Waking up in the middle of the night, checking the clock and always finding the same answer: 3 in the morning. But why always at the same time?
Waking up at night, in reality, is a frequent event that is distinct from classic insomnia. It happens to more than a third of people, three or more nights a week. The good news is that these awakenings are usually not worrisome, as long as you fall back asleep easily. However, if you wake up regularly and feel that your sleep quality is compromised, it is important to identify the reason.
The first suggestion from the sleep experts of the dedicated platform Sleep.com is therefore to focus more on the potential cause than on the time of awakening. While the time you wake up is surprisingly precise every night, the time itself is not significant. There are, however, some common reasons why it might occur, and understanding the cause helps you find the solution.
Why do we wake up in the middle of the night? Some hypotheses
Woman lying in bed suffering from insomniaKatarzynaBialasiewicz
1.Anxiety, worry, stress
Stress is the body’s mental and physiological response to a perceived threat, typically manifesting itself when we feel anxious, worried, pressured, overwhelmed, or in danger. «When we are under stress, our brain goes into fight or flight mode, flooding the body with hormones – chief among them adrenaline and cortisol – to prepare to fight or flee. This response can also trigger a number of physical symptoms, such as a rapid heartbeat, dizziness or dry mouth,” he explains. Jenna Gress Smithclinical psychologist specializing in sleep medicine on Sleep.com. Cortisol, better known as the stress hormone, also plays a fundamental role in managing our sleep architecture. «Studies on the circadian rhythm have shown that Cortisol levels naturally begin to increase between 2 and 3 am. If you are already stressed or anxious and cortisol levels naturally increase, it is not surprising that you wake up at that time”, specifies the expert. “When the body’s sympathetic nervous system is activated, increased heart rate and blood pressure can make it more difficult to fall back to sleep. In addition to this physiological reaction, Nighttime is also an easy time to focus on worries, which can amplify the body’s stress response, making it even harder to fall back asleep».
Relaxation techniques like deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and guided meditations can help calm your mind (and your fight-or-flight response) so you can fall back to sleep.
2.Low blood sugar
The first question to ask yourself is: “What time did I have my last meal?” If the answer is 7pm, 3am is 8 hours later, so, quite simply, you’ve run out of fuel. When the brain detects that its energy reserves are almost completely depleted, increases cortisol to help restart the metabolic process and induce a sense of hunger, which will push you out of sleep to eat.
For those who eat too early and are at risk of waking up, a late snack of around 250 calories may help. Even a simple teaspoon of raw honey can be enough: it is more difficult to metabolize and helps keep blood sugar levels stable for longer.
3. Changes in sleep cycles (and conditioning)
Night sleep involves multiple cycles and transitions between light phases and deeper phases. «The duration of each phase varies during the night, with a longer deep sleep at the beginning and a longer REM sleep (the lighter one in which you dream) as the morning approaches. The ease of waking up may vary depending on the sleep stage you are in. «REM is the lightest phase: the brain is very active and the body moves more. When you move from deep sleep to REM sleep it is easier to wake up” explains Gress Smith. «The moment of transition between two sleep cycles is generally the most vulnerable. This is why in young children, who have not yet learned to connect sleep cycles, nocturnal awakenings are so common.”
However, another reason why you can constantly wake up at 3 in the morning is conditioning: “the body and mind love patterns and routines, so if they get used to waking up at a certain time, they could continue to do so out of habit”, adds the expert.
It is interesting to note that between 2 and 3 in the morning is also the time when the body temperature, determined by the circadian rhythm, stops falling and starts rising again before waking upwhich places the body in a slightly lighter sleep phase.
4.Effect of drugs
Some medications used to treat health problems — anti-inflammatory corticosteroids, antidepressants, beta blockers to treat blood pressure, even some cold and allergy medications — can disturb sleep and cause nighttime awakenings. If this is the case, it is important to review your medications with your doctor and consider alternative medications or a change in the time you take them.
5. The aging body
With age comes wisdom, but also early morning awakenings. Aging reduces the deepest sleep phase, which can lead to more awakenings during the night. Furthermore, circadian rhythms change and favor early sleep in the evening as well as a naturally early awakening in the morning. It is therefore not uncommon for people over 60 to wake up before dawn. Mature people are also more likely to experience nighttime awakenings to go to the bathroom, problems with temperature regulation, and general pain during sleep.
Extensive research shows that any type of exercise, even a daily walk, can help alleviate these problems and improve the quality of sleep once you get past a certain age.
6. Medical-physiological conditions
The disease gives gastroesophageal refluxneurological disorders such as Parkinson’s diseasethe dementia not cardiac and vascular conditions they are associated with shallower and more fragmented sleep. An increase in nighttime awakenings (with or without hot flashes) is also a common sign of perimenopause e menopause.
Other small habits that can disturb your sleep
Woman smelling decaffeinated coffee in the nightPheelings Media
Eat a large meal before going to sleep
A large dinner will keep your digestive system working for hours after eating, which is not conducive to restful sleep. Better to eat about three hours before going to bedto give the body time to process every last bite.
Caffeine too late in the day
In general, most sleep experts recommend eliminate all caffeine about eight hours before bed.