Sleep disturbed and making you feel fatigued?
Those of us who suffer from their sleep disturbed with periods or constant Insomnia know that not getting a good night’s sleep causes frustration, impacting your daily life, unfortunately, meaning that your life’s actual quality suffers greatly.
Sleep can be disturbed by changes in your daily routine. Such as times of increased worry, the arrival of a new baby. Working shifts or suffering from sleep apnoea. The good news is that it does not have to be that way. Thankfully, there are now many options to enable you to make changes and get the help you need.
Topics I will speak about in this blog.
- Sleep problems
- Insomnia & sleep disorders
- Sleep disturbance
- Sleep problems for women in midlife & menopause
- Managing sleep problems
1. Sleep problems
Research has estimated that a whopping 90% of people will suffer from some form of their sleep being disturbed in their lifetime. For many of these cases, this disturbance will only be temporary, resolving itself quickly. However, for the remaining people, those sleep problems, unfortunately, do not go away, and they worsen over time.
2. Insomnia & sleep disorders
What is Insomnia? Insomnia is when someone cannot go to sleep or stay asleep. For more than three nights out of a week. Insomnia had initially been a more common condition in older people; however, with the younger population’s demands and stresses, this is no longer the case. With those increases in cases reporting Insomnia being twice as likely to experience by women than men. Meaning their sleep is disturbed for long periods.
Insomnia sleep disorder
What is not so well known is there are, in fact, several types of Insomnia. Which include:
Primary Insomnia
What happens with this type of Insomnia?
FACT – About 2% of the population only needs 5 hours or less of sleep a night. Even with this amount, they can live their lives highly productively and have adequate capability and function. Who does not feel tired upon awakening
Why and when do most people then seek help?
Most insomniacs seek help when you are not happy or able to lie awake until 1:30am or later and function as they used to. At some point, they have found the situation to be affecting the quality of their life. For example, they would instead be heading to their bed with their partner at the same time.
How can it be treated?
With this type of Insomnia, there is a remarkably high resistant to non-drug strategies in some cases. The main recommendation would be to try going to bed for fewer hours in the night. Simultaneously, becoming aware of and listening to your inner body clock for those all-important clues about when you should go to bed. Also, making a few simple lifestyle changes may have a significant impact on some.
Insomnia that was stimulated by an incident
What happens?
Some people who had never experienced problems with their sleep before may begin to experience Insomnia. This change in their sleep pattern is due to something triggering this to occur. These can include:
Experiencing an emotional trauma
Working shifts
The birth of a baby
During these periods, habits being to form. It persists beyond that initial trigger period itself due to the body believing that this is the norm.
When do people seek help?
For the vast majority, it is when they feel frustrated or anxious about their sleep. And cannot make the changes in their habit.
How can we treat Insomnia?
Treatment using a range of psychological techniques. Such as CBT, cognitive behavioural therapy. They aim to focus on ‘unlearning’ the conditioned sleep pattern. The use of CBT-I as therapy is acknowledged as the most effective way to treat Insomnia. The results being especially useful by providing a long-term solution to Insomnia. By helping develop strategies that overcome anxiety or frustration around sleep while reinforcing this, making lifestyle changes to their habits also helps stop their sleep being disturbed
Disorders in a body clock
What does this mean?
As it suggests, it is when the internal body clock becomes disrupted. Meaning sleep is disturbed and you experience difficulties with the timing of when to go to sleep. The majority of suffers generally feeling sleepy during the day. While craving recovery sleeps during the weekend. It is an incredibly common disorder in both adolescents and young adults.
When do people seek help?
When they are having trouble falling asleep and when morning comes, struggle and even with some being unable to get up.
How can this disorder be treated?
The body clock is manipulated by exposure to bright light. By introducing carefully timed exposure to bright light through the timing of their light exposure, and more importantly, the form of light used. These are the best strategies used by all experts, specialists, or psychologists in sleep.
Melatonin. The essential hormone secreted by the brain to regulate our bodies internal clock. It is available in prescription form (Circadin). However, all research has shown that light therapy has substantially higher and more potent results than swallowing a capsule form of melatonin.
3. Sleep disturbances
Sleep disturbances have a much greater risk. Should you be experiencing any of the following sleep disturbance, then speak with your doctor, who should refer you to a specialist where necessary:
Sleep apnoea
What is apnoea, and what happens when you have it?
Apnoea is to do with the airways being blocked. Causing airflow and breathing to stop for short periods during sleep. During those periods of your breathing stops. These can last for ten seconds each time and maybe happening up to several hundred times throughout the night, leading to repeated arousals during your sleep. Although you may not remember this in the morning, you will be aware you feel tired the following day.
In studies carried out, it was found that a significant increase in sleep apnoea cases was reported in women around perimenopause. Regardless of their age or weight as is commonly suggested to be the main reason for apnoea.
Sleep apnoea is severe and can lead to other health problems.
Treatments available
Changes in Lifestyle
Use of a special breathing apparatus or even surgeries carried out to help improve breathing
Depression and anxiety
What happens?
The increase in the feeling of depression and anxiety can also directly affect sleep. And in some cases, even be caused by a lack of sleep.
Treatments available
Most help treatment is receiving counselling. CBT is also proven to be an extremely effective treatment, helping calm and stop any of those feelings of anxiety when they occur.
Pain
What happens when we are in pain?
There are pre-existing and chronic conditions where pain occurs. It directly impairs sleep because it keeps you awake. After all, no relief or comfort occurs.
The treatment recommended is to try managing the pain. By treating the pain may help without painkillers as these can increase Insomnia. Acupuncture and another natural alternative such as CDB oil are proven to be more beneficial as pain relief.
Snoring
What happens
However, when snoring occurs, sleep apnoea does not; it will disturb your sleep due to wakening you. The good news is that it has been proven not to be associated with an increased risk to your health.
Treatments available
Changes in Lifestyle
Have a regular sleep pattern
4. Sleep problems for women in midlife & menopause
Many midlife women approaching menopause are a time in their life that many women develop and experience insomnia and sleep disorders. For many, Insomnia, snoring occurs, and other obstructive sleep disorders become much more frequent while unfortunately are not being recognized.
Becoming a particularly important time of life for women. They need to stop and think about their health. Please make time to ensure they are taking care of themselves by making it one of their top priorities. If sleep is causing you issues, you need to know how much this can impact your life quality.
5. Managing a sleep problem
Following these tips may help you get a good night’s sleep. Sometimes, the simple change to your routine is all it takes.
Be aware of your caffeine intake. Reduce your intake if necessary. Check all drinks for this as an ingredient.
Try to avoid eating heavy meals late at night and allow 2 hours after dinner before bed.
Sip on a warm glass of milk after dinner.
Limit alcohol consumption by having no more than 1-2 standard drinks a day, with at least two alcohol-free days per week. Too much alcohol reduces sleep quality.
Although alcohol acts as a sedative, creating the feeling of falling asleep faster leads to waking later in the night.
Get active physically.
A falling body temperature encourages you to fall asleep and remaining asleep. By exercising, you increase your body temperature, so you need to allow your body enough time to cool down. Do not exercise in the 4 hours before bed as exercise is also stimulating.
By maintaining a regular time that you go to bed and wake up…
Restrict time in bed & make a bed for sex and sleep only.
If you cannot fall asleep – get out of bed
Hide the clock
By turning any clock away from view to stop clock gazing during the night.
Try relaxation.
Taking any medications for a sleep disturbance
Sleep medications (e.g., benzodiazepines or Stilnox) maybe consider for short-term use. However, be aware that these medications may cause you to become dependent on them and not resolve the sleep issues. Taken only with extreme care as they do not make you sleep. They only cause a block in your brain neutrons to send a false message that you are sleeping. Will you are not actually sleeping, and your body cannot carry out the essential role of repair that is the main reason for sleep. I recommend speaking with your doctor for more information and consider this option very carefully.
Consider the way forward
By considering your sleep, I hope it has been informative and helpful. I offer holistic sleep programs where I use CBT methods and methods proven to get results for sleep. To enable you to find out if one of my programs would help you, I would like to extend the invitation to a 15 min introductory call with myself free of charge to discuss your sleep to ensure it’s the correct result-driven path for you.
My program details apply to any age, offering both personalize sleep programs to children and adults alike. These are created for you from a set of questionnaires that cover all the relevant topics needed to ensure we find the answers to your sleep issues.
I have many other blogs which you may also enjoy reading. If you have any questions, please reach out to me, and I will answer them honestly and directly.
Sleep well.