You could SMS yourself to insomnia

From iol.co.za/lifestyle

Many people claim they couldn’t live without their phone, but this addiction could be doing them more harm than good, experts warn.

New research suggests that excessive texting can cause a whole host of sleep problems.

US researchers found that people who send the most texts experience the most sleep problems.

They believe this could be because these people feel pressurised to respond to messages immediately regardless of the time, and that some people sleep with their phone next to their bed meaning they are woken up by incoming texts during the night.

Dr Karla Murdock at Washington Lee University found that first-year students who text a lot sleep less well, regardless of their level of stress.

She asked students to answer questions that assessed their emotional well-being and sleep problems. She also asked them to estimate how many text messages they sent and received on an average day.

Researchers James Roberts and Meredith David identified eight types of phone snubbing behaviour that have become common in today's world

To assess the students’ sleep quality, Murdock used the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. This is a widely used instrument that measures multiple aspects of sleep quality such as sleep duration, the amount of time it takes to fall asleep, the amount of time actually spent sleeping while in bed, night-time disturbances, and daytime sleepiness.

The key finding was that a higher number of daily texts was associated with more sleep problems.

Murdock notes that this finding reinforces previous evidence pointing to a direct association between cellphone use and poor sleep in adolescents and young adults.

The study also found that frequent text messaging is associated with more friendship-related stress.

Murdock wrote: “These findings provide an initial indication that heavy text messaging could be problematic during times of stress.

“Although speculative, it could be argued that text messaging is a uniquely unsuitable mode of communication for coping with interpersonal stress in close relationships.”

For instance, Murdock suggested the abbreviated language that is common in texting lacks the ability to provide the kind of nuance that is important in discussing sensitive issues.

In addition, texting fails to offer critical non-verbal cues that would be part of a face-to-face conversation.

“Text messaging may carry a high risk of producing or maintaining misunderstandings and/or unproductive interactions during periods of stress,” she wrote.

“When interpersonal stress involves conflict, the conditions required for productive communication may be particularly difficult to achieve through texting.”

https://iol.co.za/lifestyle/family/2013-10-03-you-could-sms-yourself-to-insomnia/ 

Expert reveals the one major mistake that's stopping your sleeping pills from working

From tyla.com 

An expert has revealed one major mistake people make that stops sleeping pills from working - and it might surprise you.

A staggering one in three people in the UK struggle with insomnia, a condition which makes it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep during the night, according to the NHS.

To combat the common issue, lots of Brits turn to sleeping pills as a short-term solution. One of the most popular brands on offer? Kirkland Sleep Aid has received rave reviews online and has been described as a ‘lifesaver’ by some customers.

One five-star review reads, “These tablets work! Say hello to a good night's sleep. I suffered from not being able to drop off to sleep, I'm so happy those days are behind me because it's pure torture not being able to sleep!”

A second customer was just as impressed, as they added: “Kirkland Sleep Aid has greatly helped my insomnia. This has made a big difference to my life and I will continue to purchase them. A product which does what it says!”

A third shared, “This has been a lifesaver since Syndol was removed from the market.”

Designed to help encourage a restful night’s sleep, the sleeping aid contains a single active ingredient known as doxylamine succinate. The substance boasts sleep-inducing properties and can help people with mild to severe sleeplessness to catch some ZZZs easier.

Are you making this common mistake?

Interestingly, one customer has warned that they might be making a major mistake that stops the pills from working.

In the reviews section, they wrote: “These are a very good product, but you need to use them correctly - the less often taken, the more effective they are. If you take them every night they will not work as well as they are taken infrequently. Great product, much better than anything else I've tried.”

So, how often should you take sleeping pills, and what are the dangers of excessive use?

Getty/Science Photo Library

According to Superintendent Pharmacist at Pharmica, Ana Carolina Goncalves, doxylamine succinate is an antihistamine that blocks the action of the neurotransmitter histamine.

Histamine plays a role in promoting wakefulness and alertness in the brain, so when this action is blocked, it can lead to feelings of drowsiness and sedation.

Therefore, if you take sleeping pills repeatedly and excessively, the body will become used to the antihistamine.

“Over time, [repeated use] can lead to a reduced response to the medication, a process sometimes referred to as tolerance,” Goncalves warns.

“While not fully understood for doxylamine, repeated use of similar antihistamines has been associated with diminished effectiveness, which is why it is often observed that the less frequently the tablets are taken, the more effective they remain.”

“My recommendation is to take these medications only infrequently, at most once or twice a week.”

Interestingly, if you suddenly stop taking a sleep aid after regular use, you might also experience what is called ‘rebound insomnia’, where the body experiences difficulty sleeping due to sudden withdrawal of the sedative effect it had become accustomed to. Something else to consider.

Doxylamine Succinate is an antihistamine used to treat allergies, therefore should not be used if you’re already taking antihistamines.

This product isn’t suitable for everyone and does not address the underlying causes of insomnia. Before using the product, please contact your doctor if you have any of the following conditions: asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema (or other breathing problems), and glaucoma.

https://www.tyla.com/life/sleeping-pills-benefits-dangers-336200-20250424

Copy of Medieval sleep routine could be the answer to people who struggle to sleep at night

From good.is

During a period of his life, the famous author Charles Dickens suffered from severe insomnia, leading him to wander the gas-lit streets of London at midnight. While he famously chronicled his "night walks," Dickens wasn’t alone in experiencing such fragmented sleep patterns. Long before electric lights, many people followed a similar sleep routine. A 2015 paper in Current Biology revealed that three pre-industrial societies in Tanzania, Namibia, and Bolivia also practiced this “split-sleep” habit. A report by Inverse linked this medieval sleep pattern to what we now refer to as “polyphasic sleep.”

In this research, scientists who studied these three hunter-gatherer and hunter-horticultural societies found that these people stayed up for hours after sunset. These civilizations didn’t have access to electricity and their only source of light after dark was a campfire. They slept for 4 to 5 hours and then woke up to do certain activities like reading, walking, or eating small meals. This looks similar to what Spain’s people call their “afternoon siestas,” in which they close their shops during noontime to relax, nap, or have a cup of coffee.

As it turns out, “polyphasic sleep” or “segmented sleep” is a well-renowned concept in sleep psychiatry. Polyphasic sleep is the practice of sleeping in multiple smaller segments during the day as opposed to sleeping once as is common in many countries. Apart from Dickens, some of the most eminent personalities in history used to have this habit, including Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, Napoleon Bonaparte, Salvador Dali, Benjamin Franklin, and even Albert Einstein.

“These historical figures' quirky sleep habits may seem eccentric, but they offer us a unique lens through which to explore the human experience of sleep. Whether it's polyphasic slumber, midnight walks, or dream-infused artistry, these peculiar sleep patterns remind us that, throughout history, sleep has been as much an art as it is a science — a canvas where creativity, genius, and individuality converge in the world of dreams,” Alen Juginović, a doctor and researcher at Harvard Medical School who studies the effect of poor sleep quality on health, explained in an article.

Adding to the sleep habits of ancestors, the researchers of this 2015 study related the cause of modern-day insomnia with the advent of electric lighting and technological development. “The invention of the electric light, followed by the development of television, the Internet, and related technologies, along with increased caffeine usage, has greatly shortened sleep duration from ‘natural’ levels and disrupted its evolved timing,” they wrote in the paper, adding that the “reduction in sleep duration has been linked to obesity, mood disorders, and a host of other physical and mental illnesses thought to have increased recently.”

One of the greatest advantages of polyphasic sleep is that it enables the person to directly plunge into deep sleep. “If you look at the standard sleep period, our sleep is typically deepest at the beginning of the night, and then it's getting more and more shallow,” Mathias Basner, professor of sleep psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School for Medicine, told Inverse, and added, “You're basically capitalizing on this deeper sleep at the beginning of the sleep period.”

Representative Image Source: Pexels | Olly

However, this kind of sleep pattern has its cons. Basner said that switching between the processes of falling asleep and waking up is not so simple. “The brain needs time to come online again to fire up all the systems,” he said. “It can take up to an hour or even longer, depending on which state you're awake from, to be fully alert again.” This sleep inertia could possibly impact productivity, and hamper a person from using their daytime to the fullest.

However, Roger Ekirch, who is probably the biggest expert on “segmented sleep,” believes that this kind of sleep is extremely beneficial for those who regularly suffer from insomnia. He explained to Harpers Magazine that segmented sleep can help insomniacs “fall back asleep by easing their anxiety.” But, for people who don’t have insomnia, probably the regular 7 to 8-hour sleep is the best thing to continue. Changing it could disturb their circadian rhythms, “There's no going back because conditions have changed,” Ekirch told BBC.

https://www.good.is/medieval-sleep-routine-could-be-the-answer-to-people-who-struggle-to-sleep-at-night-ex1 

Six sleep warning signs that indicate underlying health issues, according to a sleep expert

From the-independent.com

Long-term sleep deprivation can have consequences for your physical and mental wellbeing 

Getting the correct amount of sleep is essential for improving your health, yet millions of us struggle to get enough of it.

While it’s normal to struggle with sleeping from time to time, long-term sleep deprivation can take a serious toll on your health.

Dr Deborah Lee, a sleep expert at Dr Fox Online Pharmacy, has said that a serious lack of sleep can have consequences for your physical and mental wellbeing, such as mood swings, as well as underlying health conditions such as sleep apnoea, insomnia, or depression.

According to the NHS, longer-term sleep problems can affect our relationships and social life, and leave us feeling tired all the time, eating more and not able to do daily tasks. Symptoms of sleep issues can include waking up several times in the night, struggling to fall asleep, feeling irritable and having trouble concentrating throughout the day.

“Many people think of sleep as something that can be compromised or 'caught up on later,' but chronic sleep deprivation can take a serious toll on your health,” Lee said in collaboration with Bed Factory Direct.

Dr Lee has outlined six key signs for when it’s time to speak to your doctor about your sleep, so that they can identify the underlying cause and develop a treatment plan.

Here are the six key warning signs...

1. Feeling constantly tired despite adequate rest time

Dr Lee says that if you’re consistently feeling tired during the day, even after getting what should be enough sleep, it could signal a more serious underlying problem.

“Chronic fatigue can be a sign of sleep disorders such as sleep apnoea or narcolepsy, which prevent restful, restorative sleep, leaving you feeling exhausted even after a full night’s sleep,” she says.

Serious lack of sleep can have consequences for your physical and mental wellbeing (Getty Images)

2. Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep

Struggling to fall asleep or waking up multiple times in the night could also be indicative of different sleep or mental health-related issues.

“It’s another red flag,” said Dr Lee. “The concern here is that these sleep disturbances, especially when they persist for several weeks, may indicate conditions like insomnia, anxiety, or even depression.”

3. Mood swings and irritability

Sleep deprivation doesn’t just affect your energy; it can impact your emotions throughout the day and how you interact with others.

“If you’re finding yourself increasingly irritable, anxious, or depressed, it could be a sign that your body isn't getting the quality sleep it needs to regulate mood,” says Dr Lee. “Lack of sleep can interfere with the brain's ability to process emotions, leading to mood swings and heightened stress.”

4. Difficulty concentrating or problems with your memory

‘Sleep plays a vital role in maintaining overall health, and poor sleep can exacerbate existing conditions,’ says Dr Deborah Lee (Getty Images)

“Cognitive issues such as trouble focusing, forgetfulness, or brain fog are common signs of sleep deprivation. When we don’t get enough sleep, the brain doesn’t have the opportunity to consolidate memories or perform essential restorative functions,” says Dr Lee. “Over time, this can result in difficulty concentrating and impaired decision-making.”

5. Increased chronic health problems

“Long-term sleep deprivation is linked to an increased risk of chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity,” says Dr Lee. “If you’re already dealing with any of these conditions and your sleep quality is poor, it’s critical to seek help from a healthcare professional. Sleep plays a vital role in maintaining overall health, and poor sleep can exacerbate existing conditions.”

6. Sleep-related injuries or accidents

If you’re experiencing sleep-related issues like nodding off during the day or sleepwalking, speaking to a professional can help you find the underlying cause.

“These symptoms can indicate a serious sleep disorder like sleep apnoea, which can affect your safety as well as your overall health,” says Dr Lee. “Untreated sleep disorders can have far-reaching consequences. Poor sleep is linked to everything from impaired cognitive function to a weakened immune system. Addressing sleep issues early with a healthcare provider can help reduce long-term risks and improve both mental and physical health.”

https://www.the-independent.com/life-style/sleep-problems-insomnia-expert-health-issues-b2736697.html

Why your pillow is ruining your sleep – and how to fix it

From telegraph.co.uk

By Nick Harding

Choosing the perfect pillow for your body and sleep position could significantly improve your health 

A general rule in life: if something seems too good to be true, it usually is. And in hindsight, the £10 I forked out for an anti-snoring pillow last summer would have been better spent on scratch cards. Still, it seemed like an opportunity too good to miss. A tiny price to pay to give my wife respite and to save me from sleep divorce.

Alas the Silent Night it promised never materialised and I am now frequently banished to the naughty room. The pillow meanwhile is in a landfill somewhere, along with countless others I imagine, purchased by people who were sold a dream. A mass grave full of broken sleep.

James Leinhardt sympathises. He is a sleep posture expert who advises chronically ill patients, athletes and the critically injured on sleep posture and runs Levitex, a mattress and pillow company.

“The industry is unregulated and some companies prey on the vulnerable. If you are in pain and can’t sleep, or your relationship is in trouble because of snoring and you’re then told of a pillow that will solve all your problems, you are an easy target,” he says. 

Pillows with supposed magical properties are just the thin edge of the wedge. Walk into any bedding shop or look online for a pillow and the choices are endless. Big, fat, medium, small? Memory foam, natural fibres, micro-fibres, hypo-allergenic? Loft, density, weight? Where do you even start?

Good advice is a good starting point and Leinhardt, who has his own sleep posture consultation room, asks me about my sleeping habits. I explain that I usually begin the night on my side because I know I snore less in this position, but always roll over onto my back, usually because of discomfort. The snoring then begins and ends with the walk of shame in the early hours after my light-sleeper wife has finally managed to banish me.

“So, the ideal solution would be for you to have a pillow that keeps you on your side comfortably,” explains Leinhardt.

One of the main problems is that we tend to approach buying a pillow from the wrong perspective. Instead of asking whether it feels or looks nice, the real trick is to ask what you want it to do.

Positioning

Before you even contemplate buying a pillow, it helps to understand sleep anatomy. The holy grail of sleep is achieving a sustainable neutral spine position, as chartered physiotherapist and sleep expert Sammy Margo, the author of The Good Sleep Guide, explains.

“What we are aspiring to do is to keep the head and neck in the midline position which means a neutral spine position, not kinking your neck off to one side or the other as if you are holding a phone on your shoulder or bending too far forward or backward.”

It’s a pillow’s job to help you get into this position and stay there. Wrong pillow choice has implications.

“One typical example would be someone who sleeps on their back and has too many pillows and wakes up in the morning with headaches because their head is being bent too far forward,” continues Margo.

A good pillow should be comfortable but not at the price of support and not too firm. It should preserve a good sleep posture, and that will depend on the position you go to sleep in, because different sizes and types of pillows are better for different sleepers.

Side sleepers

A side sleeper should choose a pillow that fills the gap and keeps their head in position Credit: Andrew Crowley for the Telegraph

If you are a side sleeper (around 70 per cent of people are), when you lay down your pillow should fill the gap between the tip of your shoulder and the tip of your ear. This supports your head and keeps your spine in that important neutral position.

 “For correct sleeping posture, only your head and neck should be placed over your pillow. Do not place your shoulders on the pillow because this will elevate your upper body higher than your lower body,” explains Margo.

If you are a side sleeper, you should choose a pillow that fills the gap and that also keeps your head in position. Many do not.

“If the pillow is too big you will strain your neck and if it’s too small your head will drop into the pillow,” explains Leinhardt.

The average head weighs between 4kg and 6kg (around 9-13lb), so your pillow needs to be dense enough to support that weight throughout the night, so your head doesn’t drop, which strains the neck.

“People who wake with shoulder pain usually do so because their pillow doesn’t support their head during the night,” adds Leinhardt.

Back sleepers

Sleeping on your back has a lot of advantages Credit: Andrew Crowley for the Telegraph

For back sleepers, a pillow should fill the space between the shoulders and the back of the head. This will invariably mean a thinner pillow than that of a side sleeper, as it is a smaller gap to fill.

While fewer people tend to sleep on their backs than on their sides, Margo explains that the position has a lot of advantages.

“It is symmetrical and as you get older you may need surgery and a large percentage of surgery requires you to sleep on your back. Provided you place a pillow under your knees to soften your lower back, it’s a good position to sleep in for a lot of ailments, such as hiatus hernia in elevation,” she explains.

Front sleepers

Front sleepers are 'already lying in a God-awful position,' says Leinhardt Credit: Andrew Crowley for the Telegraph

Leinhardt advises that front sleepers should “never buy a pillow, because you are already lying in a God-awful position”.

When you sleep on your stomach you must turn your head all the way to the left or right and if you have a pillow under your head, it will further extend the neck in an awkward position.  

“Logic suggests this is not ideal,” adds Margo. “Your pillow should be relatively flat or removed. This will help keep your spine in line. In this position it is often best to place another relatively flat pillow under your stomach or chest to help natural alignment. If your mattress is soft, you may well need more than one. They will help minimise the strain on your lower back and the degree of twist in your neck.”

Body size

Your body dimensions will affect how effective your pillow is, particularly if you are a side sleeper. Margo recommends that pillow purchasers buy with an awareness of their anatomical dimensions.

“A pillow should fit like a glove,” she says. “Sometimes you can get a slim woman who has a wide neck. Sometimes you can get a big man who has a narrow neck. This affects the distance from your shoulder all the way up your neck. A good gauge is your clothes size and also your neck size. If you have a smaller neck, you might need a bigger pillow.”

Your body dimensions will affect how effective your pillow is Credit: Andrew Crowley for the Telegraph

Material

Pillows come in a baffling range of materials and fillings. Choice is down to individual tastes, budget and needs. The most common fillings are:

Polyester

Some people may suffer allergies and so will best be served by a pillow with a man-made filling, which is mostly made from synthetic polyester. It is cheap and affordable, machine washable but not particularly durable and can clump together over time. There are other more exotic hypo-allergenic fillings including kapok, which is made from the fibre of the seeds of the kapok tree.

Down and feather

Down pillows are stuffed with the soft underfeathers from ducks and geese. They are durable and naturally soft. Down pillows have a luxurious feel and mould to the head and neck. They are often pricey and do not offer as much through-the-night support as more dense material. 

Feather pillows are generally more affordable and use bigger feathers. According to Leinhardt: “If you don’t sink in enough, it will be like sleeping on a brick and if you sink in too much it will be like sleeping on a bowl of porridge. Feather and down feel comfortable and are culturally opulent, but they don’t have any form, so they move. 

“If what’s under your head is not stable your head will move and if your head moves, your neck muscles have to be active. The principle of a pillow is that it’s meant to take the head out of the equation for the night.” 

Down is also not ideal for humid or damp rooms as humidity causes down to lose its loft and its ability to insulate, so the pillow will quickly go flat and become less supportive.

Memory foam

Pressure-relieving and comfortable, memory foam also continues to sink when pressure is applied, so might be comfortable when you fall asleep but may not offer the required amount of support throughout the night. “It’s a bit Marmite and memory foam is quite expensive,” says Margo. “Some neck patients love it, and others say it aggravates their neck. There can also be an issue with smell and heat.”

Cotton

Another common filling, it is usually firmer than polyester, is odourless and is also less of a problem for those with allergies. It is not as durable as other fillings however and can also clump.

Specialist pillows

Anti-snoring

Beware of the claims some pillow manufacturers make, our experts warn. Pillows claiming to be anti-snoring don’t stop snoring per se. They are designed to reposition the head and neck to open the airways, but it is worth noting that 67 per cent of snorers will stop or reduce snoring simply by lying on their side, so it may be more advantageous to find a pillow that optimises sleep in a side sleeping position. If a pillow can keep you on your side, it will probably help reduce snoring. 

“For some people they are effective, but so is sewing a tennis ball into the back of your pyjamas to keep you from laying on your back. It comes down to the physiology of snoring and the causes. If you are drunk, you are more likely to snore. So, it’s about understanding what’s causing it and changing the position to adjust to it.”

Cooling

Pillows with cooling technology, specifically marketed at women going through the menopause, should also be approached with caution. The small print will usually state the material is “cool to touch”.  But it doesn’t stay cool throughout the night when a warm head and neck are resting on it.

Orthopaedic

The same cynicism should be applied to pillows that claim to be orthopaedic, as the term is often used in an undefinable way. “What does that even mean?” asks Lienhardt. “If a pillow claims to do something, the manufacturer should be able to validate those claims.”

Try before you buy

Given how individual a choice of pillow is, the sagest advice is to try before you commit to buying. And this shouldn’t be a quick squeeze in the bed shop. Try it for as long as possible. Is it still comfortable after five, 10 or even 15 minutes?

Many pillows now come with a trial period. Levitex customers, for example, have a 44-day trial period.

Margo also advises persisting with new pillows. “They can take a while to bed in. Don’t dismiss a pillow straight away,” she says.

What to do if your pillow fails and you get a cricked neck

A cricked neck in the morning can be caused by sleeping position, too many pillows, not the correct type of pillow, or other sleep issues. Gentle stretching and self-massage can help loosen the muscles and ligaments in your neck that have become tight and stiff during the night sleeping. Gently tilt, bend and rotate your neck to loosen your neck muscles and regain full mobility.

Margo advises: “I call these easy neck exercises ‘yes, no, maybes’. Turn your head from side to side five times, look up and down five times and then alternate your ear to shoulder five times.”

In addition, while sitting upright, look straight ahead and hold your left shoulder down with your right hand. Slowly tilt your head to the right while holding your shoulder down. Repeat on the opposite side. Hold each stretch for five seconds and repeat three times on each side.

An ice pack applied to the affected area can also help reduce inflammation while alternate cold and heat can soothe and loosen tight muscles. A hot shower can also help.

For more persistent pain, over-the-counter pain medication such as Voltarol gel should help.

The NHS advises against wearing a neck collar as it’s better to keep your neck moving (unless directed otherwise by a doctor).

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/wellbeing/sleep/pillow-ruining-sleep-how-to-choose/