Get a good sleep!
Last month I alluded to writing about sleep tips from pharmacists. Some ideas did come to me in a dream. As I mentioned in my previous article, sleep is very important. More than just to combat drowsiness, sleep helps reduce stress, boosts the immune system, reduces inflammation and helps establish long term memories. Hopefully, you have not heard these tips before.
We have all heard the suggestions to avoid cell phones, electronic tablets and watching TV before bed. Perhaps you have never heard the reason why. The main reason is to reduce the amount of light that reaches your eyes.
Before the invention of indoor lighting, we got up, opened the windows and experienced real sunlight. This told our bodies it was time to get up and make energy hormones to start the day. In the evening, sunlight went away and our body started producing sleep hormones. Melatonin is the hormone associated with starting your sleep cycle routine. However, there is some evidence that exposure to bright lights in the evening can prevent your body from making melatonin. So put your phone to bed about an hour before you put yourself to bed.
The next thing is to avoid stress before bed. “Yah, right,” you say. The simplest thing you can do to avoid stress before bed is don’t watch the news and have a paper and pen beside your bed. The evening newscast is mostly bad news anyway: accidents, conflicts, politics and sad stories. Odds are it might not directly affect you, but hearing about it can adversely affect your mood.
As above, your don’t want to be staring at a bright light source before bed. What about the pen and paper? They are to write down your thoughts. Journaling can be very therapeutic — if nothing else — it is a good place to keep track of important items for the next day. That way you won’t worry about forgetting them.
If you have difficulty sleeping, what about daytime naps? Daytime naps are a great idea. A lot of high tech companies are building sleep rooms in their offices. Generally, tech companies know how to improve productivity of their workers. Nap breaks can definitely regenerate you during the day. The challenge is getting enough sleep, but not too much. The magic time seems to be about 30 minutes. Anything longer and your body can slip into deeper REM sleep, and can be hard to fully wake from. It can also prevent you from falling asleep at night, which can interrupt your sleep cycle.
Medications for sleeping can be helpful for some. It is true that over the counter medications for nausea (dimenhydrinate) and allergies
(diphenhydramine) can help with sleep. However, if taken on a regular basis, they can lose their effectiveness and you might need higher doses to have the same affect. Check with your pharmacist to see if these medications are right for you.
For ongoing sleep issues, I usually recommend taking a 1 to 3 mg melatonin supplement. You might need to take melatonin for a few nights for it to help improve your sleep patterns. Patients also find that the amino acid,
L-Theanine can be help for sleeping. L-Theanine is found in tea, and has been shown to be mildly sedating. Doses of 200 to 400 mg before bed are recommended.
This is not an exhaustive list of ways to help improve your sleep patterns. If you do have difficulty sleeping, check in your family physician. This way, you can rule out medication issues for sleeplessness, such as sleep apnea or thyroid disorders.
Whatever your plan is, have one and stick to it. If nothing else, set a regular time to get up and fall asleep — even on the weekends. Your body likes predictable routines.