Sleep

Healthy sleep is sleep that allows us to wake up feeling refreshed.

Good quality sleep involves:

getting the right amount of sleep
falling asleep within 30 minutes of getting into bed
sleeping straight through the night waking no more than once
falling back to sleep within 20 minutes of waking up
feeling rested and restored on waking up

These are the National Sleep Foundation recommended sleep durations:

Sleep boosts our mood, improves memory and concentration and improves immune function.

Poor quality sleep is associated with poor health outcomes such as coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia and depression. Short sleep duration has been associated with a higher chance of being overweight.

We all have nights when we sleep less well but insomnia is when you regularly:

find it hard to go to sleep
wake up several times during the night
lie awake at night
wake up early and cannot go back to sleep
still feel tired after waking up
find it hard to nap during the day even though you’re tired
feel tired and irritable during the day
find it difficult to concentrate during the day because you’re tired

If you have insomnia for a short time (less than 3 months) it’s called short-term insomnia.
Insomnia that lasts 3 months or longer is called long-term insomnia.

If you fall asleep easily during the day or are worried about sleep apnoea please complete this form and make a GP telephone appointment to discuss.

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There are many things you can do to improve your sleep whether you have insomnia or not:

go to bed and get up around the same time every day
have a wind down routine eg warm bath or shower an hour before bed, breathing exercises, yoga, meditation or writing in a journal
if you find you wake up thinking of things you need to do, writing a to do list before bed can help
try to spend at least 20 minutes outside in the morning
avoid using phone or computer screens 1-2 hours before bed
exercise can improve sleep but avoid all but gentle exercise eg yoga too close to bedtime
ensure your bedroom is dark and not too warm. 16-18oC is the best temperature for sleep
food – low fibre, high fat or sugar diets are associated with poorer sleep.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0Z27vRupBk
Find out more about diet here – https://www.douglasmedicalcentre.co.uk/help-support/health-and-wellbeing/food-and-health/
caffeine in tea, coffee and in some soft drinks can affect your sleep and is best avoided after early afternoon
alcohol – really affects the quality of your sleep and is best kept to a minimum. This is a helpful guide to assess your drinking with support to cut down: https://app.box.com/v/CQUIN-structured-advice-tool
smoking – don’t smoke within 30 minutes of going to bed. Find help to stop smoking: https://www.douglasmedicalcentre.co.uk/help-support/health-and-wellbeing/stopping-smoking/

Sleeping tablets:

People often ask us to prescribe sleeping tablets. Guidelines suggest these should only be used for a maximum of 2 weeks. This is because quite quickly you develop a tolerance to the drugs meaning they work less well and there is a risk of addiction. Medications often only have a small effect on how long you sleep and can reduce sleep quality.

Some medications such as old-fashioned antihistamines (eg promethazine) or
amitriptyline may affect your memory in the longer term. Find out more here: https://www.douglasmedicalcentre.co.uk/repeat-prescriptions/am-i-taking-too-many-tablets/anti-cholinergic-medication/

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-i)

There is a huge body of evidence that this is an effective, long-lasting treatment for insomnia. For this reason an online CBT-i program is free to everyone who lives in Scotland. You can access it here: https://sleepio.com/sleepio/nhs/391#1/1

Sleep

Sleeping tablets:

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-i)

Other sleep resources:

Night shift and sleep