Have you ever pleaded: just give me a good night’s sleep, Please!
The shades are drawn, your eyes are open, while the night quickly passed by, and your mind turns to the problem of insomnia! Yes, that dreaded time when we know that morning will soon come and we will face the day with the sleepiness, poor thoughts and emotional troubles. Not only that, but because we are bone tired and irritable, all things that normally irritate us become magnified.
We need to have our 7 or 8 hours of sleep to be rejuvenated mentally, emotionally and physically, keeping us young, alert, and balanced.
Sleep deprivation adds to the steady “drip, drip, drip” of those seemingly small daily stressors that tend to pile up and are even more detrimental to our health and well-being than the occasional larger stress producers.
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A few simple things you can do to get that restful sleep:
- Have sufficient and enjoyable aerobic exercise during the day, but not just before bedtime.
- Limit your intake of caffeine., It only takes about one and one half cups of coffee to raise your cortisol (stress hormone level) 30%, keeping you in a state of stress.
- Limit your alcohol consumption.
- Don’t watch anything exciting or controversial on TV before bedtime.
- Do not engage in a serious conversation right before you retire, this can lead to an argument and a sleepless night.
- It is best to not have a TV in the bedroom; this room is only for two purposes…sleep and sex.
- Instead of taking a sleeping pill, take one capsule of Melatonin at bedtime which can be purchased over the counter. It is a natural hormone produced by the brain’s penal gland that helps trigger sleep and increases during the hours of darkness.
- Dim the lights in the home toward bedtime; this helps the brain release melatonin, which makes you drowsy.
- Get up, stretch, read some in a boring book and start afresh if you are tossing and turning and have a snack of warm milk and peanut butter on a cracker.
Do you sleep with someone who snores?
Sleeping with someone who snores may keep you sleep deprived and feeling irritable and fatigued the next day. Snoring occurs when the extra soft tissue around the airway narrows causing interference with breathing. Having the person sleep on their side may help reduce the amount of airway collapse. Getting yourself a pair of earplugs can’t hurt! Try putting a few drops of the herb Marjoram, on the pillow.
A more serious cause of snoring is sleep apnea. This happens, when there is a severe restriction of the airway passage, leading to oxygen deprivation. The airway is restricted with, in some cases, breathing being reduced to half its normal rate. The person struggles to breath, and when they finally do so, the airway opens with a loud snort. Those with sleep apnea are never able to enter the REM sleep pattern, the deep restful sleep we all need. Obesity is known to be the most common factor in sleep apnea. Should sleep apnea be a problem, your doctor can diagnose and possibly prescribe a c-pap machine to help you get a good night’s sleep.