. When you workout, you sleep better and you should wake up more easily.

If your problem is severe enough, you may want to talk to your doctor. You could have something going on that lowers the quality of your sleep so your body craves more time in the morning. This could be medication as described above, or it could be that you have something like Fibromyalgia, which disrupts sleep. Your doctor may have tips and tricks you can use or can suggest changes that will allow you to get up. Your trouble waking up in the morning may be fixed with something very simple.

Having Thigh Pain at Night?

The muscles in your thighs are some of the strongest in your body. They are responsible for holding you upright and helping you walk. They also help with squatting, sitting, running, jumping, or anything else you do with your body every day. Because your thighs are so useful and also because they are essential for standing upright, they can have problems that can be painful for you. If you are having thigh pain at night, you should narrow down what is wrong so you can sleep peacefully once again.

One reason that you may have thigh pain at night is because you are not eating right. Things like potassium are important, though you may not think about these minerals very often. You can have cramping and pain in your legs at night if you are low on potassium. These pains are more prominent in your calves, but they can move up to the thighs. If you are having this problem, adjust your diet to include more vegetables, get a potassium supplement, or eat a banana each morning. Your pain and cramps should go away.

If you get a lot of exercise each day, thigh pain at night may very well be sore muscles or overworked muscles. This pain often comes from overexerting yourself, but should resolve soon enough. Do not push yourself too hard when you start a new hobby like running and you can avoid these pains. You should always strive to do more and go further, but take it easy when you start out. Days when you do more than you typically would are the days when your legs may feel this way. Drink plenty of water after all workouts and be sure to keep your muscles stretched and limber to avoid this pain.

Some thigh pain at night can come from problems in your lower back. If a person with a slipped disc lays in the wrong position at night, that disc can press on root nerves or the spinal cord. This will send pain signals down your legs to your thighs, calves, or even your feet. Doctors can often tell which disc has been compromised simply by asking you where the pain radiates to and stops. This pain may lessen or change if you change positions but will also happen while up and about. If this is happening to you, see a doctor.

As you can see, most thigh pain at night comes from an imbalance somewhere in your diet or exercise program. Quite often a simple change in the way that you do things, without giving up what you love, can help alleviate the problem or make it go away all together. If you cannot sleep night after night from the pain and your adjustments are not helping, your doctor can help you figure out the true reason for your thigh pain and give you recommendations to fix it. The problem is often minor, but you may not be able to figure it out on your own.

Waiting For Cholesterol Test Results Can Be Brutal

I have reached an age in my life where I go to the doctor once a year to get blood work done to make sure my cholesterol is at a normal level. While I don't mind going and getting this done, as I want to do everything I can do to ensure that I live a long, satisfying life, I don't like waiting for cholesterol test results. A whole slew of scenarios runs through my mind whenever I am waiting and whenever I find out that everything is all right.

When I first went to get a blood test, I was quite nervous. I had no idea whether or not I would have high cholesterol, and the not knowing is the worst part. I started running all of these scenarios through my mind about what the cholesterol test results would be, and what I would do once I found out. I envisioned getting on cholesterol medication and then going to a health food store to get garlic pills and so forth. I figured I would get a gym membership and start to improve my health immediately.

The cholesterol test results came back and it was at 156, which my doctor informed me was within the normal range and nothing to worry about. I was so relieved when I finally found out the results that I went to my wife and told her I was committing myself to a healthier lifestyle, so that I never have to worry about getting a negative result. For a couple of years, there were no issues at all, but I went in one time and found out that my blood pressure was pretty high, and was worried that might mean bad news for my cholesterol as well.

I had my blood drawn and began the arduous, nearly week-long process of waiting for my cholesterol test results. Fortunately, when the results came in it appeared that the new lifestyle that I had adopted had helped me and my cholesterol level was normal. However, after experiencing what I had with my blood pressure, the wait was especially difficult this time around. My doctor informed me that this was a necessary evil, however, and that he would make me aware of the results as soon as he had them himself. It was little consolation.

It can be brutal to wait for cholesterol test results, especially when you're concerned that it might be high. I have been very fortunate in that I have yet to go for a blood test and have it reveal that my cholesterol level was high. I am going to do everything within my power to keep it that way.

You Just Need to Know How to Bring Your Prescription Costs Down

If anyone in the world should be worried about their prescription costs, it should be Americans. Nowhere else do you see such a country of medicine lovers. According to the CDC, it isn't hard to find older Americans on five or six different pills at the same time. Five or six different medications - as soon as you read this, the figures begin rolling in your head. Pills can be priced exorbitantly. Even if you just buy one, they can really burn a hole in your pocket. What you do if you have to deal with four or five times the impact on your monthly budget?

When you don't have insurance, it can be very difficult. A lot of people do the one thing they can - they ration their medicines. If the Dr. asks them to take their pills three times a day, they cut it down to one time a day. They just have no choice - those prescription costs can be very high.

But really, there are far better ways to go about it. If you skimp on your prescription, you might end up sicker than you were to begin with. That would be a whole other source of prescription costs. Try these ways to bring your pharmacy expenses under control.

Most of us don't realize this, but doctors, with all their training, have all kinds of ways in which to rejig a prescription a little bit. They know of creative ways to give you the same kind of effect with cheaper options. All you need to do is to tell your doctor how you're kind of hard up, and he’ll completely understand.

In fact, he will positively pat your back for it. Because 20% of people who walk out his office door never go to the pharmacy at all. It drives doctors crazy that their patients won't confide in them. It's a great way you can rein in your prescription costs.

When you go to the doctor asking for a little prescription rejig, be sure to take your insurance companies formula along. This is a list of medications that the insurance company covers for. Ask your Dr. to give you a couple of choices from the formula so they can be sure you can get at least something. Again, your doctor is going to be happy that you are a serious patient who actually intends to take his medicines.

If you're really interested in saving on the cost of healthcare, you have to approach it as if you were approaching a business deal. That's what they do. You know how you have to negotiate with the hospital over your surgical bills, don't you? You even need to negotiate with your dentist. Well, there is another thing you need to do here to cut down on what your healthcare costs you. You need to shop around.

You need to look around because pharmacies, like supermarkets, charge their own prices for filling your prescription. You shouldn't be surprised if you find much cheaper prices in rundown neighborhoods.

All Those Internet Genetic Testing Services - Are They Really Any Good

People these days often believe that genetic testing - a cheap test that costs around a couple of hundred dollars - will right away have them learn about all the different diseases they could be at risk for. It's in fact just a way to know a little bit more about yourself.

It's all been going quite well for a few years for the Internet genetic testing companies. But now, there's been a bit of inconvenience brought into this whole comfortable situation. The Johns Hopkins University has done studies on genetic testing. They found that for most intents and purposes, genetic testing is quite useless. These test results don't give you any actionable information on most common diseases.

It's not that the technology that we have today is inadequate even if it isn't all that advanced. It's just that genetics is not where all the action is. You can't look at a person's genetic susceptibility for a disease and right away think that he's going to get it. Your environment apparently is very important, too.

Not only do you need to look at the results of your genetic tests, you also need to take preventive action as much as is possible. Diagnose diseases early and live healthy. If you believe that genetic testing is a kind of blueprint of everything that's going to happen to you health-wise, there is another think coming.

And even if genetic testing is a helpful thing in general, the study wonders about how useful or reliable an Internet test can be. These reports need experts and protection. You need a doctor sitting next to you explaining what everything means. If you don't have that, your test results are either just going to scare you, or they are going to lull you into a false sense of security.

A lot of the time, people get these tests done and their results tell them that they are not at risk for any of the major diseases. Right away, they feel wonderful. This is not to mention they take it to mean that they're not going to get anything. That makes no sense. If you have a drinking habit and you live right next to a fertilizer plant - these things really are going to have an effect - a far stronger effect than what the genes have to say about it.

Some doctors would liken your genome to sheet music. Sheet music is not a CD. A CD, and no matter what music player you put it into, is going to sound more or less the same. When it's sheet music, there's only limited information in there. A lot depends on the musician with the music instrument who's reading it, interpreting it and playing it. You can consider your environment to be the musician to your genome that is sheet music.

The Body for Life Diet. Does It Work?

The Body for Life diet is a very intense weight loss program that asks you to follow tough exercise and diet schedules. But it isn't tough for no reason. The philosophy they follow is that the quicker you see results, the more likely you will be to stick with the program.

If you think about it, this makes a lot of sense. If you make a few quick gains in the beginning of any kind of activity, it is going to make you feel good about it. And you're going to see meaning in it and follow it.

The basic Body for Life diet lasts three months. It's a challenging program even if it isn't overwhelming. The exercise schedule for instance, is a very light routine. You do 45 min. of weight training a day three days a week, and you do aerobic exercises for 20 min. a day the other days of the week.

You get a list of healthy foods to eat, and you eat them over six small meals every day. And oh – it's not every day. With the exercises andthe diet, both, you only have to follow it six days of the week. On the seventh day, you can pretty much gorge on ice cream in bed all day if you want. It's okay because on all the other days, you've lived a responsible lifestyle, and your meals have been perfectly built-up for lots of energy and very little fast.

The great thing about this program is that it draws on basic life rule that you could apply anywhere. When you opend the Body for Lifediet book, you see all these before and after pictures of people who look fantastic after they've been through the program. And they go through the program with nothing more than a "slow and steady wins the race" attitude. They just do a reasonable workout every day, they did eat a reasonable meal several times a day, and that's all it takes.

The experts, who usually don't have very nice things to say about popular diets, are reasonably enthusiastic about the Body for Life diet program. With this program, you can clearly see their enthusiasm. They approve of how the exercise regimen recommended is less strenuous than what the American College of sports Medicine recommends. This should keep beginners hooked to the program, they feel. On the other hand, the 46 min. weight training workout that you get on alternating days, can be a little too intense for beginners.

But the fact that the program cleverly alternates it with days of light aerobic training, ensures that people stay hooked to it.

The Best Diet Plan For Weight Loss

At one point in my life, I was more than 100 pounds overweight. I was able to lose the weight and keep it off by dieting and exercising, and it feels great. I sometimes have friends come to me and ask me what's the best diet plan for weight loss to lose the weight steadily and keep it off. I can understand why they ask me this question, because I too tried a number of diet plans before I actually had success, and it can be quite frustrating.

The best diet plan for weight loss is one that involves following the food pyramid and getting the types of food in the proper proportion to each other, but with reduced portion sizes. When I was losing weight, I always tried to keep my daily caloric intake to around 1,800 calories. I was not shedding weight at a meteoric rate with this weight-loss plan, but it was steady and it stayed off. There is a reason nutritionists created the food pyramid, and it should be followed to ensure you get your proper nutrition.

A good diet plan for weight loss also involves drinking a lot of water. This tends to be neglected or overlooked when thinking of an effective weight-loss plan, because we usually focus most of our attention on diet and exercise. Drinking a lot of water is good for a number of reasons. It helps you to stay properly hydrated, it flushes out your system and keeps you healthy, it fills you up, and best of all, there are absolutely no calories in water. In other words, you can drink as much as you like, guilt-free.

A third component to a diet plan for weight loss is eating plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains with fiber. The fresh fruits and vegetables can be eaten as much as you want and won't make you gain weight. Whole grains that are high in fiber are going to fill a person up and help them to stay regular. These are the types of healthy foods that are the backbone of a great diet plan that will help almost anyone to lose weight and keep it off permanently.

It took me a while to find the best diet plan for weight loss, but I really feel that I have. It mainly involves portion control, drinking plenty of water and making better choices. If one combines these things with regular exercise, the sky is the limit for your weight-loss goals!