![]() Your doctor can determine if something more severe than just a love of caffeine is causing this, what steps you should take next, and how you can help safely manage this long term. There are sleep studies you can do in which your sleep patterns can be monitored and analyzed. If you’re at the point where you’ve tried all the common ways to manage your insomnia and you’re still struggling, you should bring your sleep journal with you to your doctor and have a long talk. So, no, you’re not a weirdo for flipping the pillow over to the cool side. You may also want to try exercising according to the National Sleep Foundation, it’s been shown that exercise “significantly increases the sleep of people with chronic insomnia.” You can also try regulating the temperature in your bedroom-around 65 degrees is thought to be the ideal temperature for sleeping. Maintaining a regular, set sleep schedule has also helped me (it was a bit rough the first several days, but the payoff was worth it). I've tried most of these myself, with promising results.īecause insomnia can be caused by a variety of factors, you might need to try out all kinds of solutions, including little changes and some bigger ones before you figure out what works best for you.įor example, you can try keeping a sleep journal-my sleep journal was a lot of “the cat is a jerk and my phone is ringing too much,” but it was helpful for figuring out triggers-or wearing a device that tracks sleep to see what habits occur concurrently with insomnia to find patterns. There are also plenty of nonmedication options. If you are experiencing high levels of stress, or think you may be depressed, these are important factors to relay during your office visit. The bottom line is that if you’re experiencing sleepless nights or sleep disturbances, you should check with your primary care doctor, who will help you figure out what’s going on, suggest next steps, and, as noted, may refer you to a sleep specialist. Although over-the-counter sleep aids can typically be taken safely short-term, they all have contraindications and drug interactions (if you are taking other medications make sure you consult your physician before starting a sleeping aid), shouldn’t be used if you plan to drink, and generally shouldn’t be relied on for sleep every night. Melatonin is a naturally occurring sleep hormone, diphenhydramine and doxylamine are both antihistamines, and valerian is a plant. Common over-the-counter sleeping medications have one of four ingredients: melatonin, diphenhydramine, doxylamine, or valerian. That goes for any medication that helps you sleep, not just the ones prescribed by your doctor. Sleeping pills often carry some risk of dependency, so if you’re just having a bit of trouble sleeping for a night or two, it’s best to see if it will pass with other adjustments to your sleep routine before reaching for meds. ![]() They’re also not recommended for long-term use. According to the Mayo Clinic, sleep meds should be used under a doctor’s supervision at the recommended dose and only after other attempts to abate the insomnia have failed. There is a place for sleeping meds for some types of sleep disturbances, but they should be used judiciously and should not be considered a magic cure. ![]() In short, a relationship between a racing mind and sleepless nights is pretty clear. (Recent studies suggest that insomniacs may exhibit cognitive “stress dysregulation,” meaning their brains have issues effectively regulating stress). So there’s a good chance you’re not imagining that you sleep like crap when you’re stressed out, and vice versa, no matter which one is causing the other. It’s all a vicious cycle: Being stressed out can make it tough to get good quality sleep, and the less sleep you get, the more stressed you feel. There seems to be a connection between insomnia and elevated levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. According to research, chronic insomnia can take a toll on everything from your cognition (we’re talking difficulty concentrating, focusing, and remembering things) to your physical health (there seems to be a relationship between poor sleep and hypertension, for example), and emotional health (insomnia is a risk factor for anxiety and depression, and can also exacerbate those conditions if preexisting).
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