Sleep Problems – Routines That Beat Insomnia
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Sleep Problems – Routines That Beat Insomnia
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Loss Of Routine can be one of the biggest causes of Insomnia is having your routines change and then not bringing that routine back into line. Returning from a long international flight, passing through customs, finding a taxi to get home, you finally arrive exhausted. But the chances are it’s only morning or early afternoon. So you fall asleep only to wake at 2am, wide awake. It can take days to re-correct this pattern, or it can be the beginning of a chronic sleep disorder.
For reasons unknown you have a few restless nights, you are awake at midnight, and don’t fall asleep until 2am. You have to be up early and you now find yourself needing a sleep mid afternoon. You sleep for a couple of hours, but now you are not sleepy at your regular bedtime, and so the cycle repeats.
This second scenario is common with health problems such as depression and chronic pain. You wait until your pain meds kick in then go to bed. But all too often when the meds start to wear off, not only does the pain return, but a more disturbed sleep returns. This is a common experience with codeine medications.
Shift workers
Anyone who works irregular hours or has shift changes has a difficult time of it. Your only solution is to have strict routines. Don’t be sucked into socializing with people who don’t share your hours. Heavy dark curtains, air-conditioning, sound proofing, making agreements with others who share your space to contain noise. All of these are critical but of course not easy.
Breaking the poor sleep routines.
Tough love for yourself. If you have a bad night then do not nap during the day. Fight the urge to sleep during the day. Go for a walk, do anything to avoid dozing off.
If your sleep patterns are really bad and you are sleeping three or four hours during the day. You will not be able to solve it all at once. Break down your day sleep by 30 minutes per day. Set an alarm and get up when it goes off. Over days you will sleep less and become increasingly tired in the evening.
Respect your cycles
As you reduce the day time naps, you will become tired in the evening. If your sleep cycle hits you at 8pm, don’t ignore it , just go to bed. If you miss that cycle it could be hours until the next. There are natural differences between morning and night people, but we are still only talking about two to three hours difference. Even the night owl has to function the next morning.
If you wake up and stay in bed reading, during the day knowing that you are likely to doze off again, you are just setting yourself up for an ongoing problem. This might be OK on your day off, but remember that you still need to get to sleep that night.
Don’t push through
Avoid working all night to finish an assignment or project or your tax or whatever. This didn’t just suddenly appear. The only reason you are doing it is because you weren’t organized enough beforehand. My wife does this occasionally; I think it’s a hangover from working ridiculous hours in the hospital system as a doctor. But she pays a price for it. Just because you could stay up all night as a student or intern doesn’t mean that you can do it at 40 or even 30!
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