Insomnia

Working with older people, I often get the complaint that they are having trouble sleeping. There are some things to ask yourself about your sleep patterns to facilitate what might work better for you to get a better night's rest.

First, what time do you go to bed? Being consistent with you bedtime helps your body. The occasional late night is not a bad thing, but being all over the map or clock if you will as to when you go to bed, will make a difference in your sleep. So set a fairly consistent time every night, like between 10-10:30 p.m. Now this will also be dependent upon when you get up. My internal alarm clock wakes me at about 4:15-4:30 a.m. every day, so I shoot to be in bed by 9 p.m. Once I'm awake, I'm up. You may wake up but go back to sleep, so the question to ask is not just what time do you wake up, but what time do you actually get out of bed.

More tomorrow on this subject.