What to Do When you Can’t Sleep at Night02:23

There are many reasons why you may not be able to get proper sleep at night. In fact, sleep issues affect the majority of adults, who suffer from fatigue, drowsiness, and sleepiness during the daytime.

When you can’t sleep at night, a number of causes could be responsible, such as an underlying medical condition, an overactive mind, a mental problem you may be facing, or bad lifestyle habits. No matter what the cause of your sleep difficulty is, it needs to be addressed. Lack of sleep or sleep deprivation could lead to serious health conditions, such as increased blood pressure, and increased risk for heart attack and stroke.

Regardless of the reason for your insomnia, there are simple things that you can do to help you sleep faster and better. This guide will allow you to discover what may be causing your sleep problems, and the solutions that could help.

Why Can’t I Sleep At Night?

This is a question asked by so many people all over the world. You lie down in bed at 11 pm, but end up falling asleep at 3 am in the morning. Or you sleep at 11 pm, but then wake up at 3 am, and you end up seeing the light of day, never able to get back to sleep.

So what’s the problem? What could be causing your difficulty falling and staying asleep?

Unfortunately, the answer is not so simple. There may be several reasons why you can’t sleep at night and/or are staying awake.

• Genetics

If your family has a history of insomnia or other sleep disorders that prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep, such as sleep apnea, then the cause could be hereditary.

• Prescription Medication

Some medication can make it difficult for you to sleep. Certain drugs such as corticosteroids, thyroid hormones, high blood pressure medication, slimming pills, and stimulants for ADHD medication can disrupt sleeping patterns.

• Medical Problems

Medical problems such as asthma, Parkinson’s disease, acid reflux, kidney disease, cancer, and chronic pain are just some of the health conditions that can cause sleep problems. Pain can keep you up at night, as well as from the discomfort and symptoms of certain illnesses.

• Mental Problems

One of the reasons why it can be difficult for you to fall asleep is because of an overactive mind. When you suffer from anxiety, you tend to worry about unreasonable fears, or you have a tendency to think about the worst-case scenarios. This can cause you to overthink as you fall to sleep, preventing you from enjoying a calming and relaxing time in bed.

Other mental issues can also prevent you from having a good night’s rest, such as depression, phobias, traumatic experiences, as well as having relationship problems, issues at work, and major stressors. Stress from many aspects of your life can cause you to overthink, preventing you from falling asleep at night.

• Lifestyle Habits

If you think what you do during the day doesn’t have an effect on your sleep, then think again. A healthy lifestyle, such as eating nutritious food and regular exercise can help you sleep better as you are physically healthy and will be able to doze off easily. Too much caffeine, alcohol, and illicit drugs can contribute to sleep issues at night as well.

Why Can’t I Sleep Even Though I’m Tired?

This scenario may be relatable to a lot of people: you are dead tired, can’t keep your eyes open at work, and you want to hurry home so you can lie in bed and doze off to sleep. But when you do get home and finally lie on the bed, you find yourself with eyes wide open, tossing and turning, and can’t fall asleep at all, even though you’re dead tired.

What could be wrong? Why can’t you sleep at night even though your body is telling you to?

Given that you don’t suffer from insomnia [which we will discuss later], an underlying medication condition, or suffer from physical or mental conditions, the answer could lie in your body’s circadian rhythm.

Your circadian rhythm is your body’s internal timekeeper and it’s responsible for regulating the cycle of your 24-hour sleep-wake periods. Your circadian rhythm responds to light and dark, as well as regulating your body temperature, hormones, metabolism, and sleep.

The body’s master clock is called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, or the SCN. The SCN is located in the brain and responsible for melatonin production, which is the hormone that regulates sleep.

When your SCN is off, your melatonin production becomes off, too. Melatonin levels are usually low during daylight and it starts to increase when it starts to get dark. Melatonin production usually peaks 2 to 4 hours after it starts to rise, which is the perfect time our bodies are primed for slumber. Because the SCN responds to light and dark, it will start to increase when you are not exposing your body to light. So even though it’s dark out, and you’re inside the office with all the lights on, melatonin production will still be at a low level.

Before the onset of electricity and the Industrial Revolution, people would wake up when the sun rose and slept when the sun sets. Their bodies responded to the natural cycle of daylight. But as humans started to sleep later due to the presence of electricity, the body’s circadian rhythm also adapted.

The normal time to sleep is now between 10 pm to 12midnight, and when you sleep 2 or more hours outside of this normal time, your circadian rhythm becomes off. It would need to adjust your 24-hour daily cycle to keep up with your body’s usual daily schedule.

For example, you normally wake up at 6 am and you sleep by 10 pm. If all of a sudden, you sleep at 3 am, you will still find yourself waking up at 6 am, because that’s what your circadian rhythm is telling you. Your body has not yet adapted to your new 3 am schedule. So when you sleep at 6 pm to make up for lost time sleeping, you will have difficulty falling asleep because your normal circadian rhythm is set at 10 pm. Even if you feel exhausted because you only had 3 hours of sleep, you might have trouble dozing off earlier than scheduled, because your circadian rhythm’s schedule for sleeping is set at 10 pm and not 6 pm.

This could explain why it takes your body time to adjust to a new schedule at work, or why you’ll have trouble sleeping after a night of partying or the day after an all-nighter. You’re dead tired, but you can’t sleep.

Why Do I Get Up at 3 am?

For those who frequently wake up in the middle of the night, 3 am seems to be a ubiquitous time. For those who believe in the supernatural, 3 am is known as the witching hour, but there’s actually a good scientific explanation for it.

Our sleep cycle lasts for 90 minutes, and in every 7 to 9 hours of sleep, the body goes through several sleep cycles. When we go through one cycle to another, we are actually briefly awake during these small periods. Sometimes, we are aware of these brief awakenings, and sometimes we’re not.

The 3 am wake-up time, however, is the most noticed because it is the cycle that gets you out of deep sleep, which can be hard to doze off again, making you more awake than the brief awakening of other sleep cycles. If you suffer from an overactive mind or physical and/or medical condition, the transition from deep sleep to light sleep and back to deep sleep may be more challenging for most, and that is why waking up at 3 am may cause a significant problem in your sleep pattern.

Do I Have Insomnia? How Can I Tell?

Insomnia is a condition where you suffer from the inability to fall asleep or stay asleep at night. It is not a mental illness but it can be a symptom of a mental problem such as depression or anxiety.

It is a very common problem among adults and seniors, which takes a toll on your mood, energy, and overall health. Chronic insomnia can even lead to serious health problems. According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), not getting quality and restful sleep on a regular basis can increase your risks for high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and obesity.

If you’re unsure whether or not you have insomnia, here are the symptoms to watch out for:

• Difficulty sleeping despite being tired
• Frequent waking up in the middle of sleeping
• Trouble getting back to sleep when awakened
• Restless sleep
• Daytime fatigue despite having had 8 hours of sleep
• Relying on sleeping pills or alcohol to fall asleep

There are 3 kinds of insomnia that you would need to watch out for so you know how to alleviate your condition, when to seek for help, and the steps needed to help you improve your sleep problems.

1.Acute Insomnia

Acute insomnia lasts for less than a month and it’s also known as adjustment insomnia. It occurs due to a change in the schedule of your sleeping pattern, or the onset of a physical or mental illness, or a life transition. It usually disappears when your body has adjusted to your new schedule at work, or the stressor is gone from your life.

2.Transient Insomnia

Transient insomnia occurs as a symptom of another disorder, such as sleep apnea or a stress stimulant, and does not last for more than one week.

3.Chronic Insomnia

This kind of insomnia lasts for more than one month and the type that needs professional help, or a major change in lifestyle, pre-sleep routines, or the help of supplements.

Tips to Fall Asleep Fast At Night

In this section, we will talk about the things that you can do to improve your sleeping patterns. These tips can help you fall asleep faster at night, as well as help you stay asleep longer.

While the average adult usually needs at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep every day, it has been proven that restful sleep does not depend on how many hours you’ve slept, but on the quality of sleep that you have. You can sleep for 12 hours but still feel tired when you wake up, and you can sleep for only 4 hours and feel refreshed and rested.

The most important thing with sleep is the quality and not necessarily the quantity.

4 Reasons Why Sleep is Important

Here are a few tips on how to fall asleep faster and sleep longer:

Best Mattresses for Sleeping at Night

While a mattress is not an instant solution to sleep problems, having the wrong one can cause you to have the problems in the first place. One of the easiest solutions to insomnia is to improve your sleep environment. Having the best mattress for your needs is one way to secure this.

Ideally, a mattress that reduces pressure points is the best mattress for better sleep at night. When you sleep on your back, side, or front, you are putting weight on your body, which lessens the blood flow to that specific area. This causes your nerve cells and pain sensors to communicate with your brain, telling you to roll over, and in many cases, disrupting sleep. If you have a mattress that’s too soft or too firm, you will constantly be rolling and turning in bed. This is an often-overlooked reason why many people can’t sleep at night.

Best Sleeping Positions

Sleeping positions can also contribute to better sleep. The key to sleeping positions varies from one person to another. Factors considered include age, physical or mental condition, as well as personal preferences.

There are three major kinds of sleep positions, which are the side, back, and front positions. The side position is when you are lying on either your right or left sides. The fetal position is one kind of side sleep position, and it’s ideal for those who suffer from sleep apnea, although it does increase your risk for stiffness or joint pain.

The back position is when you’re lying on your back. This has the best spinal alignment and can improve sleep apnea, snoring, and great for lower back pain.

The front or prone position is when you’re lying with your stomach on the bed. This is not ideal for anyone who’s suffering from sleep apnea, asthma, and old age because it puts pressure on the rib cage, pushing it to work harder for breathing.

Best Types and Uses of Pillows

Pillows also contribute to an ideal sleep environment. Like mattresses and sleeping positions, it all boils down to preferences and several factors. A good sleeping posture is one of the keys to better sleep and a good pillow can help support proper sleeping posture.

For those who sleep on their backs, a pillow with medium firmness and loft is most ideal. Loft means the thickness or height of the pillow. Materials that conform to the pressure of the body is recommended, such as a memory foam pillow.

For side sleepers, a high loft and firm support pillow are recommended. This helps the body align itself to the spine, and a shapeable material like down is the best option.

And lastly. for stomach sleepers, a low loft and soft pillow are most ideal, with a compressible fill such as down or feather.

Sleep Trackers

Sleep trackers are devices similar to fitness trackers that you can strap on your wrist. It then detects and records your sleep patterns, such as hours of sleep, sleep quality, patterns, as well as heart rate, and body temperature. It can help you provide information about your sleep patterns and other measurable data, so you can make necessary changes. Devices such as the Fitbit Charge are originally designed as a fitness tracker but can also double as a sleep tracker.

Fitbit Charge 4 (Sleep Tracker)

Supplements for Sleeping at Night

Dr. Mark Hyman, a practicing family physician and leading expert on using food as medicine, recommends two kinds of supplements for better sleep. One of which is Reishi mushrooms, which is considered to be the queen of all mushrooms. It is known to support sleep, improve quality of sleep, and bring about other known health benefits.

Another supplement is ashwagandha, which is an adaptogen, herbs that are known to help you adapt to stress. By reducing stress levels, ashwagandha can help provide better quality sleep at night.

Other supplements used to improve sleep is melatonin. We’ve mentioned melatonin earlier and you can actually take them as supplements. While it doesn’t act as a sedative or sleep solution, it does prime your body for rest, which is needed for fast and better sleep patterns.

And lastly, Valerian is a sedating herb that increases the brain’s levels of GABA in the body. GABA is the body’s calming neurotransmitter, helping you feel more relaxed.

Test, Test, Test

If these tips still aren’t enough to help you sleep better at night, then maybe a visit to the doctor is the best option for you. A sleep doctor can run some sleep tests to determine the real cause of your problems and help you devise a plan or program for proper treatment.

You can also take advantage of the benefits of a sleep tracker that can monitor your sleep patterns, such as heartbeat, what time you sleep, what time your exercise, and other information. On the days you fell asleep fast, determine what was different versus the days when you couldn’t fall asleep. Discuss how measurement can be the key to success in most aspects and how fitness and sleep trackers can help.

Apple Watch vs Fitbit: Sleep Tracking, Calorie Burn, & More

Conclusion

There are so many problems that quality sleep can fix. It can help calm your mind, improve your cognition, help heal your wounds, and regenerate new cells for healing and recovery. Restful sleep also contributes to well-being and longevity.

So when you don’t get proper sleep at night, your mind and body suffer. When you don’t take the time to address your sleep issues, it can lead to serious problems. Don’t wait until this happens. Make the necessary changes today and improve your sleeping habits, so your future self can thank you.