Sleep and Ageing

One of the most popular workshops I give is on how to get a good night's sleep. Sleep plays an important role in our lives as we age. The following is from the National Institute of Ageing and offers some  advice on how to get a good night's sleep

Older adults need about the same amount of sleep as all adults—7 to 9 hours each night. But older people tend to go to sleep earlier and get up earlier than they did when they were younger.

There are many reasons why older people may not get enough sleep at night. Feeling sick or being in pain can make it hard to sleep. Some medicines can keep you awake. No matter the reason, if you don’t get a good night’s sleep, the next day you may:

·        Be irritable

·        Have memory problems or be forgetful

·        Feel depressed

·        Have more falls or accidents

Being older doesn’t mean you have to be tired all the time. You can do many things to help you get a good night’s sleep. Here are some ideas:

Follow a regular sleep schedule. Go to sleep and get up at the same time each day, even on weekends or when you are travelling.

Avoid napping in the late afternoon or evening if you can. Naps may keep you awake at night.

Develop a bedtime routine. Take time to relax before bedtime each night. Some people read a book, listen to soothing music, or soak in a warm bath.

Try not to watch television or use your computer, cell phone, or tablet in the bedroom. The light from these devices may make it difficult for you to fall asleep. And alarming or unsettling shows or movies, like horror movies, may keep you awake.

Keep your bedroom at a comfortable temperature, not too hot or too cold, and as quiet as possible.

Use low lighting in the evenings and as you prepare for bed.

Exercise at regular times each day but not within 3 hours of your bedtime.

Avoid eating large meals close to bedtime—they can keep you awake.

Stay away from caffeine late in the day. Caffeine (found in coffee, tea, soda, and chocolate) can keep you awake.

Remember—alcohol won’t help you sleep. Even small amounts make it harder to stay asleep.

Insomnia is the most common sleep problem in adults age 60 and older. People with this condition have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. Insomnia can last for days, months, and even years. Having trouble sleeping can mean you:

·        Take a long time to fall asleep

·        Wake up many times in the night

·        Wake up early and are unable to get back to sleep

·        Wake up tired

·        Feel very sleepy during the day

Often, being unable to sleep becomes a habit. Some people worry about not sleeping even before they get into bed. This may make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep.

Some older adults who have trouble sleeping may use over-the-counter sleep aids. Others may use prescription medicines to help them sleep. These medicines may help when used for a short time. But remember, medicines aren’t a cure for insomnia.

Developing healthy habits at bedtime may help you get a good night’s sleep.

Stressed Out? A Good Night’s Sleep Can Cure What Ails You

Your child brings home a report card filled with low marks.  Your dog just bit your neighbor, and the sink in the kitchen no longer works.  You feel you’re under major stress.  As a result, you find yourself tossing and turning at night, unable to get a good night’s sleep.  This is truly unfortunate, because sleep can re-charge a person’s batteries, enabling him or her to better tackle the stressors that come along the road.

Stress-induced insomnia can take a variety of forms.  For instance, you may have difficulty falling asleep in the first place.  Or you may wake up hours earlier than you should.  You may find yourself waking up several times during the middle of the night.  Or you may even find that you feel tired when you wake up in the morning because you didn’t get good quality sleep. 

One important point to remember is that you are not alone.  Just about everyone suffers from lack of sleep at some point in life.  That said, dealing with insomnia can be exhausting.  You might feel run down during the day and have difficulty concentrating.  You may turn to coffee in order to keep awake during the daylight hours, which can lead to a feeling of restlessness.  You may even try taking a nap in the mid-morning or late afternoon, only to find that you have difficulty sleeping again at night. 

While old age, depression, and substance abuse can all lead to insomnia, it might be said that the number one cause is stress.   If your insomnia persists for a week, you should contact your doctor.  He or she may prescribe medication to enable you to get to sleep more quickly.   But you should be aware that there are other techniques you can use to deal with stress-related insomnia.

To begin with, try to determine the root cause of your stress.  This might be your job, your home life, or even some of your recreational activities.  Next, determine whether you are overscheduled.  By eliminating some of your commitments, you might be able to seriously reduce your stress level.  Then, do some problem-solving.  How can you make a stressful situation better?  It could involve engaging in positive thinking, changing your attitude about the situation, or coming up with solutions to resolve the situation.

There are also some concrete steps you can take to improve your sleep.  For instance, make sure that your bedroom is conducive to sleep.  This means finding the most comfortable bedding available, decorating your room with soft, subtle colors, and eliminating clutter or other signs of work in progress.

In addition, condition yourself to associate your bed with sleep.  This means resisting the temptation to do work in bed, or study for your classes while lying down.  You should even try to avoid watching TV programs in bed.  The idea here is to eliminate stimulants from your sleeping area which could prevent you from falling asleep.   If you like to read in bed, make sure that you read only fun, pleasurable books, not significant tomes that could keep you up at night.

One other helpful tip is to set up a regular routine prior to going to bed.  It may involve taking a bath or shower to relax you or drinking some milk right before settling down to sleep.  Also, try to get up at the same time every morning so that you are following an established schedule.  In addition, make sure that you do not engage in drinking beverages with caffeine or alcoholic drinks after dinner.

Insomnia is one of the most dangerous side-effects of stress.  It can rob you of your energy, strength, and endurance.  It can make the simplest tasks difficult to handle during the course of the day.  And it can even lead to major depression.  If you find yourself having trouble getting to sleep at night, take immediate action.  Don’t wait for your body to feel the stress of night after night of sleeplessness.  The more proactive you are, the greater the likelihood that you’ll be able to combat insomnia, as well as the stress that goes with it.   Refreshed and renewed, you’ll be able to take on the challenges that come your way once you’ve gotten enough sleep.    

 

Insomnia

The following is extracted from https://www.painscience.com/articles/insomnia.php for the full article (it is very long) click on the link.

I have tried to put the main points of the article below

Some insomnia is caused by sleep disorders such as Delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS) or sleep apnea. Or sleep loss may be caused by the pain of another medical condition, such as rheumatoid arthritis. But most insomnia is basically just a bad habit — a learned behaviour, which is usually aggravated into a crisis by emotional stresses.

Here in Vancouver, University of British Columbia psychologist Stanley Coren describes sleep deprivation studies in humans showing a number of ominous effects, and his book Sleep Thieves: An eye-opening exploration into the science and mysteries of sleep generally comes to the conclusion that everyone needs to take sleep deprivation much more seriously than we generally do.

Here are several examples:

•    Insomnia hurts. An internet survey of over 2,500 people with fibromyalgia (a chronic pain condition) showed that insomnia was one of the most commonly identified aggravating factors. There is good reason to believe that what makes fibromyalgics hurt probably predisposes healthier people in the direction of increased sensitivity as well. Another survey found the fairly spectacular statistic that 53% of chronic low back pain patients had insomnia, compared with only 3% in pain-free controls.

•     Insomnia saps your migraine defenses. A study of 1869 migraines clearly showed that “sleep obviously protects against [migraine] attacks rather than provokes them,” while a whopping 29% were actually caused by insomnia. I don’t know about you, but anything that protects against migraine attacks is good and I don’t want to lose much of it.

•    Insomnia makes you sick. It is strongly linked to metabolic syndrome (the term for a stew of factors associated with obesity, poor fitness, diabetes, and heart disease). A statistical analysis of insomnia’s relationship to absences from work caused by illness clearly found that there’s a connection: insomnia is followed by periods of increased absenteeism from illness and disease. Yikes! As if that weren’t bad enough: the evidence shows that the effect is prominent up to two years after insomnia. Shudder. And still more: a 2009 paper shows that people with even minor sleep problems (less than 7 hours per night) get almost three times as many head colds.

•    Insomnia can wreck your mood. 40% of psychiatric mood disorders are preceded by insomnia, and insomnia sets in at the same time as another 20% of mood disorders.

This is just a sampling. For a complete discussion of how insomnia probably increases body pain of all kinds (and muscle pain in particular), see Insomnia Until it Hurts.

The cure for insomnia was ultimately simple, and consisted of a simple 2-point plan:

•         Sleep environment upgrading

•         Behavioural conditioning

Everyone’s circumstances are different, and the solutions will be unique, but stop at nothing to make your bedroom as sleep-friendly as humanly possible.

Buy the best mattress money can buy, get a deluxe pillow, and 900 thread count sheets. Fix the leaky tap. If your partner snores, get rid of them: separate bedrooms, etc.

Sleep is a complex human behaviour, and insomnia is a dysfunctional sleep behaviour — sleep behaviour that results in sleep that is at odds with what we want, usually not enough of it and at the wrong times. Either we start sleeping at the wrong time, and/or we can’t continue sleeping as long as we’d like, and/or we can’t sleep as deeply as we need to.

The sum of our sleep behaviours is called our “sleep hygiene.” Insomniacs usually have lousy sleep hygiene.

Most insomniacs, when they have trouble falling sleep, get frustrated, get up, and do something. This is dangerous. Depending on the activity, this is a message to your brain. The message is, “1:00 AM is for checking my email. Reading a book. Watching a bit of boring telly. Having a snack.” Your ancestors didn’t have those options. Through most of our biological history, they literally couldn’t even put on a light!

It’s this simple: whatever you repeatedly do at 1:00 AM, that is exactly what your brain will think 1:00 AM is about! You are teaching your nervous system not to sleep, and like the miraculously adaptable thing that it is … it learns.

To have any hope of sleeping through the night, you have to have a consistent bedtime and a consistent waking time.

Training for recovery from behavioural insomnia is usually most easily cured by restricting sleep to an inadequate, fixed period each night, and then gradually increasing it. It’ll be unpleasant at first … but you’ve got nothing to lose.

By compressing your Total Time In Bed into just a few hours, the message to the body is "this is all you're getting, so make the best of it."

Instructions:

1.       Start with a 6-hour period, give or take: less than you need, but more than you are getting.

2.       Set the waking time you want to stick with. Count six hours backwards from that time to get your new bedtime. i.e. if you want to get up at 7:00am for the rest of your life, your new training bedtime is 1:00am.

3.       Start this on a weekend or when you have a day or even a week off from work. You don’t want to operate heavy machinery, or make important decisions, when you’re starting this process! You will almost certainly lose even more sleep than usual. You’ll lose sleep during your sleep period and have no opportunity to recover … until the next night.

4.       Do not nap at all or strictly limit napping. This is a significant challenge in itself. Do whatever you have to do. For the serious insomniac, a lot is at stake. All I can tell you is that it’s worth it.

5.       Repeat for 3-14 days. Decide in advance how long to try the strategy, and stick to it. Basically, the worse your insomnia, the longer you need to really reinforce the “idea” that you’ve only got a few hours to sleep each night.

6.       At the end of the first phase, move your training bedtime 15-30 minutes earlier, and repeat for another 3-14 days. Increase your sleep in smaller increments for difficult cases.

7.       The sleep “pressure” will accumulate enough so that you can hardly imagine not sleeping in the time available.

Ritual is particularly important for insomniacs who have trouble falling asleep. Spend some time and create a carefully planned and scheduled bedtime ritual of at least half an hour to repeat every night until you are cured, and frequently for the rest of your life.

The purpose of the ritual is to (a) wind down, and (b) learn to associate your bedtime with a series of predictable steps. It actually makes a difference whether you wash your face and then brush your teeth, or brush your teeth and then wash your face — it doesn’t matter which order you do it in, but it does matter that you always do it in the same order. The more consistent the ritual, the more quickly your brain can learn that face washing followed by teeth brushing equals bedtime.

Some improvements in sleep hygiene combined with sleep compression therapy alone will resolve behavioural insomnia for most people within 4-6 weeks.

I would recommend you read the entire article as there is a much useful information especially if you are an insomniac.

Sleep tips Part 3

21. Have Fluffy Blankets

Fluffy blankets help you get a better night’s sleep for a couple reasons. One, if they are fluffy then their material is an open weave, which allows for breathing. When material breathes, it releases hot air and you won’t overheat. A fluffy blanket will also be soft and feel good against your skin. It’s hard to sleep well at night if you are constantly being scratched by the blankets.

22. Wear Comfy Pajamas

Silk, satin and other material always looks good, but it may not be the best to wear. Pajamas need to be comfortable at night in order for you to sleep well. Material that is too heavy or doesn’t breathe well can harm your good sleep. Choose cotton blends and material that is comfortable on your skin. Avoid anything that scratches, pokes or doesn’t fit right. Looking good is not an option over having a great night’s sleep.

23. Buy a Good Pillow

Every person has his or her own preference for a pillow style. Lumpy, bumpy, firm or soft – it makes no difference as long as it is comfortable to you. Purchase one with a solid covering so the stuffing doesn’t fall out and make a mess. On the other hand, if it doesn’t have a good covering, buy an extra pillowcase and double stuff it.

24. Have a Night Light

The occasional potty break in the night is bound to happen. When it does, have a little night light in the hall or bathroom so you have enough light to guide your way. A stubbed toe or bruise to the shin is no fun in the dark, and can turn even the perfect beginnings of a good night’s of sleep into a nightmare.

25. Put a Paper and Pencil by Your Bed

Are you one of those people who get the best ideas during the middle of the night? Keep a pen or pencil by your bed with a sheet of paper. If you wake up in the middle of the night and have a great idea, dream or anything important that you want to remember, write it down. Don’t lie in bed and try to drill it into your head to remember. Take the worry out, write it down, and fall right back asleep.

26. Relax Exercises Before You Sleep

Even the most relaxed person will have a stressful day or two now and then. If you are feeling stressed out, but it is bedtime, try some relaxation exercises to calm yourself down. Deep breathing, focusing on one object and relaxing the muscles in your body can chase away the stresses so you can sleep peacefully. The relaxation techniques can be done anytime during the day if you need to unwind or take a breather. They will help you unwind at night and fall asleep quickly, too.

27. Exercise During the Day
Keeping fit is important. However, if your exercise regime is scheduled for after dinner every day, it may affect your sleep patterns. The adrenaline after a good workout pumps through your veins, however it can keep you awake too. Tossing and turning in bed until the adrenaline rush wears off can be tiring. Exercise earlier in the day or hold off until morning so your adrenaline has the proper amount of time to relax.

28. Sit With Your Feet up Before Going to Bed

Propping your feet up before bed not only gives you rest, it improves your circulation. When your circulation is adequate, any swelling that may have occurred during the day goes down also. If the swelling is bad, it can make your legs throb during the night and make for a fitful sleep until the swelling does go down.

29. Set an Alarm Clock

Don’t rely on your natural alarm clock to get up in the morning. If you have an important meeting, make sure to set an alarm clock for the appropriate time. When the alarm clock is set, you won’t have to worry if you will wake up at the right time or not. An alarm will take the guesswork out and you can rest easy, all night.

30. Keep the Room Dark

Not everyone has the privilege of sleeping at night. Many people work an afternoon or night shift, forcing them to sleep for at least part of the day. If you are one of those people, keeping the room dark will help you get a better sleep. Hang dark colored towels or a blanket over the window. If there isn’t a curtain rod, use duct tape to keep it close to the wall and no sun rays peeking in around the corner.

Sleeping Tips ideas Part 2

11. Make Your Room Peaceful
If the budget allows, paint your walls a tranquil color. Pick a color you  like, preferably in soft hues to cover the walls. Loud patterns, colored  stripes or bright wallpaper may interfere with your relaxation at night.  If you walk into a bedroom decorated the way you like, you can exhale  deeply, and fall right into bed. It’s your room and the way you like it.  Sleep sound knowing you picked it out.

12. Don’t Feed a Sweet Tooth

Sugar right before bedtime can mess up your night of sleep in a  variety of ways. 1 – The sugar can hype up your system and make it  hard to fall asleep. 2 – Sugar right before bedtime can cause vivid  dreams and even nightmares. 3 – The sugar, even after brushing your  teeth, can cause tooth decay! So, leave the candy in the jar until  morning, after breakfast. Then you can please your sweet tooth when  you have enough time to burn it off!

13. Drift Off to Dreamland
Our dreams, or the subject of our dreams, can ruin a night of sleep. If you have a problem or an argument right before bedtime, try to work it out before going to bed. You may have a hard time falling asleep, staying asleep or even experience bad dreams all night long. Write your problems on a sheet of paper so you can worry about them the next day, make up with a partner or solve your problems before hitting the sack. You’ll be glad you did!

14. Use Water

Using water can help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Water fountains are popular since the sound of running water is soothing to many people. The fountains can have a little trickle or a louder waterfall sound. They are all self contained and run with a motor and electricity. However, if you are a person that needs to go to the bathroom every time you hear running water, this option won’t be for you.

15. REM Sleep

REM sleep is the deep sleep we fall into for 2-3 hours every night. REM stands for rapid eye movement, as our eyes move rapidly during this period. For children and babies, REM sleep helps their brains to grow and develop. REM sleep is also when most dreams occur. Whether we remember them or not, most people dream every night.
 

16. Buy a Noisemaker

When the house is completely quiet, some people can’t sleep at all. Insert – noise machine. These little machines plug in and offer a variety of sounds to choose from. Some include a babbling brook, ocean waves, white noise and heartbeats. Heartbeats, you say? Yes. Babies have been shown to sleep with this since it simulates their mother’s heartbeat that they listened to for 9 months.

17. Play CD’s

If you don’t like classic music or even lullabies, play any type of CD during the night. Keep the volume low so as to not bother others in your house. The constant music can help to block out other noises that may be a distraction to you during the night. CD’s are a good option because they can be put to repeat and play all night long without you having to get up and mess with them.

18. Get Comfy Sheets

The best feeling in the world is sliding in to bed with crisp, clean sheets. And all sheets are not created equal. Sheets are categorized by thread count. A higher thread count means softer, comfier, more luxurious sheets. Lower thread counts tend to be cheaper, but can also be picky or develop fuzz balls over time. If your sheets remain soft and smooth, not to mention clean, you will sleep better.

19. Have a Support Mattress

One of the easiest ways to ensure you have a good night’s sleep is to have a good mattress. Go to a real mattress store and try out many different kinds. There are oodles of things to try: firmness, softness, adjustable, pillow top, etc. Don’t be shy in the store and lay on each bed. See what feels the best and buy it! Your good rest needs to start with having the best of the basics.

20. Use Weather Appropriate Pajamas

Now, I know, some people don’t wear pajamas. To those of you, who choose to, make sure they fit the season. Even if the AC is on during the summer, you don’t want to put the long flannels on. If you feel the need to, then maybe you should adjust the thermostat instead. The same goes for wearing a tank top in the dead of winter. Maybe the heat is set to high if you are that hot at night.