With Dr. Nerina Ramlakhan

Dr. Nerina Ramlakhan is Silentnight’s sleep and wellbeing expert

Bugging me

I’ve had the same mattress for over 20 years. Is there really any point in changing it? Jean, Cheltenham

Even if your mattress is showing no wear and tear, I’d recommend changing it every seven to ten years. The average mattress contains 10,000 house dust mites, resulting in more than 2 million droppings, so it’s definitely worth changing yours on a more regular basis.

Wakey wakey

At night I’m utterly exhausted but the moment I get into bed, I’m wide awake. What can I do? Clara, Manchester

It sounds like you’re over-tired and overstimulated. If you enjoy tea and coffee, it’s important to be aware of the ‘half life’ of caffeine, which is five hours. This means if you have a drink at 5pm you will still have half that amount of caffeine in your blood supply by 10pm. This is enough to leave you feeling wide awake and unable to sleep at bed time.

Snore-ful

My husband’s snoring is so loud it’s really disrupting my sleep. What can I try? Trisha, Margate

Can you try having a fan or some form of white noise in the room? This might help to act as a noise buffer. I’d also recommend getting the biggest bed you can fit into your room, putting as much space between you both as possible. Ear plugs help some people and there are some more comfortable ones on the market. Finally, if all fails there may be a case for lovingly negotiating separate sleep spaces from time to time. www.silentnight.co.uk