05 Oct 8 Reasons you’re waking up in the middle of the night
Have you ever experience that you fall asleep quickly, but wake up repeatedly throughout the night? If your answer is yes, then this fragmented or interrupted sleep is as bad as not getting sleep at all.
Unrefreshing sleep is more than just a displeasure. This condition has serious health consequences including shortened attention span and impaired critical thinking. Ultimately repetitive sleep problems can lead to weight gain, cardiac issues, mood problems, and excessive daytime sleepiness.
Sleep physicians generally recommend that people with unwanted night-time awakenings work to improve their sleep hygiene:
- Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day
- Avoid electronics in the last hour before bed
- Avoid alcohol, particularly in the last hour before bed
- Avoid caffeine at least eight hours before bed
- Sleep in a space that’s cool, dark and quiet
In one publication of the magazine Self the 8 common reasons why you wake up in the middle of the night are described. They are:
- Your room is too hot, cold, noisy, or bright
- You are anxious
- Your full bladder cannot wait until the morning
- You had a couple of alcoholic drinks
- You have sleep apnoea
- You have an overactive thyroid gland
- Food related: You ate right before bedtime, or you did not eat recently enough before you went to sleep
- You have restless legs syndrome
In the article, they explained each reason with a possible solution on how to fix them.
It is an interesting article, worthy of reading.
Here is the link to read the full article: https://www.self.com/story/waking-up-at-night-reasons
References
- Fragmented Sleep: https://www.tuck.com/fragmented-sleep/
- 8 Reasons You’re Waking Up Mid-Sleep, and How to Fix Them https://www.self.com/story/waking-up-at-night-reasons