Waking up at night is one of the most frustrating sleep disorders. And no wonder, turning from side to side, the inability to fall asleep, and visions of not getting enough sleep the next day effectively worsen not only our emotional well-being but also our health. Frequent interruptions in the sleep cycle may also indicate a more serious problem, such as insomnia or a disease, developing in your body. What happens when we wake up regularly at night, and what are the consequences?
Sleep is essential to the proper functioning of the body – it promotes the regeneration of all cells, systems, and organs and prepares them for further activities. Unfortunately, not everyone enjoys an efficient and quality sleep cycle because it is incomplete, irregular, and inconsistent. It is important to note that sleep disorders affect not only adults but also older people, teenagers, children, and even infants.
When the body protests
Anyone who has happened to burn the midnight oil at least once knows perfectly well how difficult it is to function effectively the next day. If waking up at night accompanies almost every sleep cycle, we become chronically tired, frustrated, reluctant to make contact with others, prone to quarrels, and exposed to numerous ‘protests’ from our body, e.g., injuries, muscle pain, migraines.
Two factors can cause you to wake up at night: physiological and psychological.
Physiological factors: arthritis, kidney diseases, pollakiuria, heart defects, period apnea, asthma, restless legs syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, hyperthyroidism, prostate hypertrophy, mental illness (e.g. mania, mental trauma, PTSD), and vitamin B deficiency.
Psychological factors: stress at work, family problems, financial problems, peer pressure, environmental factors (noise or high temperatures), medications, time zone change, abuse of stimulants (nicotine, alcohol, drugs, caffeine), depression, tendency to worry, focusing on troubled sleep, emotional overload, overburdening with duties.
Did you know that, according to studies, women are more likely to experience sleep difficulties than men? Women sleep less than men, especially those who have children (wakefulness) or are in the menopausal age (hormonal fluctuations, drop in estrogen). Moreover, pathologies in the scope of sleep flow are more often manifested in elderly people than young people, smokers than nicotine abstainers, and nervous and stressed people than calm and relaxed people.
The hour is not insignificant
The time we wake up can tell us much about the causes of our problems with sleep continuity:
Between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. – it may be due to problems with digesting fats because this is when the gallbladder, which is responsible for this process, starts working. These hours may also be a sign of excessive stress during the day that the body “lets go of” at this time.
Between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. – it usually means problems with the functioning of the liver, which after a fatty meal must work harder than usual. In Chinese medicine, liver ailments are also related to the perception of oneself. If a person feels unhappy, guilty, or full of anger, it will affect this organ.
Between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. – it indicates a psychological disorder. Here again, Chinese medicine tells us a lot, according to which excessive stress, sadness, and guilt wakes us up at these hours. If we regularly wake up at these times, specialists advise checking the functioning of the lungs, which are particularly active between three and five.
Do you suffer from a sleep disorder? Read the material on our blog, where you will find expert advice and proven ways to solve it!
