For this final week, we look briefly at other factors that might influence the quality and quantity of our sleep. Everybody is different, so you could keep a brief diary of what happens when you adjust or remove any of these factors. Always consult your doctor for medical advice.

Before we begin, a BRIEF explanation of sleep cycles and terms

Sleep latency: The transition time between being awake and being asleep.

Sleep cycle: A simplified explanation!

We have two main phases of sleep.

REM (Rapid Eye Movement), which is more commonly associated with dreaming and typically makes up about 25% of our sleep.

NREM (Non- Rapid Eye Movement) which has three stages (scientists currently disagree as to the amount) of sleep, throughout which our brainwaves generally slow down.

We cycle between the two phases during the night for differing amounts of times.

Lifestyle factors that may affect sleep

Alcohol

Alcohol can seem like it's helping us sleep as it reduces sleep latency and generally the first half of the night we sleep more deeply as the body is processing the alcohol. However, in the second half of the night, we are likely to have a much lighter sleep than usual and are more likely to wake up and not be able to get back to sleep. Alcohol is a diuretic so we will probably feel the need to urinate more and/or wake up as we are dehydrated. It relaxes the muscles, including the throat muscles which might make us more likely to snore. In short, whilst alcohol might help you fall asleep, it reduces the restorative quality of sleep which is why you might feel like you do the next day! Please see the NHS guidelines for alcohol here. https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-support/calculating-alcohol-units/

How does alcohol affect your sleep? What could you do to change this?

Caffeine

Caffeine is what's known as an ‘adenosine receptor antagonist’  which effectively means that we cannot gauge whether we are tired, as adenosine that normally does that job for us has been affected.

Caffeine can be hidden in just about anything we ingest so check labels carefully, even decaffeinated drinks. And it's not just avoiding caffeine just before we go to bed, it can affect us for up to 6 hours after we have ingested it. Clare has to be careful not to have too much dark chocolate in the evening as this can affect her ability to get to sleep (as can anything with sugar)

Could a food diary of 'what' and 'when' be useful in tracking what affects you? Could you organise that now?

Smoking

Nicotine is a stimulant that increases your heart rate and alertness. Nicotine cravings tend to come on 90 mins to 2 hours after the last cigarette meaning your body can wake up because it has the urge to smoke.

There are lots of resources available to help you reduce smoking that might also be helpful for sleep.

Temperature

Our bodies tend to drop in temperature when we are in 'rest and 'digest' mode. Perhaps you are sensitive to seasonal changes or have hormonal considerations or changes in temperature caused by medication. Some people have found cooling pillows helpful.

Exercise

Exercise can have a positive effect on our sleep as the body is physically tired enough to sleep. What kind of exercise is appropriate for you? Some people find that exercising a few hours before they go to bed affects their sleep in that they are more alert and it may take longer for them to fall asleep.

What works for you?

Eating

There are so many variables here that we encourage you to keep a food diary of what you eat and when, for at least a few weeks and see if you notice any patterns. Many people (although not everyone) find that eating a meal late at night makes it more difficult to sleep. You might experiment with not eating after 7pm and see if that makes any difference.

We have a few more links for you on the 'What next?' tab and below is a link to the NHS advice.

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sleep-and-tiredness/how-to-get-to-sleep/

PLEASE REMEMBER TO COMPLETE THE EVALUATION FORM BELOW!

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=o-2AIZ1lX0ua2fB62WBfAAYZQp1Ai55IrFYorbJwcJFUOTJGTzMzSzhEV00wTkcyOExVVUg5UFpYMS4u

We will be sending a final evaluation form via email one month from now, thank you in advance.