The Top 5 Ways to Overcome These Sleep Stealers

Most people know that ADD/ADHD can cause symptoms of distractibility, impulsivity, inattentiveness, hyperactivity and irritability. But did you know that ADD/ADHD can also affect your sleep? When you fail to get quality sleep, it can impact your performance at school, work and in life. Losing sleep comes with a host of health concerns and can make your symptoms even worse.

In our hectic, 24-7 society, we could just as easily ask “what doesn’t cause sleep deprivation?” There are seemingly endless reasons why millions of us are missing out on a good night’s sleep.

Here is a list of some of the most common factors:

1. A warm room.
2. Light in the bedroom.
3. Noise.
4. Gadgets by the bed.
5. Going to bed worried or angry.
6. Medications: Many medications including asthma medications, antihistamines, cough medicines, anticonvulsants, stimulants, such as Adderall or Concerta prescribed for ADHD, and many others disturb sleep.
7. Caffeine: Too much caffeine from coffee, tea, chocolate, or some herbal preparations — especially when consumed later in the day or at night — can disrupt sleep.
8. Alcohol, nicotine, and marijuana: Although these compounds initially induce sleepiness for some people, they have the reverse effect as they wear off, which is why you may wake up several hours after you go to sleep.
9. Restless Legs Syndrome: A nighttime jerking or pedaling motion of the legs that drives a person’s bed partner crazy (as well as the person who has it).
10. Women’s issues: Pregnancy, PMS, menopause, and perimenopause cause fluctuations in hormone levels that can disrupt the sleep cycle.
11. Thyroid conditions.
12. Congestive heart failure.
13. Chronic pain conditions.
14. Untreated or undertreated psychiatric conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, or anxiety.
15. Alzheimer’s disease: Dementia patients “sundown” or rev up at night and wander.
16. Chronic gastrointestinal problems, such as reflux.
17. Men’s issues: Benign prostatic hypertrophy causes many trips to the bathroom at night, which interrupts slumber.
18. Snoring: It can wake you or your sleep mate, or everyone in the house, if it’s loud.
19. Sleep apnea: With this condition, you stop breathing for short periods of time throughout the night, which robs you of restful sleep and leaves you feeling sluggish, inattentive, and forgetful throughout the day.
20. Shift work: Nurses, firefighters, security personnel, customer service representatives, truck drivers, airline pilots, and many others toil by night and sleep by day. Or, at least, they try to sleep. Shift workers are especially vulnerable to irregular sleep patterns, which leads to excessive sleepiness, reduced productivity, irritability, and mood problems.
21. Stressful events: The death of a loved one, divorce, a major deadline at work, or an upcoming test can cause temporary sleep loss.
22. Jet lag: International travel across time zones wreaks havoc with sleep cycles.

How many of the above sleep issues are causing problems in your life? Are your habits or conditions making it difficult for you to turn your brain off at night? Do you fail to get quality sleep on a consistent basis?

Being sleep deprived is a bigger problem than you might think and can have a devastating impact on your health. Getting less than 6 hours of sleep each night has been associated with lower overall brain activity and can adversely affect your productivity, physical safety, and weight. Inadequate sleep not only increases your risk of developing psychiatric disorders such as ADD/ADHD, anxiety, and depression, but can also lead to serious health issues like diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

Even though they’ve become the standard method of managing the symptoms of ADD/ADHD, medications aren’t the only solution.

Here are some natural strategies for how to avoid the sleep stealers in your life:

Adjust Your Sleep Position

Sleeping on your back tends to make snoring worse because the tongue slides toward the back of the throat. Sleeping on your side with a pillow that keeps your head slightly elevated is usually recommended to reduce snoring and the symptoms of sleep apnea.

Don’t Take Naps

This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make if you have trouble sleeping. Daytime naps will make the nighttime sleep cycle disruption worse.

Avoid Substances

Another reason people get lower-quality sleep following alcohol is that it blocks REM sleep, which is often considered the most restorative type of sleep. With less REM sleep, you’re likely to wake up feeling groggy and unfocused.

Maintain a Regular Sleep Schedule

Go to bed at the same time each night and wake up (regardless of how much sleep you got the night before) at the same time each day, including on weekends.

Create a Restful Environment

Make sure your bedroom is comfortable. Adjust the temperature so that your room isn’t too hot or cold. Also, keep your room as dark as possible while sleeping.

If you’re not getting enough sleep, or if you’re not feeling refreshed after sleep, Amen Clinics can help. Since sleep disorders often occur alongside other physical and mental health conditions, such as ADD/ADHD, anxiety and depression, we seek to understand each patient’s individual challenges. We want to learn more about your unique situation so that we can provide a personalized solution.

Dealing with a condition like ADD/ADHD can be challenging, especially when symptoms are compounded by sleep issues. Our goal is to help you achieve and maintain peaceful sleep without the use of sleeping pills or sedatives. One of the best ways we can accomplish that is with the use of brain SPECT imaging.

Our Full Evaluation of your biological, psychological, social, and spiritual history, coupled with two brain SPECT imaging scans, cognitive testing, and a clinical assessment is designed to address your specific needs and offer customized treatment options.

To learn more about how we can help improve the quality of your sleep, call us today at 888-288-9834 or visit us online to schedule a visit.