Nobody likes to wake up in middle of a deep slumber. Be it just the need to use the loo, your hard-hitting anxiety or simply a nightmare – it disturbs the sleep abruptly.
Imagine the situation when you are you are sleeping like a baby at one minute while right at the next, you are wide awake.
However, waking up in the middle of night is not an uncommon incident. We have it programmed in our DNA.
In fact, the cavemen often woke up at night to ensure that the predators were not prowling around. So, it is not a big deal if you wake up time and again at night. The key consideration here is whether you are able to go back to sleep.
If you are waking up in the middle of the night constantly and are not being able to go back to sleep again then here are some reasons why you are doing that. Just read on.
Your Room Is Too Bright, Noisy, Hot or Cold – On the basis of what sleep stage you are in, your arousal threshold, which implies how easily you can be woken up by something, varies. Your body goes through different stages of sleep at the time of sleeping like stages 1,2,3,4 and the Rapid Eye Movement (REM). The first stage of sleep is the lightest and that is when you can wake up suddenly when the door slams, or because the room you are living in is too hot or too cold or the passing car’s headlights shine through the window. Usually the room should be comfortably cool, dark and quite when you are sleeping. This may or may not be under your control, but you can use ear plugs and eye masks to block out the noise and the light and condition your room’s temperature to create the right sleeping ambience.
You Are Stressed – Ideally, you should leave the financial stress back at office. But unfortunately, the brain is still working even when you are dozing off. The way we maintain the healthy sleep patterns are often disrupted by the unexpected sleep. So you should induce some stress-relieving activities like reading, meditating and exercising and so on.
You Are Waking Up to Go to the Bathroom – There are several reasons why a person needs to go to the bathroom at night – pre-diabetes, enlarged prostrate and excessive fluid intake can all be the reasons for that. Here are some of the things that you should do when you need to go to the bathroom at the break of night.
Don’t Turn on the Lights – You should have strategically placed the night lights that can lead you to the bathroom. You should also not turn the lights on when you are there. This is because if you do you will be telling your brain that it is already morning and time to wake up.
Do Not Look at the Clock – This is because this way you will immediately do that mental math and get anxious thinking that you have just a few hours to sleep.
Breathe Harder – In order to get at the state of unconsciousness your heart rate should be below 60. That is not very easy when you have just stood up to go to the restroom. So you should practise a breathing method then. Sit in a comfortable position with eyes open or closed and after inhaling for 4 seconds, hold the breath for 7 seconds and after that exhale slowly for about 8 seconds. You should repeat this several times.
You Have Alcohol before Going to Bed –It is true that a little bit of booze can assist to make you doze off early. But it can also have a negative impact on the quality of sleep once you start sleeping. Consuming alcohol close to bedtime can also make you wake up several times in the middle of the night. In fact, vivid dreams and nightmares can be induced by alcohol and can worsen the sleep condition that you are going through like bedwetting, sleep apnea, sleep terrors, restless legs and sleepwalking.
You Have Sleep Apnea – If you are a heavy snorer or you often find yourself to be jolted out of bed several times at night then chances are that you have sleep apnea. This disorder stops or slows your breathing while you are asleep. This makes the muscles in the throat relax too much that ends up narrowing the airways making the oxygen level drop. The complex sleep apnea features the characteristics of both of these conditions. Your doctor can recommend an overnight sleep study monitoring your breathing to diagnose this problem. Sleep apnea is often treated with the best snoring aids when it is not in a serious stage. The CPAP machine is also suggested when the patient does not respond well to the lighter techniques.
The above are some of the reasons that you are waking up mid-sleep. With a few lifestyle changes and some help from your doctor. you will be able to grab a good night’s sleep that can ensure you wake up refreshed the next day.
Also Read: 7 Ways Your Old Mattress can affect Your Sleep and Health