It’s so common nowadays that people wake up feeling tired, even more tired than before they went to bed. Of course, you don’t necessarily need to wake up full of energy, but the very least is to feel like you’ve rested enough, and not feel fatigue during the day. Sometimes it can happen that you’ve slept enough hours, but your sleep quality was poor, so it feels even more frustrating not knowing what you’re doing wrong.
There are a couple of factors that get in the way of a good night sleep and which are really common, such as:
- Consumption of alcohol
- Consumption of coffee
- Irregular sleeping and waking up times
- Unhealthy diet
- Emotional problems
- Excessive use of technology
Logic says once you get those things sorted out, you’ll have the best sleep of your life. However, sometimes simply changing eating habits, cutting down on coffee, or putting the cellphone away doesn’t work. That’s because there are more reasons that might be troubling your sleep, so along with getting your lifestyle an upgrade, pay attention to these other indicators as well.
Here are some other indications for a troubled night of sleep:
Restless Legs
Restless leg syndrome (RLS) and periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD) are both conditions that can affect your sleep quality. Most of the times you won’t even notice it by yourself. So how can you tell if it’s affecting your sleep? If you’re always waking up all tangled in the blankets, or if your partner starts complaining that you’re moving throughout the night, you could possibly be suffering from RLS or PLMD.
It’s important that you go to a doctor if you suspect this is what’s affecting you, talk about medications you might be taking (that could make your REM worse), and also about potential diseases like diabetes and arthritis, which could be the cause for REM after all.
If don’t get a doctor’s appointment settled right away, start by making some eating habit changes. For example, include more leafy greens filled with vitamin B and folic acid in your diet, as well as red meat. In last cases, even supplements can be a choice for you.
Bedroom Is Too Dark
It may sound weird at first, but it’s true: if your room is too dark, your biological clock will get confused and make you more tired.
That happens because:
Blackout curtains are blocking daylight to get into your room in the morning and your body has no way of knowing the day already started. So, when your alarm goes off, you won’t be physically prepared to wake up just yet and will end up very groggy. Simply letting early morning sunshine rays into your bedroom can make a huge difference to wake up refreshed!
Bruxism
Like the REM, bruxism can be hard to uncover unless someone notices it for you, or if you go to the dentist for a check up. It happens when you grind your teeth or clench your jaw during sleep time.
Actually,
It’s possible to notice it yourself if you start waking up with neck pain, or a stiff neck. Though that can be also be confused with sleeping uncomfortably. The best way to get this sorted out is by going to the dentist, and making sure that you’re taking some time for yourself everyday (as bruxism can happen over stress).
Acid Reflux
If you constantly need to wake up for antacids, it’s pretty clear your sleep quality will go down the drain. But it’s possible to have acid reflux without feeling any pain as well, so you might wake up feeling terrible and not know it was because of the reflux. One way of knowing if this is happening to you is if you wake up with your morning breath a lot worse than usual.
What you need to do is stop eating 2 hours before sleeping, and eat light meals in the evening. One trick you can use is sleeping on your left side to help reduce the symptoms.
Nocturia
Nocturia is just a fancy name for waking up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. As we get older, our bodies have this tendency to become less able to hold fluids for long periods, so it’s very common to wake up at least once a night to go to the bathroom. Whether you got up and can’t sleep anymore, or you didn’t get up but your body can’t really send the signal to your brain that what it needs is using the bathroom, your sleep will be affected.
You could try:
- Not drinking any liquids for three hours before going to bed
- Reduce coffee and tea consumption
- Make going to the bathroom the last thing you do before sleeping
However, also make sure to go to the doctor’s and check for possible diseases that can cause urination problems (such as inflammation of the prostate, incontinence, or even diabetes).
Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a breathing problem that most people have and don’t know about it, it happens when your breathing gets interrupted by ten seconds intervals (sometimes even more). Since you’re not breathing properly and your brain doesn’t get enough oxygen, it starts to send you a signal to wake up, which ends up in a fitful sleep. Seeing an otolaryngologist (ear, nose, and throat doctor) is the best option to resolve this issue, they’ll know what the best treatment is for your case!
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