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Sleep Training: Why Everyone May Need It Someday

image of a woman having a good sleep after a tiring dayWhen you hear the words sleep training, probably the first thing that comes to mind is teaching a baby to sleep through the night. However, even adults sometimes need sleep training, especially when you suffer from Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome (AFS).

In today’s stress-filled world, getting a good night’s sleep may feel impossible. You may try to get in bed at a decent time, then lay there awake for an hour or more thinking about what your day was like, what you have to get done tomorrow, or going over and over how short the deadline is for that next project you have to do.

All of those thoughts serve to keep you tensed up physically, too. Relaxing enough to get to sleep may take hours. Then just as you settle into a good, deep sleep, your alarm goes off and another day begins.

Sleep and AFS

You must get sufficient sleep to deal with the stresses that face you. It becomes harder to get this kind of sleep when you suffer from AFS. One of the NeuroEndoMetabolic (NEM) circuits that affects your sleep is the Neuroaffect Circuit.

The autonomic nervous system makes up one part of this circuit. The Neuroaffect Circuit controls the release of norepinephrine and epinephrine when you feel under stress. Both of these hormones work to speed up or energize your body.

If cortisol, the first stress-fighting hormone, doesn’t work to control stress, norepinephrine comes into play. This hormone makes you more alert and speeds up your heart rate to get more blood out to your muscles. It makes up one part of the ‘fight or flight’ syndrome that becomes activated when you come under stress.

With the continuous stress you face in today’s world, norepinephrine may not do the job, either. This sets the stage for the release of epinephrine. This very powerful hormone comprises your body’s last resource for dealing with the effects of stress. It has very powerful effects on your heart and really speeds up your entire body.

With the flood of norepinephrine and epinephrine into your body, sleep becomes almost impossible. This leads to sleep deprivation, yet another stressor on your already-stressed body. This new stressor sets the entire stress reaction into play once more.

Your body responds with a new release of cortisol, which in turn leads to increased release of epinephrine. Facing this new source of stress means your body turns more DHEA into cortisol to meet the demand. Lower levels of DHEA lead to increased norepinephrine release and less sleep.

In addition, increased cortisol means decreased melatonin. This hormone works to promote sleep. Less melatonin means less sleep.

Sleep Training for Adults

an image of sleep tracker represented by notes and a clockSleep training requires you to set a schedule of sequential steps that ultimately help you get the sleep you need. Following this series of steps helps you make those decisions that lead to a good night’s sleep. Don’t expect these steps to work perfectly the first time you decide to follow them. The key is to stick with the schedule. After all, training of any kind requires continuous practice. Sleep training does, also.

Step One of Sleep Training

The first thing you must do in sleep training involves deciding what time you choose to wake up and how many hours of sleep you’ll need in order to feel rested by that time. Ideally, you should strive to get seven to eight hours of sleep per night. So, if you need to wake up at 6:00 a.m. and want to get eight hours of sleep, you need to be asleep by 10:00 p.m.

Step Two of Sleep Training

Add a half-hour (30 minutes) to your bedtime. This becomes your downtime. If you normally go to bed to go to sleep at 10:00 pm,  you likely start unwinding at that time. But this means you will probably not actually go to sleep until 10:30 or later. So, you will already find yourself short on sleep time. Instead, begin unwinding at 9:30. This allows you a half-hour to get more relaxed and ready to go to sleep.

Step Three of Sleep Training

Wake up at the same time every day if at all possible. You may need to set an alarm to make sure you wake up. As you continue to use this schedule of sleep training, you’ll find yourself more and more alert when you wake up. In addition, the repetition of getting up at the same time every day will eventually train your brain to wake you up a minute or so before your alarm goes off.

Step Four of Sleep Training

You’ve now established your routine for getting into bed. The next step in sleep training involves setting a habit for that half-hour of downtime you've given yourself. Instead of playing video games or watching television, you may want to use this time to read, listen to an audiobook, or listen to soothing music. If none of these appeals to you, try listening to a recording of rain, ocean waves, or some other very relaxing sound. Even some kind of ‘white noise’ can help you at this step. Search the internet and learn a way to relax that works for you. Doing some kind of relaxation exercise during this time may even help you go to sleep before the time you set for yourself.

Step Five of Sleep Training

Follow this routine every night for four weeks. Keep a journal every few days, writing when you first wake up or as you wind down to see if you find any patterns of what works and what doesn’t work for you. In the beginning, it may take you several attempts before you find something that helps you relax and go to sleep. Keeping a journal like this will help you remember what you tried, what worked, and what didn't work.

Step Six of Sleep Training

Sometimes, even though you stick with the sleep training schedule, for one reason or another sleep will elude you. When this happens, don’t fall back on watching TV or getting on your phone to check Instagram or some other social media. Find something that will calm you down and make you sleepy. This might be listening to an audiobook or a podcast on something that’s interesting but not exciting. Whatever works for you.

Additional Tips for Sleep Training

Let's explore some of the ways you can build a healthy sleeping habit:

Woman reading book letting her fall to sleep as a tip of sleep trainingGo to bed when you feel sleepy. Don’t get so committed to a schedule that you hit the bed because it’s time to get in bed. This can lead to you lying there tossing and turning, worrying about not going to sleep. Thoughts of what will happen if you don’t get enough sleep will ensure you don’t get that sleep.

Don’t use your bed for anything but sleeping. Sleep training requires you to associate your bed only with sleep. You can read on the couch until you get sleepy, then go to bed and sleep.

Take melatonin when you eat supper. It proves more effective when taken several hours before bedtime. This trains your body to produce more melatonin. Also, see if you're taking the right dose of melatonin as it is dose-dependent.

If you stay awake for more than ten minutes, get out of bed, and go do something else relaxing. Go to your couch and read, for example. This may prove hard to do in the middle of the night, but it also helps you more than laying there tossing and turning and worrying about not sleeping.

Be careful about what you eat or drink. If you go to bed hungry or stuffed, your discomfort can keep you awake. Nicotine and caffeine both tend to keep people awake. Especially as you first start getting into your sleep training schedule, limit both of these to times other than at night.

Make your bedroom a restful place. Most of the time, a cool, quiet, and dark place can lead to better sleep. Exposure to light can make it harder to get to sleep. This means no light-emitting sources in the bedroom. Relaxation exercises or a warm bath also can help you relax more and get to sleep easier.

Don’t take long naps in the daytime. If you nap, make it thirty minutes or less well before bedtime.

Add some moderate exercise well before bedtime to your daily routine. Walking is a great way to exercise.

Do all you can to manage your stress. This will help not only with sleep training but also with the stress that leads to AFS.

A Few Reasons Why AFS Can Limit Your Sleep

A number of factors play a role in how AFS limits your sleep. All of them can affect you.

Cortisol

an representation image of cortisol hormone present in the bodyNormally, cortisol levels decline as the day progresses, reaching a low point around 10:00 pm. This lower level of cortisol helps you go to sleep. However, when you deal with continuing chronic stress, your adrenal glands continue releasing cortisol as long as the stress remains. This means you may experience high levels of cortisol during the night. High cortisol levels mean difficulty sleeping.

Stress Hormones

With chronic stress, your autonomic nervous system, especially the sympathetic nervous system, remains activated. In this activation, the hormones norepinephrine and epinephrine may be high. Both of these hormones work to keep your mind and body geared up to deal with the stress you face. When cortisol can not handle the stress, these two hormones are released by the sympathetic nervous system to take over. With norepinephrine in play, you face the 'wired and tired' concept. This means that even though you feel tired physically, your mind remains very alert. With epinephrine in play, your body stays activated, especially your cardiovascular system.

Anxiety

Anxiety comes with AFS. A number of sources bring this anxiety on. With sleeplessness, you feel more anxiety because you're not able to go to sleep or stay asleep. Anxious thoughts begin invading your mind regarding your inability to sleep. You start wondering if you'll ever get to sleep. Then you wonder how you'll function the next day without enough sleep. Added to this, not getting enough sleep in itself generates anxiety.

Metabolic Issues

Problems with metabolism follow when you suffer from AFS. When you do sleep, you undergo an extended fast. With adrenal fatigue, you can suffer from symptoms of hypoglycemia every few hours through the day and night. During this sleep fast, your body uses up its supply of glucose because you get hungry. This stimulates the need for more cortisol. Your body releases more cortisol and you wake up because your body thinks it's time to get up due to the increased cortisol levels. Often times if you eat right before you sleep or when you wake up at night and it helps your sleepy, you have a cortisol or blood sugar issue that needs to be addressed.

Conclusion

the image of adrenal glan in a black backgroundSleep training requires following a schedule to help you get in the habit of doing those things that lead to falling asleep. Getting sufficient sleep helps you deal not only with the stresses you face each day but also with those that build up over time.

For those with AFS, sleep training may take a slightly different route, but having the kind of schedule for getting ready to sleep remains important. Clearly, doing everything you can to limit your stress will help not only with sleep but also with AFS symptoms overall. But stress is not the only reason you have trouble sleeping. Considering all the underlying sleep issues above, you can see how people who suffer from AFS could benefit from sleep training and how this sleep training may take longer to work.

Whatever you decide to do, please consult with your primary healthcare professional. He or she can help you decide what will work best for you and how to implement it.

If you would like to know more about or need assistance with sleep training, the team at Dr. Lam Coaching can help. We offer a free** no-obligation phone consultation at +1-626-571-1234 where we will privately discuss your symptoms and various options. You can also send us a question through our Ask The Doctor system by clicking here.

 
© Copyright 2021 Michael Lam, M.D. All Rights Reserved.


Dr. Lam's Key Question

Sleep training helps a person set up a schedule to make going to sleep easier. Following a series of steps establish a habit that becomes routine. Sleep training is designed to slow things down and make the transition from wakefulness to sleep easier.

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