Sleep Signals
Hi Byte Wellness Fam!
How are you feeling?
I feel deserving…of rest. That’s huge for me. It’s conversations like the ones we’ve been having in our #PhyteWellWednesday Workshops that push me to avoid mindset traps like prioritizing productivity over everything.
This week, we wrapped up week 7 of our Wellness RESET conversations. This was our third week on using SLEEP as a wellness superpower. And it was a major one! We got deep into natural ways to manage hot flashes in order to have undisrupted sleep.
Thanks, Dr. Michelle, for sharing the study on using whole soy beans for menopausal hot flashes!
The big takeaway is that our habits have incredible power to boost our wellbeing and lower our health risks. But, we still need to collaborate with our doctors- especially when we’ve hit a wall in managing something as vital to our health as sleep.
Check out the recording of the #PhyteWellWorkshop below. And, if you’re not getting invites to the workshop but would like to, send TEXT to 1(866)717-1919.
Discussion Question:
Have you ever talked with your doctor about trouble sleeping? Would you?
The ABCs of Getting Sleep
In the last few weeks, we broke down the reasons why our mind and body NEED sleep. We learned to identify whether we were getting adequate sleep (quantity and quality). Then we trouble-shot to solve our sleep issues.
Check below to review the ABCs of using sleep as a wellness superpower.
Attitude
Our mindset is often the first barrier to getting enough sleep. Do we know how important quality sleep is? Are we willing to prioritize sleep over other things (like work)? Or, do we consistently believe that we have to finish work (for our career or for our friends/family) before we’re allowed to rest?
Behaviors
Once we’ve gotten our minds right, we might still have trouble falling asleep ans staying asleep. That’s where sleep habits (also known as sleep hygiene) comes in.
Yesss to S
Sun (getting natural light during the day helps depress melatonin to set our sleep clock. That way we’re ready for bed at night.
Sweat (getting some sort of exercise during the day helps to tire us out- also known as building sleep pressure)
Special Status (make sure your bed is a special place where only sleep happens),
Avoid watching TV/reading for longer than 20 to 30-minutes before bed and at other times during the day.
Lower the Ls (especially at night)
Light that isn’t natural (artificial blue light from LED lights and backlit devices) can confuse our brains and disrupt our sleep clock- especially when we use these lights at night.
Liquor (limit Alcohol, nicotine, caffeine in the 6-8 hours before bedtime in order to avoid sleep disruptions)
Conditions
Work with your doctor to see what your sleeping trouble is all ABOUT (see pic below)
A: Anxiety. If anxiety is keeping us up, we could use a visit to a psychologist or therapist for some therapy to manage our anxiety and possibly a visit to a psychiatrist if we need meds to calm us down for sleep
B: Breathing. If you or a partner notices that we pause in breathing at any point during sleep, we need to get a visit with a sleep specialist and have a sleep study done (possible referral from primary care doc). Other sleep disorders that can be diagnosed with a sleep study include insomnia, narcolepsy, restless leg syndrome. These aren’t things we should try to solve on our own.
O: Ouch/Pain. If we’re in so much pain at night that we can’t get to sleep or stay asleep, that pain needs to be evaluated by a doctor. We need to rule out a serious injury to the bone (like a fracture), muscles, or nerves. Our doctor should also make sure bone pain isn’t caused by an undiagnosed cancer.
U: Urine/Bowel Movement. If we can’t hold our urine or stool overnight, we’ve got to talk to our doctor. They can help us diagnose the cause of urinary incontinence. Our doctor should also evaluate us for inflammatory bowel disease or pancreatic disease if we’re having uncontrolled stools overnight.
T: Temperature. If hot flashes in menopause make us too uncomfortable to sleep we need to talk with our doctor about potential solutions. They might recommend hormones, or a medication like venlafaxine to reduce the vasomotor symptoms of menopause. They should also review habit shifts that can help reduce symptoms, like following a low-sugar, low-caffeine, low-alcohol, high-soy eating plan. Our doctor should also check our thyroid to make sure thyroid disease isn’t contributing to the problem.
Any of these conditions or symptoms sound familiar? If they do, please don’t try to manage them on your own.
Your doctor can help you run tests to help diagnose the problem. Then, they can recommend solutions (even non-pill solutions) to help you get the sleep you need!
Have any advice for the community on how to talk to your doctor about sleep issues? Let me know.
Happy Healthy Living,
Dr. Wuse