"Getting a good night's sleep
Our sleeping patterns naturally change as we get older, so it’s not unusual to have trouble sleeping. This means that many of us can struggle to get to sleep or stay asleep, leaving us tired and grumpy the following day.
Chronic sleep problems should not be regarded as either an inevitable, or a normal part of the ageing process.
How much sleep do I need each night?
Everyone needs different amounts of sleep, but on average, adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep. We need the same amount of sleep as we get older, but we are less able to stay asleep as we age.
What is insomnia?
Most of us have trouble sleeping from time to time, especially if we're feeling stressed or anxious. However, if you frequently feel tired throughout the day, a lack of sleep could be a problem.
The main symptoms of insomnia are
difficulty falling asleep
waking up in the night
waking up early in the morning
feeling tired, irritable and having trouble concentrating during the day.
Insomnia is more common in women than men, and tends to increase with age.
It can also be triggered by a stressful event, anxiety, health problems and some medications.
How can insomnia affect me?
While the occasional bad night’s sleep is unlikely to affect you too much, insomnia can have a huge impact on your daily life.
Lack of sleep is associated with poor performance at work and it can affect your mood, causing problems within your relationships. Poor sleep can also affect your appetite, making you more likely to crave unhealthy foods and gain weight.
Regular poor sleep can lead to a higher risk of some health conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes. It can also affect your mental wellbeing, causing conditions such as depression and anxiety.
Sleep deprivation can lead to accidents and injuries and can also affect memory, because sleep cycles give your brain a chance to consolidate memories.
For all these reasons, it’s important to talk to your Doctor/Medical team if you’re not getting the sleep you need.
Top tips for sleeping well
Experts agree that practising good 'sleep hygiene' can make an important contribution to getting a good night’s sleep. This is just another way of saying that you need to get into good habits:
waking up in the night
waking up early in the morning
feeling tired, irritable and having trouble concentrating during the day.
Insomnia is more common in women than men, and tends to increase with age.
It can also be triggered by a stressful event, anxiety, health problems and some medications.
How can insomnia affect me?
While the occasional bad night’s sleep is unlikely to affect you too much, insomnia can have a huge impact on your daily life.
Lack of sleep is associated with poor performance at work and it can affect your mood, causing problems within your relationships. Poor sleep can also affect your appetite, making you more likely to crave unhealthy foods and gain weight.
Regular poor sleep can lead to a higher risk of some health conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes. It can also affect your mental wellbeing, causing conditions such as depression and anxiety.
Sleep deprivation can lead to accidents and injuries and can also affect memory, because sleep cycles give your brain a chance to consolidate memories.
For all these reasons, it’s important to talk to your Doctor/Medical team if you’re not getting the sleep you need.
Top tips for sleeping well
Experts agree that practising good 'sleep hygiene' can make an important contribution to getting a good night’s sleep. This is just another way of saying that you need to get into good habits:
- Go to bed and get up at the same time every day.
- Avoid lying in.
- Establish a bedtime routine – relax by reading a book or having a bath.
- Make sure that your bed and bedding are comfortable.
- Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol in the evening.
- Don’t eat a heavy meal late at night.
- Avoid exercise in the evening.
- Keep your bedroom cool and dark – the ideal bedroom temperature is 18°C.
- Ban TV and computers from the bedroom – the bright light can make you more awake.
- Try to avoid napping during the day. If you do enjoy a daytime nap, schedule this for roughly the same time each day.
If you tend to wake up in the night and struggle to get back to sleep
After 15-20 minutes, get up and go into another room. Avoid doing anything too involved, such as work or housework, and resist the temptation to turn on the television.
Instead, try reading or listening to the radio. Try going back to bed 20-30 minutes later and, if you still have difficulties in getting to sleep or staying asleep try and do the same thing again.
Where can I get help for sleeping problems?
If your sleeping problems last for more than a month and self-help measures don’t seem to be working, it’s a good idea to see your doctor."
Words taken from article here
Dear reader, within this blog you will find a variety of articles, studies, thoughts, music and recipes! It is presented in a magazine style - we hope something for everyone. Our main focus is about the Low Carb Higher (Healthy) Fat lifestyle, LCHF for short, and you can read/find out more about that here
All the best Jan
27 comments:
This is very useful for me, as I have spent the last four months sleeping in an armchair due to a back injury. I also have severe issues with sleep inasmuch as I go to sleep at the drop of a hat due to medication. However, my medical team don't seem to be interested at all in the impact it is having on my life in general, so I bookmark this article and keep it for future reference, Thank you.
...some nights it is hard to fall asleep.
Gracias por los consejos. Te mando un beso.
Great tips
A timely post, if only it were that simple! i wake up every morning at 4am on my sons early shifts hearing him walking about as he gets ready for going to work and can never get back to sleep which puts my day, starting with work on most of my own shifts at 8am, all out of order! I fall asleep in the early evenings as soon as I sit down! Betty (Elderberry-rob)
Interesting read Jan, and I think how lucky I am at my age to fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow and not having to get up during the night even though I've had a cup of tea sometimes before I do to bed and a late dinner...oh well, hopefully I will continue to sleep well.
"Avoid lying in." I agree. Avoid lying anywhere. Lying is wrong.
I also agree about not drinking coffee. It is not everyone's cup of tea.
Great post, Jan. As usual.
God bless.
I love your tips for better sleep quality here. Thanks!
Thank you. Sleep is a struggle for me, for a variety of reasons.
Thanks Jan! Helpful!
hugs
Donna
Yes, sleep is so important! It's more difficult for me to sleep in summer. The 'ideal' bedroom temperature they mention in the article is too warm for me and caffeine doesn't bother me at all--more of an issue for me is my natural night owl tendencies. More than the amount of sleep I get, the timing of the sleep affects me. Sleep is fascinating.
Gostei muito das dicas e delas precisamos sempre!
beijos, lindo fds! chica
Have a nice weekend ! Greetings Caroline
Great post and information.
There are times I feel like I need to be knocked out to be able to sleep.
Take care, enjoy your weekend.
Excellent post
Interesting ... I used to sleep at 11pm and wake up at 5am and go to work at 6am ... now that I am retired I sleep at 1.30am and get up at 7.30am ... so I always got 6 hours of sleep and somedays I get a nap in the evening 🙂
That was very interesting and that's how I've been doing it since I got my illness, every point of it. That's how I stay too and woe betide me if I postpone something the period then I'm not feeling well anymore!
happy weekend,Elke
I rarely have trouble getting to sleep. I have learned not to have any caffeine after 3 o’clock in the afternoon.
Great tips!
Muy interesante tu reportaje de hoy. Besos.
Very informative post about sleep ~
Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Now it's too hot here. Sometimes the temperature rises up to 38℃. Without turning on the air conditioner, we can't sleep well. I am waiting for arrival of cooler days.
Luckily I sleep pretty good, just some nights have troubles, usually if I get up though, I wake myself up too much
Since I moved to Wichita, I no longer have a sleep pattern. Just like eating, I sleep when I'm tired and eat when I'm hungry. I have NEVER had more than 5 hours sleep a night.
Kay of Musings: My husband and I use a Fitbit to check on our sleep. The weird thing is he always gets more than 8 hours of sleep, but it gives him a 65% to 79% score on quality. I get 6-7 hours of sleep and usually get 89% or more. It’s really weird.
I tend to get seven or eight hours, and notice more bad nights in the summer when it's hot.
I pretty much do most of those things -- and apart from my coughing and sometimes hip/back pain that keeps me awake or wakes me up, I sleep like a baby!
Post a Comment