6 Surprising Sleep Stealers

6 Surprising Sleep Stealers

If mornings find you feeling like you just drifted off a few hours before, or if you droop with weariness no matter how much coffee you drink, you just might be suffering from a sleep problem. But wait, wouldn't you know about it, if you were? Not necessarily, experts say. In many cases, instead of keeping you awake, a sleep problem sabotages your sleep in more subtle ways, leaving you frazzled and frustrated without knowing why. Here are six signs that you have a sleep problem that's secretly stealing your rest.

Acid reflux

Sleeping poorly and waking up with "morning mouth" or a sour taste in your mouth can be a signal of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or asymptomatic heartburn.

What's going on: Acid reflux causes the body to partially awaken from sleep, even when you're not aware of typical heartburn symptoms. The result of this "silent reflux" is fitful, uneven sleep -- but by the time you wake up, you've finished digesting and you don't know why you slept poorly.

Alarming stat: Recent sleep studies have shown that up to 25 percent of people who report sleeping poorly without a diagnosed cause have sleep-related acid reflux. But because they don't have obvious heartburn symptoms, they're unaware of the condition.

What helps: Luckily, there are many ways to minimize acid reflux and prevent it from interfering with sleep.

• Don't eat for at least two hours before going to bed.

• Avoid acid-causing foods, such as heavy sauces, spicy food, fatty meats, citrus, and tomatoes at dinner and afterward.

• Don't drink after dinner; alcohol stimulates reflux.

• Don't take aspirin or other painkillers, which are hard on the stomach and esophageal lining, just before bed.

• Try chewing gum before bed; it can boost the production of saliva, which neutralizes stomach acid.

• Sleep on your left side; acid clears out of the esophagus faster when you're on your left side. (Sleeping on the right side can actually make acid reflux worse.)

• If you sleep on your back, elevate your head and shoulders.

• If all else fails, take an antacid.

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Limb movement disorders

Waking up tangled in the covers or in a different part of the bed than where you started out could signal restless leg syndrome or a related problem, periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD), which is characterized by involuntary jerking, kicking, or twitching. Pain, numbness, or a tingling sensation are also common signs. If moving your legs relieves symptoms, that's another clue.

Alarming stat: Restless leg syndrome affects up to 10 percent of the population, and the chance of developing it goes up with age. Symptoms tend to increase over time.

What's going on: Doctors don't know what causes sleep movement disorders, but they do know they set up a vicious cycle that interrupts deep, restful, REM sleep. The restlessness can prevent you from sinking into deep sleep, or a muscle jerk can wake or partially rouse you from deep sleep.

What helps: Try some tactics to get at symptoms, the cause, or both.

• Symptoms ease with exercise and stretching. Take a walk before bed, and do stretching exercises such as hamstring stretches a few times a day. See a doctor to discuss your symptoms and get a diagnosis, which may also involve looking for underlying conditions related to restless leg syndrome or PLMD.

• Eat a diet high in iron and B vitamins, particularly folic acid, since iron and folate deficiency have been linked to restless leg syndrome. Red meat, spinach, and other leafy greens are good sources of both nutrients.

• If your doctor diagnoses restless leg syndrome or PLMD, medications used to treat Parkinson's can relieve symptoms by eliminating the muscle jerks. Your doctor may also prescribe medication to help you sleep more deeply, with the idea of preventing the involuntary movements from keeping you in light sleep.

Bathroom calls

The inability to get through the night without urinating more than once both interrupts sleep and decreases the amount of restful REM sleep. Known as nocturia, it includes both waking up with an urgent need to use the bathroom and needing to go so frequently that your sleep is fractured by physical tension.

Alarming stat: The National Sleep Foundation estimates that 65 percent of older adults are sleep deprived as a result of frequent nighttime urination.

What's going on: Normally, our bodies have a natural process that concentrates urine while we sleep so we can get six to eight hours without waking. But as we get older, we become less able to hold fluids for long periods because of a decline in antidiuretic hormones.

What helps: Experiment with a number of strategies to see what works to decrease nighttime urination.

• Don't drink any liquids for at least three hours before going to bed. This includes foods with a lot of liquid in them, like soups or fruit.

• Lower your coffee and tea consumption; the acids in coffee and tea can irritate the bladder.

• Don't drink alcohol, which functions as a diuretic as well as a bladder irritant.

• Use the bathroom last thing before getting in bed, relaxing long enough to empty your bladder all the way.

• Get checked for conditions that cause urination problems. In men, prostate problems are the most common culprit; inflammation of the prostate, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPN), and prostate tumors can all cause frequent urination. In women, overactive bladder (OAB), bladder infections, cystitis, and incontinence can cause nocturia.

• If you haven't been tested for diabetes recently, consider it a possible cause.

• Evaluate your medication list; certain drugs such as diuretics and heart medications can increase urination. If that's the case, talk to your doctor about taking them earlier in the day or making other changes.

• Consider taking a prescription antidiuretic to cut down on nighttime urination if all else fails andthere's no underlying issue.

Source: health.msn.com