I couldn’t sleep last night because I was pondering this article about insomnia.
If you have ever had insomnia, you can probably relate to that feeling of getting up in the morning completely exhausted despite having hit the hay early. The quality of our sleep has a significant impact on our lives; more than most of us realize or care to admit.
Insomnia is a common sleep disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep, stay asleep, or cause you to wake up too early. Some people deal with short term insomnia due to a specific event in their lives, while for others, the condition is chronic.
Why do some people vividly recall their dreams, while others can’t remember theirs?
- Our brains cycle through different levels of activity throughout the night. People often dream during the most active periods.
- Everyone dreams to some extent.
- Those who experience poor sleep quality tend to have difficulty recalling their dreams.
- Some people have better dream recall than others depending on the part of their brain that is most active during the dream and the stage of sleep in which the dream occurred.
- If you are someone who recalls dreams, are you also good at memorization during the day?
- We often dream after exposure to stress or due to a change in our usual routine.
- Eating late in the evening or being overtired can be a dream trigger for some individuals.
I rarely recall dreaming. Do you?
What about the person who drinks copious amounts of caffeine in the evening and claims they sleep like a baby?
- Possibly they have built up a tolerance, or maybe they don’t sleep as well as they claim.
How much sleep do we need?
- Adults require 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night while children and teens need more.
I can't recall the last time that I slept eight hours straight. I think it was when Pierre was Prime Minister.
Do men suffer as much with insomnia as women do?
- Perhaps, like other health issues, men don't talk about it or they view it differently than women do.
- Men appear to have the innate ability to fall asleep anywhere, at any time of the day. Male bashing? No, I base this statement on forty years of careful observation of the male species.
Is a short nap the key?
- Without fail, my dad had a thirty-minute nap every day after lunch and then got up feeling recharged and went back to his farm work.
If I have a wreck on the couch in the afternoon, and I assure you, more than thirty minutes have ticked by, I find it difficult to get to sleep that night.
Why do people get so feisty when they are accused of snoring?
- Why is it more socially acceptable for a man to snore than a woman?
- It is like being accused of a heinous criminal act, and we vehemently deny the charges. An argument that goes something like this ensues, "I wasn't snoring," which receives a terse response of "Oh, yes, you were”.
How many times does the average person hit the snooze button on their alarm clock?
- Does snoozing that little bit extra make us feel better or more groggy?
- The snooze button has saved many a sleepyhead. This feature has its pros and cons though. Before this glorious invention, if we were late for work, we could use the excuse that we inadvertently shut the alarm off and fell back to sleep.
- The wake and snooze cycle can make us more groggy as it is confusing to our brains.
In the 80s, we used a big radio alarm clock with a built-in eight-track player.
My son sent me this picture, as we had one of these small digital alarm clock radios in the 1990s. I thought it was next level that I had the option to be woken by the alarm or by radio music, plus it sported a snooze button.
Who doesn’t remember the travel alarm clocks that folded up into a squishy little case that snapped shut?
How well we sleep at night is influenced by many factors. If you are having difficulty sleeping, the first thing to do is have a complete medical check-up.
9 Things that impact the quality of our sleep and useful ways to help you get a good nights sleep include:
1. Medications
Every medication has side effects, and insomnia can be one of them.
~ Talk to your doctor to see if it could be a side effect of your medication. They may be able to adjust the dosage, the time of day you take it or change the medication.
2. Hormones
We can’t avoid the changes that naturally occur in our bodies as we age, but maintaining good health during these years is essential to sleep health.
~ Have regular medical checkups to monitor your hormone health.
3. Dehydration
When we don’t consume enough water, we feel tired during the day. On the other hand, dehydration can prevent good sleep at night. Inadequate hydration blocks the body’s ability to produce melatonin, a hormone that regulates our sleep-wake cycle.
~ If you struggle to stay hydrated, making yourself a hydration schedule may be helpful. Use an alarm as a reminder if necessary.
4. Foods and Beverages
I find it difficult not to eat after supper. If you can eat supper and then not eat again until the next morning, you are my hero.
If our body has to digest food consumed right before bed, digestion and metabolism are slow because our bodily functions naturally slow down at night in preparation for sleep. This can lead to weight gain for some people.
~ Don’t purchase items that you know will tempt you to snack in the evenings. Once the goodies are in the house, all bets are off.
~ This nocturnal habit can leave you suffering from heartburn or indigestion, which will also make it difficult to fall asleep.
~ If you can’t control the urge to eat in the evenings, try a glass of milk or a banana. Why? Bananas and milk are two foods that contain the amino acid, tryptophan, which helps our bodies produce the sleep aid, serotonin.
~ Avoid stimulants like caffeinated beverages late in the day.
5. Stress
Many of us have experienced those negative thoughts that creep into our minds late at night when our defences are down, and our minds are idle.
During the day, there are many distractions around to occupy us, but at night it is just you and your thoughts. Nighttime seems to bring with it self doubt and recriminations that, usually, fade by morning.
~ Assign time during the day to make to-do lists and to brainstorm solutions to issues.
~ Try to limit your exposure to social media and news events before you go to sleep if they cause you anxiety.
6. Snoring
If loud snoring is an issue for you or your partner, seek medical advice regarding health concerns such as sleep apnea.
~ Learn about and use techniques to help you wind down at night, such as a warm bath, meditation, and breathing and relaxation exercises. The adage that counting sheep keeps your brain focused on one thing and helps you power down does have some truth to it.
~ Be kind; holding a pillow over a snorer's face is not being nice.
7. Exercise
Lack of adequate exercise affects every aspect of our lives, including sleep.
~ Try to get some form of exercise each day.
~ Exercise earlier in the day instead of right before bed.
8. Frequent Trips to the Bathroom
We have all laid in bed at night needing to go to the washroom, but feeling too tired to get up, hoping the feeling will go away.
~ Drink the majority of your necessary fluids earlier in the day.
~ If you need to get up and go to the washroom during the night, do it as soon as the urge wakes you instead of lying there thinking about it. The feeling is likely not going to go away.
9. Sleep Environment
Light, sound, temperature and screen time before bed can impact sleep quality.
~ Revamp your sleeping area to minimize light and noise by turning off or unplugging electronic devices.
~ Use a fan or white noise machine to keep unwanted sounds in the background.
~ Turn the thermostat down at night to avoid overheating.
~ Invest in blackout curtains or blinds to darken your bedroom at night, keep it cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
~ A motion sensor night light situated between your room and the bathroom is a good idea to prevent falls. After forty years of stumbling around in the dark, I finally got a night light for the hallway.
~ Maintain a schedule of going to sleep and waking up at the same time each day.
Other considerations;
Mental Clarity
Sleep deprivation can also adversely alter our memory, alertness and ability to concentrate.
~ If possible, if you are feeling extreme exhaustion, put off making major life decisions.
Physical Appearance
~ Simple things like adequate rest and hydration can go a long way towards maintaining a healthy physical appearance.
Immunity
Lack of rest can make us more susceptible to illness.
~ If we are sleep deprived, that is already a stressor on our immune system, thus lessening its capacity to fight off illness.
Self-care is often low on our list of priorities. Figuring out sleep issues can be difficult because it could be a combination of factors that keeps us awake.
Many products on the market claim to improve sleep, such as weighted blankets, specially designed pillows, snoring, and calming apps to listen to (I think that the guy with the silky, smooth voice in the relaxation recording is mocking me. Seriously, who do you know that sounds that calm?)
I admit to being one of those rebels who refuses to acknowledge that their bad habits contribute adversely to their sleep quality.
Maybe, like many other things, we overthink sleeping. Perhaps, we should simply go back to the way going to sleep and waking up were meant to be:
a) have a glass of milk before bed (this may include a stack of Dad’s Oatmeal Cookies - whoa, whoa, don’t judge me you know you have dipped too)
b) count fluffy sheep in our heads
c) when the alarm goes off, pitch it aggressively across the room (a little trickier now that we use our cell phone alarms)
Get up and greet the day!
This article is not intended as a replacement for medical advice; it is based on my personal experiences, learnings and observations.
Thank you for reading. Feel free to share this article.
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