Sleep, does anyone ever get enough? Most of us can relate to waking up in the morning when the alarm goes off and hitting the snooze button at least once and then finally dragging your tired body out of bed and hitting the shower before you actually feel awake. But what do you if the problem persists? What if you find yourself even more exhausted in the morning than you were when you went to bed the night before?
Sadly, in this day and age, sleep is the thing that seems to suffer the most, despite being so important to our normal health and well being. Tests show that even after a week of poor sleep, our bodies tend to show accelerated signs of aging!
Things like motherhood, stress, poor diets, poor sleeping conditions, and a myriad of other obstacles are interrupting the sleep of most adults world wide.
First, you need to take stock of your life and its stresses to discover what the problems may be. Is this lack of sleep temporary (are you a new mother or changing work shifts, for instance)? If so, then your sleep issues will possibly be more short term than someone that suffers from sleep apnea or insomnia.
If your problem persists, the best idea is to seek medical help. The doctor can evaluate your sleep patterns, then see if anything can be done to alleviate your issues (i.e., depression) or send you to a specialist if there are further problems. My doctor sent me to a sleep specialist and I spent the night at the sleep clinic which proved that I had a minor case of sleep apnea. For me, my spouse is partially the source of my sleep problems. Addtionally, I don’t get the kind of deep, restorative sleep that is needed for me to be well rested.
Are drugs the answer? Not always. They can be addictive and end up doing more harm than good in many cases. So what can you do to get a good night sleep? When should you see the doctor? What can be done to alleviate stresses in your life?
I take herbal sleep supplements (talk to an herbalist or your family physician). These do help to a certain extent but I suppose that there is only so much they can do. So for me, I will keep searching for that elusive restful nights sleep.
Article comments
1 - Nancy
Getting a medical checkout is the best place to start: many, many sleep deprivation problems begin w/not-so-obvious medical conditions like apnea, restless leg syndrome, or even thyroid deficiency, or all of the above if you're really unlucky. Food & the time of evening it's ingested can also affect sleep, as can exercise. Sometimes all that's needed is a routine: like Pavlov's dogs, conditioning oneself to sleep when hearing a certain piece of music is a very good one, provided it isn't the 1812 overture or Peer Gynt. Gregorian chant is very effective, for me, as well as a good deal of new age music. Reading is not recommended: at least on my part, reading in bed usually results in my getting 'hooked' and staying up half the night to finish what I started, unless it's a killer like one of Trollope's novels which could anesthetize Godzilla on a rampage w/the first page....