Everyone occasionally has a sleepless night, but the holiday season can make those more frequent. Planning for parties, selecting menus, decorating, worrying about overspending and finding the right gifts can affect our sleep simply because it is hard to “turn our minds off”. If we don’t get adequate rest, our immune system can weaken making it easier to contract a cold or the flu.
This type of insomnia may be considered acute or situational, but many people suffer with insomnia chronically. Insomnia is defined as difficulty falling or staying asleep resulting in lack of restorative sleep. This can lead to symptoms of fatigue, difficulty concentrating, mood disturbances and daytime sleepiness. Sleep onset should be within thirty minutes. Getting up more than once a night to urinate is abnormal unless fluids have been consumed up until or near bedtime or medication has been taken that causes frequent urination.
The average adult needs six to eight hours of restful sleep. There are many things that can interfere with sleep based on lifestyle choices. Some of those include eating too late at night, drinking too much alcohol or other fluids in the evening, taking decongestants or use of any form of nicotine.
Overeating or eating too late at night can cause one to wake up with heartburn caused by reflux. While alcohol can initially cause relaxation and drowsiness, it reduces the deep sleep that is restorative. Sodas, tea, coffee, and chocolate all contain caffeine, a stimulant that can cause insomnia. Since decongestants and nicotine are also stimulants like caffeine, their avoidance late in the day can also help foster better sleep.
Avoid using your bedroom for anything other than sleep or sex. Watch television, read, work on the computer and do all other potentially sleep disturbing activities in another room. Avoid placing a clock in a location easily seen during the night. This way you won’t be checking the time frequently if you can’t sleep. Just set your alarm and then you won’t have to worry about not waking up. A warm bath, tranquil music, or meditation can help. Avoid going to bed until you feel sleepy.
For many, changing one or more of these lifestyle habits can result in improved sleep. If these don’t work, your physician or primary care provider should be consulted. If another cause of insomnia such as depression, anxiety, hormonal imbalance, sleep apnea or restless legs is found, the appropriate treatment can be instituted and sleep can be restored.