Hi Byte Wellness Fam!

Hopefully, you have some extra time off and can wind down from work and family in these next few days. If you’re looking for ways to spend that time, hop over to our private community to watch some workshops, make new friends, etc.

We’re stepping into a long holiday weekend where the U.S. celebrates its declaration of independence from Britain. Independence, in general, can be a really good thing.

How Much Wellness Independence Is Enough?

We encourage our kids and teenagers to “be independent” of their parents…to learn to stand on their own, because we won’t always be there to help them.

Funny thing is, too much of any good thing under the wrong circumstances can be a problem.

The same is true of independence. Especially with health and wellness, we each have to find the right balance between supporting our wellbeing on our own (independently) vs. relying on our healthcare team to help us prevent and treat disease.

Given all the risks our society poses, some mix of independence and support from healthcare experts is probably ideal.

Read below to see some sleep red flags that you might want to mention to your doctor if they apply to you.

4 Sleep Red Flags You Don’t Want to Miss

When we have sleep issues, it can be really important to loop in our healthcare providers early to help us troubleshoot sleep.

That’s because there are some medical conditions that will disrupt sleep constantly if we don’t address them. Some of these conditions have simple solutions, but we can’t necessarily diagnose and treat them on our own.

Check whether you have any of the sleep red flags below:

• Excessive snoring- could indicate obstructive sleep apnea

• Missing breaths while sleeping- could indicate obstructive or central sleep apnea

• Waking up to use the bathroom- could indicate bladder incontinence (prostate disease if male)

• Pain or discomfort- could indicate injury or tumor that needs to be managed.

Discussion Question:

• In the last month, what was the biggest thing keeping you from getting enough sleep?
  Is it something you have control over?

  This first question is soooo important for diagnosing the cause of our sleep issues, so we can actually solve them!

Happy Healthy Living,

Dr. Wuse