ANCSLEEP BLOG

People who have trouble sleeping may depend on melatonin, a hormone naturally made by the body, but can also be purchased over the counter as well. Because melatonin is a supplement, individuals who are taking other hormones, such as birth control pills, may worry about the interactions between the two. However, there are no known interactions between birth control and melatonin.

The important thing to know is that the combination of the two may increase side effects, such as tiredness, dizziness, and headaches. Continue reading to learn more about how each of these work in the visually, and how they affect one another one taken at the same time. 

If you are having trouble sleeping, then your primary care physician may refer you to a sleep specialist. It can be difficult to determine who should be your sleep doctor. Of course, here, we would love for you to be our patient. However, it's important for you to make an informed decision about who is going to handle your sleep health.

There are certain characteristics that you should consider whenever you are choosing a sleep doctor. This way you can get the appropriate testing that you need. Learn about what a sleep specialist is, what training and board certification is required, and how you can choose the right doctor that will provide you with the health that you were looking for. 

Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night completely parched? This could be because you went to bed dehydrated. Dehydration occurs when the body loses more water than it takes in. Symptoms of dehydration include dry mouth, sore throat, and less urination. However, if dehydration is severe, then you can even feel faint and confused. Dehydration can even impair basic metabolic processes if it gets too severe. 

There is a complex relationship between dehydration and sleep that is not entirely understood. Continue reading to learn more about how dehydration may affect sleep, how how poor sleep might affect hydration, and your ability to stay hydrated throughout the night. 

Your heart rate can change throughout the day based on your level of activity, emotions, stress levels, etc. Stress and exercise increase your heart rate, while relaxing and sleeping can lower it. A normal heart rate while you're sleeping anywhere between 40-50 bpm. Now, if you're familiar with normal heart rates, you may think that's incredibly slow, or what's medically known as bradycardia. But your body is under less metabolic demand when you're sleeping, therefore, you're heart doesn't have to beat as fast. Continue reading to learn more about what is a normal heart rate for different ages, as well as signs that you could have an underlying condition.

Deep sleep is the third stage of sleep that is responsible for repairing and restoring the muscles and your brain. In order for you to wake up feeling refreshed, you must spend part of your night in deep sleep. Getting enough deep sleep will benefit your memory, muscle growth, and immune system. Without enough deep sleep, you may have learning difficulties, increased risk of infection, and long-term health conditions. Continue reading to learn more about derp sleep and about how much you need.

Pain can negatively impact your quality of sleep. If you have ever had a leg cramp, or tried falling asleep when you had a backache, you know how impossible it can seem. Waking up with numbness in your fingers and hands may feel the same as waking up with pain. 

This is known as neuropathy, and can be the result of vitamin deficiencies, uncontrolled diabetes, and other unnerving disorders. Many people can also experience occasional numbness/tingling of the hands upon waking due to laying on a part of their body and cutting off circulation to the arm. If you wake up with numbness and tingling periodically, it's normally not that big of a deal. However, if your symptoms greatly interfere with your ability to get a good night's sleep, then it may be time to see a doctor. Continue reading to learn more about numbness in your hands while sleeping. 

Obstructive sleep apnea is a sleep-related breathing disorder in which the back of the throat collapses, blocking the airway. This leads to multiple cessations of breathing throughout the day, that requires the body to wake up momentarily to begin breathing again. These pauses are known as apneic events, and one can experience several hundred of these a night.

The impact of this disease is poor sleep, chronic sleep deprivation, weight gain, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, and just an overall poor quality of life. The gold standard for treating sleep apnea is continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP. This therapy is a machine that blows air into your lungs when you exhale to keep the tissues from relaxing.

The CPAP machine can be uncomfortable, requires a lot of maintenance to keep it clean and sanitized, and often can be a bit cumbersome. Therefore, there are alternatives to using a CPAP machine, like surgery. There are various surgeries to improve your sleep apnea, but the decision to have surgery comes with more risks that moderate treatment. Continue reading to learn more about surgery for sleep apnea, and what exactly that may entail. After reading this article, you may have more information for a clear conversation with your doctor about what the best move is for you.  

Both insomnia and depression are interrelated conditions that can worsen the other. The good news about this is that treating one, often improves the other, and treating both can drastically improve the quality of your life. 

The link between them is bidirectional. Worsening depression, often leads to insomnia. And an inability to sleep, often leads to worsening depressive feelings, as sleep is required for mental wellbeing. Continue reading to learn more about how treating both conditions works to improve the other.  

Do you lie in bed, reading to go to sleep, and then are suddenly overcome with anxiety? If so, you wouldn't be alone. Anxiety often seems to get worse at night. It may be due to the fact that you're lying there in the dark and quiet, with nothing but space to think about stressful things, and ruminate over your day. Or, perhaps you've experienced something at night that makes you nervous, and therefore, you have a hard time at night.

Whatever the reason is, anxiety at nighttime can be a killer to your sleep. Therefore, it's important to find some ways to relax enough to go to sleep. Continue reading for some tips and tricks to fight rumination! 

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a sleeping disorder where one feels a compulsive need to move their legs at night in order to relieve a stinging or pinpricking sensation. This constant movement interrupts the sleeper and any bed partners. Often, those uncomfortable sensations are relieved by the individual getting out of bed and walking around.

These uncomfortable sensations seem to worsen during inactivity, so one may become more aware of them while sitting down or lying down. While there is no active cure for them, there are some medications that can relieve these feelings. One popular medication is called Ropinirole, and can help calm down those sensations for improved sleep. However, if you would like to try something a bit more natural, then magnesium may due the trick.

Magnesium is a natural mineral that our bodies need to function. It plays a role in regulating different biochemical reactions in the body. A magnesium deficiency can cause issues with nerve impulse conduction, muscle contractions, and cramps. Continue reading to learn more about the impact that magnesium may have on RLS.