What is insomnia?
Insomnia means you have difficulty sleeping on a regular basis. It usually gets better by changing your sleeping habits.
What are the symptoms of insomnia?
Find it hard to go to sleep.
Waking up multiple times at night.
Lying awake at night
Waking up early and cannot fall asleep again.
Feeling tired after waking up
Difficulty napping during the day even when you try
Feeling tired and irritable
Difficulty with concentration because you're tired.
How much sleep does one need?
Adults on an average require about 7-9 hours.
Children 9-15 hours.
Toddlers and babies 12-17 hours.
What are the common reasons for insomnia?
Uncontrolled stress, anxiety or depression.
Noise
Room that is too hot or too cold.
Uncomfortable bed, pillow.
Alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, recreational drugs.
Jet lag
Irregular sleep schedule like shiftwork, graveyard shift
Self-help for insomnia?
Go to bed and wake up the same time every day[Even during holidays, vacation, weekends]. Go to bed only when you feel tired.
Start relaxing, winding down one hour before going to bed. You can take a relaxing bath, or read a paper book.
Make sure your bedroom is comfortable. It should be dark and quiet. You can use eye masks, ear plugs. Do not keep TV in the bedroom. Put your cell phone on silent mode.
30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise during the day. Avoid strenuous exercise before going to bed.
Make sure your mattress, pillow, covers, night dress are comfortable.
What are the things I should NOT do?
Do not use stimulants like tea, coffee and tea six hours before going to bed. Avoid alcohol six hours before going to bed.
Do not need a big meal at night.
Did not perform strenuous exercises at least four hours before bed.
Do not watch television, or use any devices with bright green like Cell phone, iPad, laptops, computer etc, one hour before going to bed.
Avoid napping over 30 minutes during the day.
Do not drive when you're sleepy.
Do not sleep in after a bad night sleep, or weekends. Stick to your regular sleeping hours all the time.
See your Healthcare provider if you continue to notice insomnia.
How can the healthcare provider help me?
Your healthcare provider can talk to you more about sleep hygiene.
They can prescribe medicines to help you with insomnia or conditions causing insomnia.
Complications of insomnia.
