Some of us may think that interrupted sleeping is a simple matter but actually, it’s not. It can be unhealthy if experienced too frequently so to help you out, let me tell you how to fix interrupted sleep.
So, how to fix interrupted sleep? Check these 10 tips that can help fix interrupted sleep!
- 10 Ways How to Fix Interrupted Sleep:
- Follow a proper sleep routine
- Sleeping early and following a proper routine can keep your body’s system “normal” and avoid becoming dysfunctional which provides better sleep.
- Avoid smoking cigarettes
- Smoke or even secondhand smoke, when inhaled, can cause muscles to swell and become irritated, leading to interrupted sleeps.
Avoid smoke at least 2 hours before bed.
- Smoke or even secondhand smoke, when inhaled, can cause muscles to swell and become irritated, leading to interrupted sleeps.
- Limit or avoid drinking liquor before bed
- Drinking excessive liquor can relax your muscles too much that your body may not work as well as it should, causing you to have interrupted sleep.
It is best advised to avoid liquor 6 or 3 hours before bedtime.
- Drinking excessive liquor can relax your muscles too much that your body may not work as well as it should, causing you to have interrupted sleep.
- Keep your body relaxed two hours before bed
- If you’re exhausted, try to relax for a while before closing your eyes to sleep.
- Don’t sleep with your stomach full
- Sleeping with a heavy stomach can cause difficult breathing which may interrupt your sleep with or without you noticing.
- Avoid daytime napping
- When you nap later than 3 PM, you may have a hard time sleeping at night.
- Sleep in a cozy bedroom
- It will be easier to sleep in a dim lit, quiet room with comfortable furniture or decor. Considering decorating your room or making it more comfortable for you.
- Do relaxing activities before sleeping
- Listen to your “lullaby” music or watch a good movie that can take away your stress or keep your mind off stuff that may interrupt your sleep.
- Keep clocks out of sight
- Some of us may unconsciously stare at clocks or check it every once in a few minutes which may interrupt our sleep. Keep clocks away to sleep for straight hours!
- Exercise regularly
- A healthy body can also help you sleep easier and better at night, but do not exercise too much and too close to bedtime. Exercise in the morning.
- Follow a proper sleep routine
Other tips may also include keeping gadgets away (your phone, laptop or such) to help you focus on sleeping, managing your stress, avoiding scary movies and more.
There are plenty of reasons why we may experience interrupted sleeping which is why fixing it can also involve different methods.
Interrupted sleeping is not good for our health especially for our heart.
If your sleeping is simply interrupted by noises or unwanted movements that cause you to wake up, then silencing the sounds or stopping the unwanted movements should be done.
Consider sleeping on a different bed if your bed partner is loud (for example, snoring loudly and constantly) or if they move around too much that it bothers your sleep.
It’s better to prioritize getting proper sleep than tolerating small discomfort that can cost you big consequences for your health later on.
Have you ever gotten a full six to eight hours of sleep and still feel tired after waking? This is usually caused by interrupted sleeping.
If our body is unable to sleep well at night, it can’t relax the way it normally should which can eventually affect our hearts and cause other complicated issues or worsen existing conditions.
It is also possible that interrupted sleeping can be a sign of other illnesses that may continue to worsen each other as long as both the illnesses exists.
No matter how normal it may seem, if it happens too frequently, curing the problem comes first before anything dangerous happens to your health.
For some cases, interrupted sleeping may be a sign of a sleeping condition called “sleep apnea” and it’s another sleep problem that one must be wary of since it can potentially cause death during sleep.
So what happens when our sleep continues to get interrupted and what causes it in the first place? Should we be alarmed? All your questions will be answered as you read on.
What causes interrupted sleep?
If you’re curious about what interrupts your sleeping, the best way to find out is by visiting your doctor. However, let me share a few factors that can contribute to disrupted sleep to help give you an idea.
- 17 Facts that Interrupts Sleep:
- Depression
- As long as a person is undergoing depression, sleeping may be a difficult task. It can trigger mild to severe insomnia.
- Insomnia
- Insomnia may also have different causes. If the person is struggling with insomnia, sleeping pills is recommended but consult a health expert first for more detailed diagnosis.
- Headaches
- Going to sleep with a headache doesn’t always make the pain go away, it can continue even during sleep which can wake us up all of a sudden.
It’s also not a good idea to sleep with a headache as there are reported cases of people showing signs of an illness that headache is a symptom of that caused sudden death in sleep.
- Going to sleep with a headache doesn’t always make the pain go away, it can continue even during sleep which can wake us up all of a sudden.
- Sleep apnea
- Sleep apnea is when a person is experiencing difficulty in breathing regardless and the heart actually stops beating or we stop breathing for a second or longer.
- Noises
- Simple causes such as noise and movements can definitely wake us up during sleep. Make sure your sleeping environment is sleep-friendly.
- Heart problems
- Heart problems will cause breathing problems as well. Being unable to breathe well can cause interrupted sleep.
- Musculoskeletal disorders
- Arthritis or other body pain can make sleeping difficult. People with such disorders may feel pain when shifting sleep positions and wake up from the pain.
- Kidney problems
- Kidney disease can cause waste products to build up in the blood and can result in insomnia or symptoms of restless legs syndrome.
- Nocturia
- Nocturia is when a person frequently gets up late at night to urinate. This can be avoided if you limit your water intake before bed.
- Phobias
- When a person’s phobia has been triggered, it may cause them to struggle sleeping.
- Stress
- Too much stress can lead to other mental health issues and make sleeping difficult.
- Anxiety
- People with anxiety disorders are prone to insomnia regardless of the severity.
- Panic attacks
- Panic attacks can happen to anyone at anytime, but usually people with anxiety disorders experience this and have a hard time sleeping.
- Bipolar disorder
- Irregular mood patterns can also disrupt the mind’s decision making.
People with bipolar disorder may suddenly decide they don’t feel like sleeping yet and disrupt the entire sleeping pattern.
- Irregular mood patterns can also disrupt the mind’s decision making.
- Schizophrenia
- According to studies, schizophrenic people tend to experience hallucinations or hear voices inside their head that may interrupt their sleeping.
- Epilepsy
- Epilepsy attacks can happen during sleep and it apparently happens more at night than during the day and causes disrupted sleep.
- Dementia
- Neurological disorders that affect the brain like dementia and other disorders can cause wandering, disorientation, and agitation during the evening and night.
This phenomenon is referred to as “sundowning,” and causes interrupted sleeping.
- Neurological disorders that affect the brain like dementia and other disorders can cause wandering, disorientation, and agitation during the evening and night.
- Depression
Why you should fix interrupted sleep
So what happens if your sleep continues to get interrupted? Here’s what interrupted sleep can do to you.
- Interrupted sleep causes:
- Death
- When sleep is continuously interrupted, it may cause illnesses that may affect the heart and the brain which can lead to sudden death during sleep.
- Difficult breathing
- Constant interrupted sleeping can affect your heart and make breathing difficult for you even during sleep.
- Snoring
- Not being able to sleep well can make breathing hard and not breathing well can cause people to snore or breathe through their mouths just to get the right sleep.
- Worsens other illnesses
- If you have other health problems, constant interrupted sleep can end up worsening it or they may worsen each other.
- Heart problems
- Disrupted sleep makes you more prone to heart problems such as heart failure or heart attacks. This can be due to the lack of blood oxygen levels.
- Irregular heartbeat
- Disrupted sleep can cause low blood oxygen levels it and lead to an abnormal heartbeat or pauses in breathing during sleep.
- Stroke
- Similar to heart problems
- Depression
- Depression can cause interrupted sleeping, but interrupted sleeping can also cause depression with or without the person noticing.
- Weight gain or loss
- Interrupted sleep can mess with your body’s ability to control your hormones. You may gain weight uncontrollably and quickly.
- Diabetes
- Disrupted sleep disables the body’s ability to control the sugar level which can lead to diabetes.
- High Blood Pressure
- Interrupted sleep can potentially cause or worsen hypertension in people.
- Increases ADHD
- Being sleep deprived decreases the person’s ability to focus, worsening conditions such as ADHD.
- Headaches
- The lack of air that enters the brain can lead to other brain problems, but usually results in morning headaches.
- Daytime sleepiness
- Difficulty sleeping at night can lead to restless sleeps, making you feel the need to stay asleep even during the day because your body couldn’t rest well at night.
- Insomnia
- Few nights of interrupted sleeping can lead to insomnia. Instead of waking up randomly at night, you will end up being unable to sleep for the rest of the evening.
- Seizures
- People who experience disrupted sleep frequently are more prone to seizures during sleep compared to epilepsy patients without sleeping problems.
- Irritability
- When you are sleep deprived, you will unconsciously lose control of your emotional stability. You can become irritable or easily frustrated.
- Poor memory
- Disrupted sleep causes sleep deprivation which may lower your brain’s performance as it affects the brain activity, causing poor memory in patients.
- Respiratory diseases
- Disrupted sleep may trigger respiratory diseases because the body’s overall functionality can be affected.
- Driving accidents
- The lack of concentration and daytime sleepiness can lead to driving accidents when you can’t sleep well.
- Death
As you can see, some of these may not seem threatening but many of them can raise some concerns. Therefore, if you experience interrupted sleeping, it’s best to see your doctor for remedy.
Related Questions
Is interrupted sleep better than no sleep?
Yes, interrupted sleep is “slightly” better than no sleep. Either way, both can affect your overall health but having no sleep at all can make the consequences worse.
However, interrupted sleep causes people to experience poor emotional stability or increased irritability than people who gets no sleep at all.
Some people may say, the interrupted sleeping is more annoying than being unable to sleep at all.
(Read: “Interrupted Sleep Remedies” for solution.)
Is waking up every 2 hours bad?
No, waking up every 2 hours is commonly not bad for us because it’s normal for people to experience that when we move between REM and non-REM sleep at night.
However, if you are unable to go back to sleep and you suspect that it’s causing you to feel bad and also if you experience it too frequently, consider going to a doctor.
(Read: “Foods That Help You Sleep” to help you stay asleep)
