Don’t you just hate it when you can’t sleep? Whether it takes forever to fall asleep or you keep waking up during the night, you are simply not “with it” the following day.  The severity of sleep issue vary from occasional poor sleep due to stress to a full on sleep disorder like insomnia. Even when it is an occasional issue, poor sleep can effect you even if you lose just an hour of sleep for one night. For chronic sleep issues, the cumulative effects will be more significant. The result of poor sleep can vary from the most obvious symptoms like fatigue and poor concentration to less obvious like anxiety, panic, migraines, and high blood pressure.  Identifying the cause(s) is the first step to correcting your sleep problems. We will discuss some of the more common one's here.

Hormonal Imbalances

Hormones regulate numerous aspects of your body’s ability to function. When they fluctuate or are consistently out of balance, you can have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. For instance, low progesterone or high estrogen can cause insomnia and irritability. Low estrogen can also cause sleep disturbance since it can cause hot flashes and night sweats.

In turn, lack of sleep can affect your body’s normal production of hormones.  So in some cases you’re caught in a never-ending cycle of sleeplessness. Other sleep-affecting hormonal imbalances are low testosterone, high cortisol, and low melatonin.  Having a trained eye evaluate your hormone levels is a great place to start for improving your sleep.

Genetics

We all function according to our own internal rhythm and daily patterns also know as circadian rhythm.  This is created by your daily activities and influenced by the environment around you. This internal clock is partially responsible for you being a morning person (lark) or a night person (owl). Another perhaps bigger influence is your genetic make-up. Since we are genetically unique how well we sleep, how much we sleep, and when we sleep can be influenced by how we create and breakdown neurochemicals that influence sleep. It's hard to say how much sleep you need specifically but when lack of sleep influences your ability to function at your best, there is an issue. Typically sleep patterns range from 6 to 9 hours nightly – with optimal being around the 8 hour mark.

Genetics influence all kinds of things that can effect your sleep. For instance, it can affect your body’s production of melatonin, the hormone that tells your body when it’s time to get ready for sleep. In general, darkness induces melatonin production and light stops production, which is why we get sleepy at night. In some cases, when you can't sleep it is because you are not making melatonin.  Another genetic example is an excess of excitatory neurotransmitters like norepinephrine. This neurotransmitter makes you excited but can also can prevent you from sleeping when there is too much around. Through understanding how your genetics influence your neurotransmitters we can support the imbalances with nutrition.

Side Effects From Medications and Recreational Drugs

The things you ingest can affect your ability to fall asleep and what stages of sleep you are able to enter. For instance, many types of medications (and recreational drugs) can cause insomnia. In some cases it is the medication itself and in other cases it is the body's response to the medication or drug.  Alcohol and many classes of Benzodiezepines cause a rebound insomnia, occurring anywhere from 3-6 hours to 24-72 hours after cessation of their consumption. They usually help you fall asleep but the sleep quality is poor as reflected by only entering the superficial stages of sleep.  Stimulants like nicotine and caffeine can all have detrimental effects on your sleep pattern since they counteract the effects of sedative sleep hormones and neurotransmitters like melatonin and serotonin.

Obviously when you can't sleep emotional and psychological factors only make things worse. Worrying about impending activities or deadlines and conflict at home or at work are common examples. Your body and mind require a “winding down” period in order to transition successfully to sleep mode. So what can you do to help get in a "sleep mode?"

Getting In A Sleep Mode

Practice good “sleep hygiene” to create the best possible environment for you melatonin to be stimulated. Following these practices will help you fall asleep faster, get in a deeper stage of sleep, and stay asleep:

• Try creating a pre-sleep routine that enables you to unwind. Reading, meditating and taking a warm bath are all good ideas.
• Don’t nap during the day.
• Don’t eat a heavy meal shortly before bedtime.
• Eat a small protein source -- it contains L-tryptophan, which helps induce sleep. It also helps keep your blood sugar balanced.
• Don’t exercise vigorously shortly before bedtime. Do try relaxation exercises or yoga.
• Don’t use your bed for non-sleeping activities like watching TV.
• Get plenty of exposure to natural light during the daytime.
• Maintain consistent times for going to bed and getting up.   
• Make sure your bed is comfortable and your bedroom is relaxing, dark and a sleep-appropriate temperature.
• Turn the lights down and all electronics off, 30 minutes before bedtime.

Talk to Your Doctor

If you can’t sleep, it’s important to find out why so you can take corrective action. A holistic approach facilitates both diagnosis and planning a treatment regimen individually-tailored for your personal situation. Wouldn’t you rather fall asleep easily and wake up refreshed?