Better Sleep Coach; Your Help to Better Health through Better Sleep
  • Home
  • Who we are
  • Tips for Better Sleep
  • Tips for Students of Any Age
  • Tips for Making CPAP your Friend
  • Tips for Techs
  • Sleep Quiz
  • Coaching
  • Night shift coaching
  • Products to Help You Sleep Better

Sleep is the Cure for Many Problems

4/22/2012

13 Comments

 
We turn more and more to medications to solve our health problems.  Although they usually can correct symptoms they do not necessarily correct the problem that is causing the problem.  Many problems can be made worse by sleep deprivation and some may look like one health issue and actually be an sign of a sleep problem.

Is it depression or a sleep issue?

Many people who have a sleep issues have the same symptoms of depression.  If you are tired all the time this could be due to sleep apnea or sleep deprivation as much as depression.  If you wake in the morning with a headache or feeling like your thinking is blurry this is a common sign for sleep apnea.  You probably spent the night with your oxygen levels going up and down, this keeps the brain from getting the oxygen and blood it needs throughout the night.

Your memory needs rest to work.

Many people whether you are a student getting ready for a test or a person who thinks that if they work just a few more hours they will get ahead are actually causing issues with their memory.  When we sleep we go into certain stages of sleep.  We start the beginning of the night going into slow wave sleep, this allows our body to heal and grow by releasing several hormones including human growth hormone.  Later in the night we go through cycles of sleep and REM sleep.  REM sleep is where we dream and is also where we take information and move it from short term memory to long term memory.  If you disrupt this cycle you may miss the refreshment of your body and your mind.

High Blood Pressure, Diabetes and other conditions aggravated by Sleep Apnea

Try holding your breath.  You will feel your heart start to pound and feel pressure building in your chest.  Now imagine doing that all night long.  Some people may only do this during certain positions or during certain stages of sleep.  Other people do this all night long and get worse as the night goes on.  The heart is stressed and has to work harder every time you hold your breath.  Each time you are unable to breathe you cause stress.  This stress releases cortisol which causes you to stress.  This contributes to increases in your blood pressure and blood sugar. 

Keep a diary see if your sleep is affecting your health.

We really do not think about how much or how well we sleep.  Keeping a sleep diary will help you to determine if your sleep habits or your sleep quality is contributing to your problems.  You should keep it for at least two weeks.  During this time you should document the time you go to bed, how long you think it took you to go to sleep, the time you wake up and how long until you get out of bed.  You should also document any time you get out of bed during the night and for how long.  I would also keep track of how much caffeine you had consumed during the day, if you took a nap and for how long and any unusual exertive activities you may have done.

In the end it is as much up to you as it is up to your doctor to figure out what is causing your health problems.  There are times when you can find that the solutions to your problem may not need a medication as much as it is small changes in your lifestyle or maybe be evaluated for a sleep disorder.

13 Comments

    Archives

    May 2020
    December 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    January 2018
    January 2017
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    August 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    December 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    January 2010

    RSS Feed

    Blog Roll
    Stop Snoring
    View my profile on LinkedIn

    Categories

    All
    Aasm
    Aast
    Add
    Allergies
    Amy Korn Reavis
    Amy Korn-Reavis
    Anxiety
    Apap
    Auto Titrating Cpap
    Balance
    Bedding
    Bipap
    Boards
    Bodymedia Fit
    Books
    Breathing
    Brpt
    Career
    Children
    Cpap
    Cpap Accessories
    Cpap Mask
    Cpap Masks
    Cpap Problems
    Cpap Solutions
    Cpap Therapy
    Daylight Savings Time
    Dental Appliances
    Diabetes
    Dr Steven Park
    Education
    Enurisis
    Exercise
    Fatigue
    Fibromyalgia
    Florida Association Of Sleep Technicians
    Gerd
    Growth
    Habits
    Health
    High Blood Pressure
    Holidays
    Hot Weather
    Insomnia
    Insurance
    Job
    Licensure
    Management
    Monitoring
    Morning Headaches
    Napping
    Nbrc
    New Cpap
    Obesity
    Obstructive Sleep Apnea
    Oral Appliances
    Osa
    Pain
    Pap Nap
    Physicial
    Planning
    Publicity
    Relax
    Relaxation
    Resolutions
    Respiratory Credentials
    Respiratory Therapy
    Shaq
    Sheets
    Short Sleep
    Sleep
    Sleep Apnea
    Sleep Deprivation
    Sleep Disorders
    Sleep Education
    Sleep Hygeine
    Sleep Hygiene
    Sleep Lab
    Sleep Routine
    Sleep Societies
    Sleep Stages
    Sleep Study
    Sleep Technician
    Sleep Test
    Sleep Testing
    Sleep Therapy
    Snoring
    Stress
    Studying
    Summer
    Support
    Support Groups
    Surgery
    Teens
    Tired
    Travel
    Treatment
    Vitamin D
    Weight Loss
    Winter Health
    Women
    Writing

    Amy Korn-Reavis, EzineArticles.com Basic PLUS Author
    Follow this blog
Photo used under Creative Commons from momentcaptured1
  • Home
  • Who we are
  • Tips for Better Sleep
  • Tips for Students of Any Age
  • Tips for Making CPAP your Friend
  • Tips for Techs
  • Sleep Quiz
  • Coaching
  • Night shift coaching
  • Products to Help You Sleep Better