Sleep Loss. Twenty-five Simple Ideas To Help You Get The Shuteye You Need
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This article is from the Health Articles series.
Sleep Loss. Twenty-five Simple Ideas To Help You Get The Shuteye You Need
There's little worse than a sleepless night-all that tossing, turning, and fretting that leaves you listless the next day. You need sleep to restore your mental and physical capacities, and a lack of shuteye not only makes you feel sluggish, it can also affect your health. In fact, sleeplessness (also known as insomnia) boosts risks of heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, lung problems, confusion, short attention span, hyperactivity, irritability, depression, impotence, traffic accidents, and on-the-job injuries.
If you count sheep without success, you're in good company. According to a recent poll by the National Sleep Foundation, 67 percent of American adults have a sleeping problem. And 37 percent are so sleepy during the day that it interferes with day-to-day activities.
What's the problem? For one thing, those of us in the United States are spending more time working and commuting to the office, which is cutting into sleep time. In fact, in the past 100 years, we've reduced the amount of sleep we get by 20 percent. Many other factors can also cause insomnia: medical conditions, such as sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome; menopause, which can cause nighttime hot flashes; depression; anxiety; and just plain bad sleep habits.
How can you tell if you're getting enough quality sleep? Research shows that most adults need a full eight hours, so if you're not getting that much, you're probably racking up a hefty sleep debt. A strong sign of insufficient sleep: Trouble staying alert during dull or routine situations (like driving home from the office or sitting through a boring work meeting).
In many cases, to catch up on your ZZZs all you need to do is:
- Alter habits that mix up your internal body clock. Don't turn in at irregular hours, nap more than an hour a day, or drink tea, coffee, cola, cocoa, or other stimulants before bed.
- Use your bed and bedroom primarily for sleeping-not for watching TV.
- Go to bed only when you're sleepy. n If you can't fall asleep, don't spend a lot of time in bed lying awake. Instead, get up until you feel sleepy again; then go back to bed.
- Exercise regularly, but finish your workout at least three hours before bed.
- Use relaxation tapes or other techniques to reduce stress, which keeps your mind racing long after your body conks out. Or, put together a relax- before-bed routine that includes quiet, soothing activities, such as a warm bath.
- Drink less alcohol. It may cause you to fall asleep more quickly, but it also makes you more restless later in the night.
- Check your medicines. Some can affect sleep. If you suspect a medication is keeping you awake, ask your doctor for another option. But don't just stop taking the medicine.
- Treat existing problems. Painful arthritis, lung or heart disease, nerve disorders, urinary tract infections, an enlarged prostate, or a blockage in the breathing passages may waken you regularly during the night.
- If household noises tend to jar you awake, consider a "white noise" machine that emits pleasant sounds, such as rain or waves washing ashore, to mask the other sounds.
Although insomnia is not a disease, if lifestyle changes do not work, you may want to try a sleep-promoting medication.
- Over-the-counter (OTC) sleep aids, such as Compoz and Sominex, generally contain antihistamines, which produce drowsiness. These drugs often cause side effects such as next-day grogginess.
How you take them: As directed on product labeling, usually within 30 minutes of bedtime and for no longer than seven to ten days.
- Prescription sleep aids slow the central nervous system, which reduces the time it takes to fall asleep. These generally fall into two classes: benzodiazepines and imidazopyridines, a newer class of drug with fewer side effects (such as daytime drowsiness). Currently, the sole drug in this class is zolpidem (Ambien), which produces a kind of sleep that is similar to normal sleep patterns.
How you take them: Only as directed by your doctor, generally shortly before going to bed and usually for no longer than 10 days. Never increase the dose without your doctor's explicit instructions. It's also best to take these medicines when your schedule permits you to sleep seven to eight hours. Other- wise, you may feel groggy and confused when you wake up because the effects will not have had time to wear off.
Send Jet Lag Flying!
Traveling to a new time zone can knock the body's natural biological clock out of whack. The result: Slow adjustment to the new time, tiredness for several days, and a desire to sleep during the day. If you're taking an airplane flight and want to minimize jet lag, the National Sleep Foundation recommends:
- Getting up and going to bed earlier for several days before a trip East and doing the opposite for a trip West.
- Packing earplugs and blindfolds to help you block out noise and light while you're trying to sleep.
- Changing your watch to the new time zone when you get on the plane.
- Staying up until 10 p.m. local time on arrival.
- Avoiding both alcohol and caffeine three or four hours before bedtime.
- Eating light meals when you arrive.
- Skipping vigorous exercise near bedtime.
- Spending time outdoors; daylight can help reset your biological clock.
The Skinny on Snoring
Men who snore habitually run a 50 percent higher risk of high blood pressure, a 70 to 100 percent higher risk of ischemic heart disease-a condition in which insufficient oxygen is delivered to the heart-and a 40 percent higher risk of stroke. Women who snore heavily triple their risk of high blood pressure and have a 20 percent higher risk of heart disease. To overcome snoring:
- Treat your allergies or any chronic nasal congestion.
- Cut out alcoholic nightcaps and quit smoking-it can inflame nasal airways.
- Lose weight (if appropriate) to reduce fatty blockages in the nose and throat.
- Elevate the top of your bed by putting bricks under the legs.
- Avoid sleeping on your back, which lets the tongue obstruct the throat. Some people sew a tennis ball to the back of their pajamas so they cannot lie on their backs.
- To open airways, try wearing nasal strips across your nose while you sleep.
- For severe cases, talk with your doctor about having a sleep study evaluation.
Smart Use of Sleep Aids
- Start with the lowest dose possible.
- Ask your doctor or pharmacist if a specific medication may cause daytime drowsiness. Drugs that do, such as flurazepam (Dalmane), should be avoided by older adults, to prevent accidents and falls.
- Ask your doctor or pharmacist before combining a sleep aid with other prescription or nonprescription drugs, especially other sleep aids, narcotics, antidepressants, anti- anxiety drugs, or antipsychotic medications.
- Don't drink alcohol while taking sleep medications.
Possible Drug Interactions
Drugs or foods that may interact with, decrease, or increase the effects of the medication you're taking: All central nervous system depressants (CNSDs) add to the effects of alcohol, as well as adding to the effects of other CNSDs used to treat allergies, colds, pain, or seizures. Do not take prescription sleep aids with other sleep aids, tricyclic antidepressants, or antihistamines unless instructed by a doctor.
For more information, contact the National Sleep Foundation at 729 Fifteenth Street N.W., Fourth Floor, Washington, D.C. 20005 or log on to www.sleepfoundation.org. Or contact the American Sleep Disorders Association at 1610 14th Street N.W., Suite 300, Rochester, MN 55901 or log on to www.asda.org.
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