Secrets to a Good Sleep

[Guest guest]

Sound, restful sleep is essential to weight loss and maintaining a good weight.

Multiple studies have shown this, and learning to sleep well is one of the many

lifestyle changes needed with the Band.

Many Bandsters also have undiagnosed sleep apnea - my belief is that everyone

should be tested pre-op.

Sandy

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from Health.com

The simple secret to great sleep By Rones, Health.co

October 29, 2010 8:12 a.m. EDT

There are many health concerns, other than pregnancy and hot flashes, that can

interfere with sleep.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS:

Five to 10 percent of women develop postpartum thyroiditis, which may disrupt

sleep

Depression, as well as some antidepressants, may have sleep-related side effects

Exercising can increase the amount of slow-wave sleep you get

(Health.com) -- You already know that pregnancy pains and hot flashes can keep

you tossing and turning at night. But there's a host of other, less-heralded

health concerns that may be silently interfering with your shut-eye. Here's how

to deal with these stealth sleep stealers, decade by decade.

YOUR 20s and 30s

Check your thyroid. New moms usually blame sluggishness or insomnia on the

demands of parenthood, says Dr. Corio, an OB-GYN in private practice in

New York City and attending physician at Mt. Sinai Medical Center. But the true

culprit may be postpartum thyroiditis, which 5 to 10 percent of women develop in

the year following delivery.

Typically, it starts with mild hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid), which can

rev you up and set off insomnia. After a couple of months, the condition may

swing to hypothyroidism, in which a lack of thyroid hormone slows your body's

functions, leaving you feeling constantly tired. If you're too jumpy to sleep or

have extreme fatigue postpartum, see your doctor.

Say goodbye to sadness. Feeling blue can pack a double whammy when it comes to

sleep: Not only can depression (which women are most likely to suffer from

during their childbearing years) cause sleep problems such as insomnia, but some

antidepressant medications may have sleep-related side effects.

Donna Arand, Ph.D., clinical director of the Kettering Sleep Disorders Center in

Dayton, Ohio, and an American Academy of Sleep Medicine spokeswoman, recommends

a two-fold treatment for insomnia with depression: cognitive behavioral therapy,

a therapeutic approach which can be used specifically to target insomnia and bad

sleep habits, plus talk therapy aimed at alleviating depression, adding or

adjusting medication as appropriate. (The antidepressant trazodone may help with

both insomnia and depression.)

YOUR 40s

Notice when you go at night. If you're waking up to pee a lot more lately, don't

assume it's a sign of aging -- you might actually have a urinary tract infection

(UTI).

" Decreasing estrogen levels in the mid-40s leads to a thinning of the lining of

the vagina and bladder, which makes perimenopausal women more prone to

infection, " says Corio, author of " The Change Before The Change. "

Corio adds that women in their early 40s are often very sexually active, which

can also lead to more UTIs. Talk to your doc if you notice a change in your

bathroom habits.

Deepen zzz's with exercise. Deep, restorative sleep (called delta or slow-wave

sleep) decreases in your late 40s, making nighttime awakenings more frequent.

Working out more may help. Your muscles and tissues are repaired during

slow-wave sleep, Arand explains. When you give your body more repair work to do

thanks to increased physical exertion, it responds by stepping up the amount of

slow-wave sleep you'll get.

The type of exercise that's best for triggering slow-wave sleep isn't clear, but

aim for 30 minutes of moderate aerobic activity on most days, suggests Wilfred

R. Pigeon, Ph.D., director of the Sleep and Neurophysiology Research Lab at the

University of Rochester Medical Center.

YOUR 50s+

Mind your meds. Prescription drugs you may be taking for high blood pressure and

cholesterol could affect your pillow time. Diuretics (used to treat

hypertension) can necessitate nighttime visits to the bathroom, says Dr.

belle Volgman, a cardiologist and the medical director of the Heart Center

for Women at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

If your doc says it's OK, try taking your pills in the morning instead of the

evening. And statins for cholesterol-control can deplete your body's muscles of

co-enzyme Q10, a natural protein required for normal functioning of muscle

cells; the resulting muscle aches might make falling asleep a challenge.

If that sounds like you, Volgman suggests asking your doctor if you might

benefit from taking a co-Q10 supplement.

Saw less wood. If you're a heavy snorer, your bedmate might not be the only one

whose sleep is suffering. Chronic snoring is a major sign of obstructive sleep

apnea (OSA), a disorder in which breathing briefly stops periodically while you

sleep, interrupting and worsening the quality of your snooze time. OSA can have

some heavy consequences, such as worsening or increasing the risk of developing

diabetes, hypertension, or stroke.

" The risk of developing sleep apnea increases after menopause when progesterone

levels drop, " Arand says -- possibly because progesterone may help the muscles

of the upper airway stay open.

Being overweight is also a big risk factor for OSA (and weight gain is a common

occurrence during menopause); in some cases, slimming down can actually cure the

disorder. Talk to your doctor about your sleep issues; with treatment, you could

be snoozing more peacefully