Insomnia can overtake us at any age. For starters, it’s worth changing your lifestyle a bit.
10. Dim the light two hours before bedtime
First you need to go to bed and wake up at the same time. It is advisable to be in bed no later than midnight, and even better at 22:00 or at least 23:00. A couple of hours before this, it’s worth dimming the light in the bedroom. If it’s summer outside, change the light curtains to dark ones and pull them tight so that street light does not get into the room. In winter, turn off the bright lights and leave only the nightlights on. But light comes not only from light bulbs. Change the brightness to lower in the evening and on all gadgets - on a computer, mobile phone, and even on a TV.
9. Choose a good mattress
Most often, we do not attach importance to mattresses and do not think about how important they play in the quality of our sleep, and therefore in our lifestyle. Old, too hard, or too soft mattresses can cause insomnia and discomfort during sleep. Therefore, be sure to purchase a mattress in a specialized store, where before buying, consult with a specialist what kind of look is more suitable for a healthy sleep.
8. Limit the use of gadgets in the evening
A bright TV screen, mottled pictures in a mobile phone emit a specific light that activates disturbances in the production of melatonin. Over time, this has a disastrous reaction to the whole body, so you should limit the use of gadgets in principle. But this is especially true in the evening, when the body begins to adjust itself to sleep, and artificial light and the constant change of images very much interfere with this. Therefore, refuse to use a computer, phone and TV and replace them with reading interesting books before going to bed.
7. Eat “sleepy” food
2-3 hours before bedtime, you should abandon meals in principle. Otherwise, the signal goes to the carotid body, and it actively begins to digest food. As a result, sleep is disturbed, discomfort in the abdomen appears. A few hours before bedtime, you should eat foods rich in tryptophan, an amino acid that stimulates the production of melatonin. Therefore, towards evening, lean on cottage cheese, milk, bananas, mushrooms, fish, cheese, nuts, yogurt and yogurt.
6. Limit caffeine
We all heard that coffee gives incredible vigor. This is really so, only we do not need to be awake at bedtime. Caffeine not only prevents us from falling asleep on time, but can also make us wake up in the middle of the night. Reception of this drink is useful only in the morning, but even at this time it is worth a couple of small cups. After 14:00, you should refuse drinks containing caffeine. These include not only coffee, but also green tea, cocoa and Coca-Cola. Also, in no case do not resort to caffeine if you want to feel more alert after insomnia. This will lead to a systematic sleep disturbance, and the next night you may again encounter a sleepless affliction.
5. Do not try to fall asleep if you do not want to
If at night you try to fall asleep through force, this will most likely not help. The brain will work hard, and you will not be able to relax. Therefore, try to behave intuitively and listen to what you really want at night. If you want to walk around the house, go to the balcony or read a book, do it. Perhaps in the process of these actions calm will come to you and begin to fall asleep. The main thing is not to engage in physical activity at night, so as not to excite the body even more.
4. Do not drink before bedtime
Naturally, you can drink ordinary water before going to bed. But in no case do not drink alcohol at night. Refuse evening gatherings and feasts with friends and relatives, if you do not want to suffer from lack of sleep later. On the one hand, alcohol in many cases really helps to fall asleep faster. But at the same time, after a few hours, you can wake up in the middle of the night with very unpleasant sensations. Alcohol disrupts the natural cycles of sleep, and the next morning after drinking strong drinks, people sometimes feel overwhelmed.
3. Minimize noise
The refrigerator working very loudly, scandalous neighbors, the sounds of cars from the street can prevent you from falling asleep and waking up in the morning wide awake and sleepy. Therefore, it is worth abandoning additional sources of noise. This is sometimes not so simple. Even if you minimize the noise around, you are unlikely to want to move from an apartment with thin walls or buy a new refrigerator or a less loud washing machine. Therefore, buy regular earplugs at any pharmacy and enjoy the silence at night.
2. Do not be angry with yourself
Insomnia very often causes irritation in a person. You can blame yourself for having coffee before bedtime or having an active workout in the gym and now you can’t fall asleep. However, anger causes active processes in the brain that will definitely not help you forget about sleep. In the event of insomnia, it is best to calm down, stop thinking about all your problems and relax. The next morning, just draw conclusions about what could cause insomnia yesterday and try to rule it out in the future.
1. Consult a doctor
If you have already tried all of the above, or if you need to get rid of insomnia urgently due to work or poor health, you should contact a specialist. A therapist or neurologist will help you diagnose to quickly identify the causes of insomnia and get rid of them. Also, in advanced cases, they will prescribe competent treatment like electric sleep or medication, or they will refer you to a narrower specialist like a psychiatrist or chiropractor.