Lying awake, staring at the ceiling, you roll over to see the clock read 3:00am. The frustration and despair! Queue the tossing and turning of trying to fall back asleep. Everyone has experienced this, though some more than others. This isn’t a problem if it’s just for a quick pee, and you are able to fall back asleep right away (back to sleep in less than 10 minutes). However, for some the cruel 3am wake up has become their regular sleep pattern, their new normal. This accumulates to never feeling fully rested, a thrown off circadian rhythm, and a whole host of other concerns. It impacts our women’s hormone production and metabolism. A proper sleep is important for daily functioning and for our overall health and well-being. So, why may this be happening and what can we do about it?
Circadian rhythm
A previous blog post (here) briefly outlines our circadian rhythm and it’s importance for getting a good sleep. In this article, we explored how elevated cortisol can cause havoc on this rhythm. If cortisol is not following the natural cycle, it could inappropriately be elevated in the night, causing us to wake up. Interruptions to this cycle include things such as working late into the night and not having a proper wind down before bed. It can also be interrupted if we have a regularly irregular sleep pattern, as we see for shift workers. Before bed, it is important to slow down and implement sleep hygiene techniques so that cortisol has the opportunity to decrease, so that we can enjoy a longer and uninterrupted sleep.
Blood sugar dysregulation
Another common cause of mid-sleep interruptions is blood sugar regulation. This can be either blood sugar spikes or dips. While we sleep, we are in a fasting state. This is important because it leaves time and energy for the important processes to take place during this time. While in this state, our body releases glucose from our liver stores to maintain our blood sugar levels so that the cells that need the energy have it available. However, if we have poor glucose control, insulin doesn’t respond appropriately and we can have elevated blood sugar levels. This might cause you to wake up to urinate, feel thirsty and feeling restless. On the flip side, low blood sugar levels can cause us to waken. If we experience a dip in blood sugar, cortisol will be released as a signal to our body to release sugar from our stores, so our levels do not dip too low. This spike in cortisol and blood sugar may wake us up. It is important to have a balanced dinner, not too close or far away from bed – aim to eat 3-4 hours before bedtime. If you are waking in the night, consider a protein/fat snack before bed (such as a handful of seeds) to help.
A Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Perspective
We can look to TCM perspectives to explore a more mental and emotional link to these sleep interruptions. In TCM, various organs correlate with different functions, times, emotions and more (this is different than the western understanding of organs.) The TCM perspective gives us further insights into what may be going on for you as an individual, and gives us another treatment direction to consider.
- Waking at 1-3am: In TCM, 1-3am is liver time. The liver is responsible for smooth movement of Qi (energy or life force). When Qi movement is disrupted or becomes stagnated, we may experience emotional tension, frustration, depression or repressed anger. Liver is also responsible for our capacity for planning and a sense of direction in our life. If you’re lying awake at this time, worrying about the future, or stressed about a project or work, this may be a sign of TCM liver dysfunction. To relate the liver back to women’s health, liver is responsible for storing blood for release during menstruation. Symptoms of mid period spotting or light periods could also indicate a liver problem.
- Waking at 3-5am: In TCM, 3-5am is lung time. The lung houses our protective and immune Qi, and also supports movement of Qi throughout the body. It is responsible for carrying out and following through on the plans that we make in liver. The emotion of lung is grief and sadness. If you find you are lying awake grieving a loss or a change in our life, we may consider treating the TCM lung to help you.
Sleep is a vital component of health, wellness and achieving overall balance. This is why at the clinic, we will always dive into all the details of your sleep. It is important that we know if you are experiencing these awakenings, so we can address it with a variety of our treatment tools. Let’s get you snoozing through the night so that you can feel your best.
References:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26199963/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26944909/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28164449/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24791913/
https://acuproacademy.com/zang-fu-organs-theory-chinese-medicine/
