Tips for a better sleep

Sleep by Ray Sahelian, M.D. - Sleep Aid Suggestions for Better Sleep
 

A good night's sleep enhances energy, mood, vitality, sex drive, and reduces the risk for chronic medical conditions. Deep sleep also has anti-aging benefits. This page will provide you with sleep aid ideas.
Causes of disturbed Sleep
Sleep problems can be caused by various medical disorders including asthma, COPD, heart failure, enlarged prostate, gastroesophageal reflux, chronic pain, restless leg syndrome, depression, and anxiety. Obstructive sleep apnea causes daytime fatigue. 

Practical Sleep Tips
 

1. Try to stick to a schedule, and don't sleep late on weekends. If you sleep late on Saturday and Sunday mornings, you'll get Sunday night insomnia. Instead, go to sleep and get up at about the same time every day. You may not need to rely on an alarm clock to wake up when you get enough sleep.
2. Don't eat or drink too much before bedtime sleep. Eat a light or medium sized snack about 1 to 2 hours before sleep. If you drink too much liquid before sleep, you'll wake up repeatedly in the night for trips to the bathroom.

• Don't eat too many spicy or fatty foods. They may cause heartburn and interfere with proper sleep.
• If you get the munchies, eat something that triggers serotonin, which makes you sleepy. Carbohydrates (whole grain bread, pasta with tomato sauce, potatoes, lentils, barley, fruits, or cereal) with small amount of foods containing the amino acid L-tryptophan (milk, tuna, or turkey) will do the trick. A fruit salad (with mangoes) and vegetable soup are good options. Another idea is whole grain bread with tomatoes (or salsa) and melted cheese.
• Don't drink more than one or two ounces of alcohol before sleep. It may cause you to wake up repeatedly, snore and possibly develop sleep apnea.

3. Avoid caffeine, nicotine, and stimulants. Smokers experience withdrawal symptoms at night, and they have a harder time both falling asleep and waking up. some people are so sensitive that even a cup of coffee drank at lunch can interfere with sleep. Caffeine is found in tea (including green tea), certain soft drinks, chocolate, cocoa, and of course coffee. Caffeine is also found in certain herbs such as guarana and kola nut. If you have a sleep problem, stop eating chocolate and all drinking teas until it is resolved.
   Diet pills that contain stimulants such as citrus aurantium can keep you awake. So can the nutrients phenylalanine, tyrosine, certain hormones, ginseng and other adaptogenic herbs, tongkat ali, LJ100, muira puama, maca, horny goat weed, dodder seed or cuscuta, and the anti-depressants St. John's wort and SAM-e. High doses of vitamins may act as stimulants, interfering with sleep. Take most of your supplements early in the day. Many herbs not mentioned above can cause alertness late into the night. If you have trouble sleeping, consider stopping all supplements, herbs and spices for a week to see if you sleep better.
   Avoid spices and herbs in large quantities, particularly at dinner, since certain spices and herbs can influence sleep by making you too alert.
4. Exercise. If you're trying to sleep better, the best time to exercise is in the afternoon. Physical activity enhances the deep, refreshing stage of sleep. My best sleeps have been after a full day of walking, hiking, or biking. Also, take a walk in the morning to expose yourself to morning light which will help you sleep better at night. The more sun exposure you have, the deeper your sleep will be that night.
5. A slightly cool room is best for sleep. This mimics your internal temperature drop during sleep, so turn off the heat and save on fuel bills.

• If you tend to get cold, use blankets.
• If you overheat at night, wear light nightclothes and sleep under a single sheet. Use an air conditioner or fan to keep the room cool.
• Use a dehumidifier if you are bothered by moist air. Use a humidifier if you are bothered by dry air. Signs of dry air irritation include a sore throat, nosebleeds or a dry throat.

6. Sleep only at night. Daytime naps steal hours from nighttime slumber. Limit daytime sleep to 20-minute, power naps. Don't take a nap after 2 PM.

• If you work nights, keep window coverings closed so that sunlight, which interferes with the body's internal clock, doesn't interrupt your sleep.
• If you have a day job and sleep at night, but still have trouble waking, leave the window covering open and let the sun's light wake you up.

7. Keep it quiet. Silence is more conducive to sleep. Turn off the radio and TV. Use earplugs, a fan or some other source of constant, soothing, background noise to mask sound that you cannot control, such as a busy street, trains, airplanes or even a snoring partner. Double-pane windows and heavy curtains also muffle outside noise.
8. Make your bed comfortable.

• If you share your bed, make sure there is enough room for two.
• Use your bed only for sleep and sex.
• Go to bed when you are tired and turn out the lights. If you don't fall asleep in 15 minutes, get up and do something else. Go back to bed when you are tired.
• Do not agonize about falling asleep. The stress will only prevent sleep.

9. Soak and sack out. Taking a hot shower or bath an hour or two before sleep helps bring on sleep because they can relax  tense muscles.
10. Don't overly rely on sleeping pills. Check with your doctor before using sleeping pills. Make sure the pills won't interact with other medications or with an existing medical condition.

• Use the lowest dosage and never mix alcohol and sleeping pills. The occasional use of prescription sleep pills should not be harmful. Regular use can lead to dependence on these sleeping pills and you could have rebound insomnia (not sleeping well) the night you stop take them.
• If you feel sleepy or dizzy during the day, talk to your doctor about changing the dosage or discontinuing the sleeping pills.
• Melatonin at a dose of 1 to 2 mg an hour or two before bed can help induce sleep. Limit use to once a week. Sometimes a lower dose such as 0.3 mg taken earlier in the evening, about 6 or 7 PM works better than a higher dose taken later.
• The herb Hops in tea or pill can also help with sleep. Hops is taken about an hour or two before bed. A Valerian/Hops combination 500mg/100mg may also work well.
• Kava taken a few hours before bed can also be helpful, so can the occasional use of 5-HTP at a dose of 50 mg an hour before bed on an empty stomach or half an hour before dinner. Another option is Tryptophan.
• Another option for occasional sleepless night is Good Night Rx which has a combination of many herbs.

11. Use ear plugs and eye shades to block noise and light. You may be amazed on how much better you'll sleep and feel in the morning when you use ear plugs since you will be able to get a deeper sleep without frequent overnight interruptions from traffic noise, airplanes, dogs barking, roommates snoring, etc.

12. Use sleep relaxation techniques.
Once you are in bed, take a deep breath and gradually let it out. Do this a few times. Then, lightly shake one of your feet, and go back to taking a couple of deep breaths. Lightly shake the other foot and then take a couple of deep breaths. Move up to your legs, hips, arms, neck, muscle around the mouth, eye muscles, etc., while going back to the breath after shaking each body part. Soon you'll be in la la land. 
Being woken up and exposed to bright light at night can throw off a person's biological clock for the next few days, a new study shows. What's more, the researchers found that being woken up at night at all--even in a dark room--also disrupts the body's timing, although to a lesser degree.
13. Aromatherapy
The smell of jasmine in the bedroom has been found to help improve sleep in those who are sensitive to aromatherapy. Lavender may also help slightly.
14. Soft Music
In a paper published in the February issue of the Journal of Advanced Nursing, a team from Taiwan’s Tzu Chi University said they studied the sleep patterns of 60 people aged between 60 and 83 who had difficulty sleeping. Half were given relaxing music to listen to for 45 minutes at bedtime and half were given no help to sleep. The team found that those who listened to a selection of soft, slow music experienced physical changes that aided restful sleep, such as lower heart and respiratory rates.
15. Avoid regular use of pharmaceutical sleep medication. Frequent use of sleep medication can lead to reliance, tolerance, and loss of memory. 
The rest of this advice can be found at
http://www.raysahelian.com/sleep.html

 I have found this supplement to be quite good in helping with sleep problems.
Healthy life.
Suzanne