Insomnia 2
Insomnia No More! Tips on How to Get Some Rest.
If you are reading this in the middle of the night (fighting insomnia), hoping for tips to make your sleep sound, I’ve been there, and you’ve come to the right place.
There are three categories of sleep challenges. First, people that have difficulty falling asleep. Second, those that fall asleep and then wake up and can’t get back to that peaceful slumber. Third, people that experience the first and second.
Sleep for me is a non-negotiable. It’s the one thing in my schedule that I refuse to move, compromise or reschedule. Without a good nights rest, I am irritable, unproductive and feel like I am always on edge.
Sleep deprivation for me feels like my physical and emotional self is just teetering on the edge and the slightest thing can push me into a place where I feel defenseless, vulnerable and just plain exhausted.
Insomnia = Adrenaline Kick
Anyone that suffers from insomnia can relate to their body becoming increasingly sensitive to their environment. Without sleep or with only limited sleep, the body is often pushing itself into using a fight or flight response just to keep going the next day.
Our adrenals are responsible for flight and flight, as well as for our stress response – cortisol. When our adrenals support our body in one direction for most of the day, we often push ourselves into overdrive (especially when fatigued).
Achieving a more restful state can be difficult (and may even seem impossible) after running on high, and sometimes even draining the reserve of hormones to support us.
Our body’s hormones, which include adrenaline and cortisol, are made of the same ingredients as other hormones in the body – estrogen and testosterone, thyroid hormones as well as melatonin. It isn’t surprising that if we are using a lot of one hormone, that forming others may be sacrificed.
So whether it is a lack of sufficient melatonin lulling you to sleep, or adrenaline sparking you awake in the middle of the night, here are some strategies to help the body beat insomnia, and find some rest after a stressful day/week/month/life.
Tips for Improving Sleep
Create a Relaxing Bed Time Ritual.
This ritual is something that calms the body down, slows you down and relaxes you. Ideas may include: reading, an Epsom salt bath, or making a soothing tea. There are so many wonderful sleepy time teas featuring herbs such as Chamomile, Aveena (Oat), Valerian, Lavender, Ashwaganda, Passionflower and Kava Kava. These herbs work to stop the overdrive and start the nourishment of the body.
Add in More Melatonin.
If your body isn’t falling asleep easily, and you feel alert for hours after heading to bed, you may not have enough melatonin to start the sleep process naturally in the body. Melatonin comes in several forms from slow release tablets to liquid.
It’s an art to find the dose of melatonin that hits your sweet spot. My recommendation is always start low. Add in more melatonin if you find it isn’t working for you. If you wake up groggy the next day, then reduce the amount of melatonin you take the next night. Grogginess means it hasn’t quite worn off yet.
Reverse Your Body’s Overdrive System.
There is a yoga pose called Viparita Karani (legs up the wall), which is super easy and can help your body to find a sense of calm quickly. Simply lie near your bed in this relaxing pose and let gravity do its job. In fact, if you wake up a night, this is a great way to lull your body back to a dream state.
Stop Thinking.
Easy to say, harder to do. Have you ever notice that when you finally have a moment to turn off your brain, that it seems easy to fall asleep. I find this happens when I am watching TV, or lying in savasana in a yoga class.
Turning your mind off can be challenging but effective. Start by trying a simple 2 minute meditation – this can be done lying down, or sitting up. Try to clear your mind and simply focus on your breath. Every time a thought comes up, simply label it as a thought and send it packing. Meditating can also help bring your body some much-needed rest in advance of falling (back) asleep.
Darken Your Space.
Those funky yellow glasses that Bono often wears are designed to block the blue light out at night and help him to achieve a restful peaceful state much easier. Blue light actually stops our melatonin from flowing and can even give us a kick start.
Similarly, the sun peeping out in the morning can wake some people up. Make your room as dark as you can. This may involve turning off the technology, closing the blinds and/or wearing a mask to sleep. It may be harder to wake up when its dark, but its also easier to fall asleep.
Take a Technology Break.
Beyond the blue light our bodies can also feel the frequency of our electronics. Even if you use your phone or tablet as your alarm, simply shifting its charging space to an adjacent room can impact the quality of your sleep. Take an electronics free trial week and see how your sleep changes.
Tackle Your Adrenaline Wake-ups.
Stop the frustrating 2 – 4 am wake-ups, by connecting with a health professional that can give you some advice specific to your body. However, strategies such as supplements, nutrition, botanicals and/or acupuncture can help to nourish your body. They help to reset your internal alarm clock so that 2am isn’t your new start time.
Remember you don’t have to beat insomnia alone.
The Author, Christina Carew, is a naturopathic doctor who practices functional and strategic medicine.
As a medical investigator, she is in the business of changing people’s lives. Dr. Christina focuses on finding the biomedical reasons for symptoms that are often unique to each patient and helps her patients remove the obstacles that stand in the way of living a healthy vibrant life.
Want to know if her approach is right for you – sign up for a free 20-minute consult at https://healingme.ca/book-appointment-naturopathic-doctor/
Note: This blog provides general information and discussion about medicine, health and related subjects. The words and other content provided in this blog, and in any linked materials, are not intended and should not be construed as medical advice. If the reader or any other person has a medical concern, he or she should consult with an appropriately-licensed health care worker
Feeling Fatigued: 5 Reasons Why Feeling Flat Out Exhausted Isn’t Normal
Have you ever told your medical professional – I am so tired, I’m suffering from exhaustion? Was the reply ‘that’s normal for someone that is (insert new mother, working professional, commuter, etc)”.
If you find yourself dragging yourself out of bed? Using coffee or caffeine drinks to keep you going? Or wanting to take a nap under your desk mid-afternoon? This is not normal.
Exhaustion isn’t Normal
Fatigue is one of the medical conditions that is non-specific to any particular condition. Because it isn’t a clear cue, it is often pushed aside. This takes work to find out why you are tired. And your reason, may be different then why the person at the desk beside you is holding their eyelids open with toothpicks.
Some of the usual culprits that are blamed include:
- Working too much
- Too much stress
- Poor eating habits (content or frequency)
- Iron Deficiency or Anemia
- Low vitamin D
- Lacking enough vitamin B12
All of these will definitely impact your body fatigue levels. But there are also a list of other reasons that are often never considered. This blog gives you a snapshot of five other common possibilities.
Reason #1: Hydration
This isn’t just about drinking water, although that is super important, but are you actually missing the electrolytes in your body that keep things going. Mineral electrolytes such as potassium and magnesium support endurance and energy levels throughout the day.
Before you go reaching for a sports drink – keep in mind that these drinks are filled with sugar, which can actually cause you to crash further. Click here for a homemade electrolyte drink you can make ahead and take with you to the office.
Want to know more about water hydration and fatigue click here.
Reason #2: Low ATP
You may remember ATP from high school science class. The most important thing to remember – it is the fuel that is responsible for energy in the body. It’s like running a car with an empty gas tank. It certainly isn’t going to perform to expectations, and may actually crawl to a slow stop along your journey.
Your body makes ATP through some complicated cycles in the body. Most of which involve adding and removing nutrients. If you are lacking in these nutrients the cycle will just stop.
Feel like you’ve hit a wall? This may be that your ATP production is slowed right down, and your body is yelling at you to stop.
Reason #3: Toxicity
When you look out the window of your condo or car you may see a thin layer of dirt covering it. It seems like everything is clear. But the second the window is washed its like a whole new world is displayed bright and full of life.
Toxicity in the body is sort of like that dirty window. When it creeps into your life slowly you sometimes don’t notice it is there, but as soon as it is gone it’s like a whole new body.
We get exposed to all kinds of toxicity. Some people are genetically predisposed to absorb more, and some people just don’t detoxify well. Toxicity can be in the form of car pollution such as from sitting in the endless traffic. It comes from airplane travel overhead, living close to a highway or busy street. Perhaps you are living in or near a construction site, drink water from old pipes, live or work in an older building. Living near a golf course or park that is sprayed with pesticides can contribute to toxin exposure.
We can’t avoid toxin exposure in the 21st century, but we can make sure to clean our windows regularly, ensuring that it doesn’t build up.
Reason #4: Adrenals
Maybe you’ve heard about adrenal fatigue or adrenal exhaustion. Your adrenal glands are small (the size of walnuts) and sit on top of your kidneys. They are responsible for your ability to fight or flee a situation. They also regulate our ability to deal with stress. The more stress, the more these little walnuts are squeezing out hormones to help our body deal with the threats. Threats can be physical or mental.
Just like anything you use over and over again, without refilling these precious gems, they run out of steam. When you adrenals are low, your energy is low. You probably will also notice a few other things happening in your body.
Some of the common symptoms of adrenal exhaustion include: weight gain around the middle, adult onset acne, hair falling out more quickly then usual, inability to feel energized in the morning.
Want to know if your adrenals may be the culprit, click here.
Reason #5: Sleep
You’ve probably read all about the need for dark spaces, no electronics and appropriate levels of sleep. But it doesn’t always fit everyone’s lifestyle. Need to know more about sleep check out our insomnia blog here.
Sleep is not as linear as we hoped. For some of us creative time is at night. Others have children or work nights. Whatever your challenge may be, there are always ways to help you get better quality sleep.
Research actually tells us that it isn’t about the number of hours you get, but about the quality of sleep you get in those hours. That is why some people seem to soar on little sleep, and others feel like they are moving mountains when their sleep gets cut short.
One of the contributors to better quality sleep are neurotransmitters – these are the hormones in our brain that help us to calm our brain and fall into deep sleep.
Ready to Reclaim Your Health!
Need to figure out if you are burned out? Check out our burnout scale and find out…
The Author, Christina Carew, is a naturopathic doctor who practices strategic medicine in Toronto.
As a medical investigator she focuses on finding the biomedical reasons for symptoms that are often unique to each patient.
She helps her patients remove the obstacles that stand in the way of living a healthy vibrant life. Christina focuses on empowering patients to make informed decisions on their health journey.
Note: This blog provides general information and discussion about medicine, health and related subjects. The words and other content provided in this blog, and in any linked materials, are not intended and should not be construed as medical advice. If the reader or any other person has a medical concern, he or she should consult with an appropriately-licensed health care worker.