Can’t sleep?? Best tips for the same
Ever find yourself unable to sleep for extended periods? Read on to get some tips on dealing with it.
Many of us will find ourselves unable to sleep from time to time, and most of the cases will be due to external factors such as travelling, stressful events, illnesses or certain interruptions to your normalized routine. However, when sleep problems become a regular occurrence and you find yourself having trouble with your sleep patterns, they can cause interferences with your life and lead to sleeping disorders.
These conditions do not only lead to daytime sleepiness but also take a heavy toll on both your mental and physical health. Some effects include weight gain, loss of energy, memory losses, and negative impacts to your mood. However, you are not doomed to live the rest of your days with a sleeping disorder, as there are measures you can take to manage the condition.
What are sleeping disorders, then?
These are conditions, which change the ability of your body to get quality sleep in sufficient amounts.
Note that it is normal to experience some challenges sleeping sometimes, but it is abnormal to constantly have issues with your sleep while waking up feeling tired or you are unproductive in the daytime hours.
It is very frustrating to go through the trouble with your sleeping, as you are always tired and sluggish during the day yet you cannot sleep. The cycle repeats itself, and this causes significant negative effects in your mood, your abilities to deal with stress, as well as your energy and efficiency levels.
You can easily deal with it though – you first need to track your sleeping patterns and any symptoms you experience, and then use this information to adjust your day habits and bedtime routine. When this approach fails to work, you can then turn to sleep specialists, who will give you some medication for sleep.
What are some types of sleep disorders?
Sleep apnea
This is when your breathing stops on a temporary basis as you sleep, and forces you to stay awake for frequent periods. It leads to exhaustion, even if you may not know why – you may not remember yourself waking up later on. It is life-threatening and must be dealt with as soon as the symptoms begin to show.
Insomnia happens to be among the most common sleep disorders, with about 10% of Americans having gone through it at some point, and half the people who suffer from sleep disorders have had some symptoms of insomnia. This disorder may be due to several factors such as stress, health conditions, jet lags, medication that you are probably taking, depression, anxiety, drug abuse, or even caffeine. It is also easy to cure, as you only need to revise your habits during the day, stay away from drug abuse, and avoid dependence on prescription pills – leading to rehab admission at Recovery Village IN.
Some symptoms include feeling non-restorative sleep, or sleep that was unrefreshing, lack of energy, challenges in concentration, and going through excessive daytime sleepiness. Others include forgetfulness, mood disturbances that impact the relationship you have with others, such as impulsive behaviour, aggression and irritability, reduction in the quality of your life and depression onsets.
Narcolepsy
this causes uncontrollable levels of sleepiness during the day and is due to a dysfunction of a brain mechanism that is responsible for waking up and sleeping. In fact, you may even have ‘sleep attacks’ in the most random of places, like when you are working, driving a car, or talking on the phone.
RLS (Restless Leg Syndrome) – is a disorder that makes you have an urge to move your arms or legs at night as you sleep, either due to uncomfortable, aching, or tingling sensations.
Managing sleep disorders
For you to manage your sleeping habits well, it is important to understand the circadian rhythm – the biological clock of your body that operates on a 24/7 basis and is the reason for the regulation of your sleeping and waking times.
The most important factor in regulating this rhythm is light – when there is less light, the brain receives signals to release melatonin, which makes you feel sleepy. During the morning when the sun comes up and you are to wake up, the brain will reduce the melatonin amounts, and this is a signal to the body to wake up.
The disruption of this rhythm makes you feel tired, groggy and sluggish, and this is the main cause of all the sleeping disorders we have mentioned above and more. Here are some tips when you are trying to manage a sleep disorder:
Keep a sleep diary
This can help you achieve the challenging task of finding out what the cause of your disorder is. You can record any daytime and nighttime habits you may have, as these may be factors for reducing the quality of sleep you get at night.
The information you write here can also prove useful when you decide to seek medical help. It should include the sleeping time (when you went to bed) and when you wake up, the type and amounts of food and liquids you consume before going to bed and the times you took them, as well as records of your moods before sleeping.
Have a relaxing bedtime, habit
Preparation of your body and mind is essential to quality sleep. You can dim the lights in your bedroom or shut them off completely, cool down the room (it is hard to sleep in high temperatures), and quiet down any noises. Stay away from eating a heavy dinner, and have a relaxing bath that helps you unwind, or music that is soothing to you.
In addition, getting up in the middle of the night is normal sometimes, but always make sure to go back to sleep.
Improve your daytime habits
Maintaining a consistent schedule of sleep, ensuring you exercise regularly, limit your drug and caffeine intake, as well as managing stress effectively will help you to get better quality sleep.
Final thoughts
Dealing with sleep disorders is an issue many would wish not to happen to them because of how irritating they are. However, in order to improve your health status, you need to deal with them as soon as possible, as better quality of sleep translates into better quality of life.
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