{"id":152288,"date":"2024-03-05T14:33:36","date_gmt":"2024-03-05T19:33:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/archives\/152288"},"modified":"2024-03-05T14:33:36","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T19:33:36","slug":"how-to-stop-waking-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-6-ways-to-beat-insomnia-without-medication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/archives\/152288","title":{"rendered":"How to Stop Waking Up in the Middle of the Night- 6 Ways to Beat Insomnia Without Medication"},"content":{"rendered":"
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yFVKPcdortE<\/div>Terminal insomnia, also known as sleep\u00a0 maintenance insomnia, aka early morning waking,\u00a0\u00a0 aka “I wake up at 3 a.m and I can’t get back to\u00a0 sleep and it’s driving me crazy!” This is a pretty\u00a0\u00a0 common experience for many people. Now, first\u00a0 off, it is called terminal insomnia not because\u00a0\u00a0 it causes you to die but because it happens at the\u00a0 end of your night. So many people experience this.\u00a0\u00a0 Maybe your mind starts racing; maybe you worry\u00a0 about everything you need to do, or not; or maybe\u00a0\u00a0 you just can’t fall back to sleep – at least not\u00a0 until it’s almost time to get up, and then you’re\u00a0\u00a0 tired and cranky and you don’t function as well\u00a0 as you’d like. But then the real problem with\u00a0\u00a0 this terminal insomnia is that the next night when\u00a0 it starts happening over and over and over again,\u00a0\u00a0 and then you’re just so tired, and then you start\u00a0 to get stressed out and angry about your inability\u00a0\u00a0 to sleep, and that makes things worse because\u00a0 when you wake up and you see that it’s 3am,\u00a0\u00a0 you get mad, and that makes it even harder to\u00a0 sleep. As the researchers say, this is common but\u00a0\u00a0 aggravating. Dude, it is the worst. So if you’re\u00a0 here, you’re probably desperate for sleep,\u00a0\u00a0 you haven’t slept well for a long time,\u00a0 you’re cranky, irritable, depressed.\u00a0\u00a0 I feel you. I have struggled with insomnia off\u00a0 and on. And I come by it honestly: my dad is\u00a0\u00a0 almost always up from 2-4 am, and so is one of\u00a0 my babies. There is a genetic aspect to this.\u00a0\u00a0 And this early morning waking is also closely\u00a0 linked to depression, both as a cause of\u00a0\u00a0 depression and as a symptom of depression.\u00a0 But don’t worry your little head; there’s\u00a0\u00a0 also a lot you can do about it. In this video I’m\u00a0 going to share with you my bag of tricks – six\u00a0\u00a0 non-medication strategies you can use to get\u00a0 better at sleeping through the night. And at\u00a0\u00a0 the end of the video I’ll tell you about a great\u00a0 YouTube video that helps me fall back asleep.00:02:02<\/a> Hey everyone, don’t forget, we’re doing a\u00a0 giveaway of three therapy lamps from Carex. Now,\u00a0\u00a0 each of these is worth about $150. And research\u00a0 shows that light therapy is very effective\u00a0\u00a0 at treating seasonal affective disorder and\u00a0 regular non-seasonal depression. So check out\u00a0\u00a0 my Instagram page to learn more. Oh, by the way, I\u00a0 do have an Instagram page. Right. I put up quotes,\u00a0\u00a0 polls, video summaries, and the occasional dancing\u00a0 baby. So go follow me there too. Okay. Back to\u00a0\u00a0 the video. Okay. Let’s talk about six causes of\u00a0 maintenance insomnia and what you can do about\u00a0\u00a0 it. But first, let’s do a quick overview of the\u00a0 sleep cycle. The average adult needs between seven\u00a0\u00a0 and nine hours of sleep, and your sleep rotates\u00a0 through a couple of different cycles: light sleep,\u00a0\u00a0 deep sleep, and REM sleep (when you dream).\u00a0 Now, most of your deep sleep happens early in\u00a0\u00a0 the night, and your lighter sleep and REM sleep\u00a0 happens closer to morning. So this means that\u00a0\u00a0 little things will be more likely to wake you up\u00a0 and keep you up. So the first thing that can cause\u00a0\u00a0 early morning insomnia is biological factors. So\u00a0 these include genes, gender, aging, and hormones.\u00a0\u00a0 So genetically some people are lighter sleepers,\u00a0 and genetically some people are more likely to\u00a0\u00a0 wake up early. I got both of these genes. I\u00a0 already knew this about myself, but my 23andme\u00a0\u00a0 report verified it. Some people are night owls\u00a0 and sleep much better towards the morning. This\u00a0\u00a0 is called your chronotype. And while you can’t\u00a0 change your genes, learning about your chronotype\u00a0\u00a0 can help you accept it. I think it’s helpful to\u00a0 imagine our ancestors living in a small village,\u00a0\u00a0 and let’s imagine the village needed some people\u00a0 to be on watch all night. So some people would be\u00a0\u00a0 on watch at 9 pm, some at midnight, and I’d be the\u00a0 4am crew, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed – but no\u00a0\u00a0 way would I fall asleep on watch. I am literally\u00a0 no fun after 9pm, and I can do just about anything\u00a0\u00a0 at 5am. It’s a blessing and a curse. So I go\u00a0 to bed early, and that’s just how I work. Now,\u00a0\u00a0 the second factor of biology is age. As you\u00a0 age, it’s more difficult to sleep as well.\u00a0\u00a0 You get tired earlier in the evening, and you\u00a0 sleep more lightly than when you were young.\u00a0\u00a0 Some things that help are staying active during\u00a0 the day, getting exercise, and delaying going to\u00a0\u00a0 bed can all help with terminal insomnia. Now,\u00a0 sleep maintenance insomnia is much more common\u00a0\u00a0 for women than for men, especially women nearing\u00a0 midlife. Hormones impact your ability to sleep\u00a0\u00a0 as you age. Even when you’re pre-menopausal, you\u00a0 have a slow decline in estrogen and progesterone\u00a0\u00a0 as you age. Hot flashes, periods, night sweats,\u00a0 peeing a lot – yeah, it’s fun. You can work with\u00a0\u00a0 your doctor if you want to try and manage that.\u00a0 Also, your body doesn’t use melatonin as well\u00a0\u00a0 as you age. You can use a prolonged-release\u00a0 melatonin supplement to help with that. And\u00a0\u00a0 melatonin really is more of a time regulator than\u00a0 a sleep regulator. It helps to reset your body\u00a0\u00a0 clock to know when you should be asleep. Now, when\u00a0 I was writing the How to Process Emotions course,\u00a0\u00a0 I was really struggling with stress and sleep,\u00a0 so I worked on both. But I did start to use\u00a0\u00a0 some slow-release melatonin, and it worked for\u00a0 me. I used it about seven times over two weeks,\u00a0\u00a0 and I was doing a lot better. But there’s a lot\u00a0 of factors, right? So this improvement in my\u00a0\u00a0 insomnia could also have been in part because of\u00a0 a decrease in stress, but this all could have been\u00a0\u00a0 in part because of the change in seasons too. But\u00a0 more on that later. Okay. The second big factor\u00a0\u00a0 with insomnia is conditioning. So conditioning\u00a0 means that because sleep is something that your\u00a0\u00a0 brain associates with a routine or an environment,\u00a0 we can accidentally train our brain to sleep\u00a0\u00a0 poorly by having bad habits. The antidote to this\u00a0 is sleep hygiene. I made a full video about this,\u00a0\u00a0 but basically you go to sleep at the same\u00a0 time each night, you don’t use your bed for\u00a0\u00a0 anything other than sleep and sex, don’t watch\u00a0 screens in bed, you know, read a book instead.\u00a0\u00a0 Basically, your goal is to associate sleepy time\u00a0 with your bed and not wakey time with your bed.\u00a0\u00a0 Now, when it’s hard to stay asleep, it’s important\u00a0 that you do not associate early morning time with\u00a0\u00a0 wakey time. So if you’re awake too early, don’t do\u00a0 anything too exciting or stressful or stimulating\u00a0\u00a0 because that’s going to send the message to your\u00a0 brain that it’s supposed to be awake at that time\u00a0\u00a0 of night. Now, I’ve set some rules for myself on\u00a0 this. If I’m up before five, I can read a book,\u00a0\u00a0 I can write on paper, I can do scripture study,\u00a0 but I can’t work on anything too stimulating\u00a0\u00a0 before 5 am because that basically just trains\u00a0 my brain to be more awake the next night at that\u00a0\u00a0 time. So basically you want to train your brain\u00a0 that the bed is for sleeping and early mornings\u00a0\u00a0 are for sleeping too. Make your bedroom a calming\u00a0 place. Don’t work in your bed or your bedroom. And\u00a0\u00a0 all of these things can help condition your brain\u00a0 to sleep better. Okay. Number three. Let’s talk\u00a0\u00a0 about behaviors that mess up your sleep. So as you\u00a0 age, you get less active during the day, and that\u00a0\u00a0 includes social and physical activity. But a lot\u00a0 of us young folks are lazy Netflix watchers too,\u00a0\u00a0 so it’s important to try to get in more\u00a0 physical activity, especially in the morning,\u00a0\u00a0 and then to do other active things throughout\u00a0 the day. And CBTI is a treatment for insomnia\u00a0\u00a0 that research shows to be as effective or more\u00a0 effective than medications, but it takes some\u00a0\u00a0 work. The basic idea is to use good sleep\u00a0 hygiene and don’t go to bed quite as early,\u00a0\u00a0 but then here’s the important part: you don’t stay\u00a0 in bed awake for more than 10 minutes. So if you\u00a0\u00a0 can’t fall asleep, get out of bed and do something\u00a0 boring like reading a book for 10 minutes,\u00a0\u00a0 and then try 10 minutes back in bed. And you\u00a0 just kind of repeat that cycle until you’re able\u00a0\u00a0 to fall asleep. Don’t try too hard to go to sleep,\u00a0 but in the long run, you can retrain your brain to\u00a0\u00a0 know when sleepy time is. And this also prevents\u00a0 you from accidentally training your brain to think\u00a0\u00a0 that the bed is the place where you lay there and\u00a0 get angry about not being able to go to sleep.\u00a0\u00a0 Also, some medications like antidepressants,\u00a0 beta blockers, corticosteroids, and allergy\u00a0\u00a0 medicines like pseudofendrine, and also drugs\u00a0 like caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine, these all\u00a0\u00a0 interfere with the ability to sleep. Also,\u00a0 eating late at night can interfere with sleep.\u00a0\u00a0 Okay, number four: stress. Now, I’m not going\u00a0 to spend too much time on this one, but you’ll\u00a0\u00a0 improve your sleep when you decrease your overall\u00a0 stress. Exercise helps with this, as does writing\u00a0\u00a0 down all your worries at bedtime. You can check\u00a0 out my video about anxiety and insomnia. Exercise\u00a0\u00a0 and gratitude are helpful too. And it can be\u00a0 really helpful to set better work boundaries. When\u00a0\u00a0 I first started working from home, my sleep got\u00a0 all messed up. But I’ve learned to better separate\u00a0\u00a0 work and home life. So take your work email off\u00a0 your phone, turn on the “do not disturb” mode,\u00a0\u00a0 don’t read the comments on your YouTube channel\u00a0 before you go to bed unless you want to debate an\u00a0\u00a0 obscure concept of therapy with a random stranger\u00a0 in your head all night. Now, I work from home,\u00a0\u00a0 so I set the rule for myself that I can’t work\u00a0 after 7pm or before 5am. Okay, number five:\u00a0\u00a0 your environment can impact your sleep. Your brain\u00a0 is queued to sleep when it’s dark outside, when it\u00a0\u00a0 cools off, and when your core temperature drops.\u00a0 So let’s start with temperature. Set your room to\u00a0\u00a0 68 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. You can also use a\u00a0 cooling pillow or a cooling mat to help cool off.\u00a0\u00a0 But also, taking a warm bath opens your\u00a0 capillaries, and then it triggers your\u00a0\u00a0 core temperature to drop when you get out, so that\u00a0 can also help you get sleepy. Okay. Now let’s talk\u00a0\u00a0 about light. The light that enters your eyes tells\u00a0 your brains whether to be sleepy or energetic.\u00a0\u00a0 Daylight freaking savings and working in\u00a0 artificially lit environments can really mess with\u00a0\u00a0 that. So start by making your room a dim or a dark\u00a0 environment. Limit how much light you are exposed\u00a0\u00a0 to in the evening. When I’m trying to get my kids\u00a0 to bed, I always start turning off the lights in\u00a0\u00a0 my house, and that can help kind of remind\u00a0 them that it’s getting close to sleepy time.\u00a0\u00a0 It’s also helpful to get a lot of early morning\u00a0 light exposure, so try to get outside in the\u00a0\u00a0 morning and see the sun. Another thing you can\u00a0 try is doing light therapy 12 hours opposite to\u00a0\u00a0 when you can’t sleep. So if you can’t sleep at 3\u00a0 am, try light therapy at 3 pm. Okay. And lastly,\u00a0\u00a0 sleep oxygen can be an issue, so try not\u00a0 to sleep on your back. And if you’re really\u00a0\u00a0 worried about it, you could get, you know, a sleep\u00a0 evaluation at a sleep clinic. Okay. Number six:\u00a0\u00a0 if your brain is running wild, you can try all\u00a0 types of sleep meditations. There’s a good one\u00a0\u00a0 out there called A Robot Shutting Down. And\u00a0 when all else fails, my go-to is to listen to an\u00a0\u00a0 archaeology lecture. It’s barely interesting, but\u00a0 still quite boring. Or Baumgartner Restoration. So\u00a0\u00a0 I’ll link those below. These are some channels\u00a0 I watch when I’m really just trying to get\u00a0\u00a0 myself bored enough to sleep. If you’re\u00a0 still having trouble sleeping, check with\u00a0\u00a0 your doctor. There are other health conditions\u00a0 that can cause sleep problems, like sleep apnea,\u00a0\u00a0 hypothyroid, enlarged prostate, gastric reflux,\u00a0 arthritis, restless leg syndrome, neuropathy,\u00a0\u00a0 and depression. So as you work to treat those,\u00a0 you might be able to help improve your sleep.\u00a0\u00a0 Okay. I hope this bag of tricks is helpful. And if\u00a0 not, if you’re up in the middle of the night and\u00a0\u00a0 you’re angry about it, know that at least you’re\u00a0 not alone – I’m probably right there with you.
Source : Youtube<\/a><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yFVKPcdortETerminal insomnia, also known as sleep\u00a0 maintenance insomnia, aka early morning waking,\u00a0\u00a0 aka “I wake up at 3 a.m and I can’t get back to\u00a0 sleep and it’s driving me crazy!” This is a pretty\u00a0\u00a0 common experience for many people. Now, first\u00a0 off, it is called terminal insomnia not because\u00a0\u00a0 it causes you to die … Continue reading How to Stop Waking Up in the Middle of the Night- 6 Ways to Beat Insomnia Without Medication<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":152289,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/1709667217-maxresdefault.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152288"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152288\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}