Tag Archives: insomnia

How Does The Seasonal Time Change Affect You And Your Pets?

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Each year we go through this time change 1 hour back and forth, but did you ever wonder how the body feels because of the time change? and how to our pets react to the time change?

Our bodies have their internal clocks that are very much in tune with the day light and any change in the amount of day light we get, will definitely affect how the body perceives the day and the night, so as the days get shorter and daylight decreases, the body does go through an adjustment period. How long does adjustment period last? Usually a few weeks!

The body produces a sleeping hormone that called melatonin, which is produced in body at night after the sun goes down and the stress hormone – cortisol production declines at about 11:00 pm and peaks at about 2:00 am in the morning. As the time changes, an hour back and forth, it puts the body in a little bit of a confusion state for some time and it takes it some time to get used to the new times. However, during this process, the body may go through symptoms of feeling tired and unrested, and quite often a feeling of just not feeling that well. Do not worry, as long as you keep to your routines and your scheduled sleeping times of 7 – 8 hours a night, the body will recover sooner than later. If you are chronically sleep deprived, then this transition will make it worse. Please check out the insomnia article for how to improve your sleep patterns naturally using naturopathic medicine.

What about our furry friends? Do they experience this too? I believe they absolutely do. Their schedules are really dependent on what our schedules look like, they are usually up before us and may or may not sleep after we go to bed, but they definitely are affected by what we do and at what time. Being a pet friend, i can attest to that. As the time to do things and leave for work changes, they to go through a short adjustment period, absolutely.

So to make the transition smoother naturally, try to drink more water to keep you hydrated and try to get enough sleep, at least 7 – 8 hours a night. If you are feeling wiped or tired, try to increase the intake of fresh fruits and vegetables and this will help to improve the nutrient status in the body. Try to stay away from stimulants such as caffeine and refined sugars and carbohydrates, which will make you feel better for a short period of time, followed by a crash period. Moderate exercise would be helpful as well to improve your hormone levels and decrease your stress levels.

By: Sushma  Shah, Naturopathic Doctor in Toronto, at the Nature’s Intentions Naturopathic Clinic.

Loss Of Hair Due To Loss Of Sleep?

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Hair loss can occur as a result of many imbalances in the body, but can hair loss be effected by loss of sleep or insomnia? The answer to this question is YES. Usually a significant lack of sleep or chronic restless sleep will affect hair loss.

Why does loss of hair occur with loss of sleep?

When the you sleep, the body refreshes and replenishes it self with the essential rest it needs. This of course helps with balancing out your hormones and metabolic system, especially your cortisol or stress system, which follows a circadian rhythm – meaning its high in the morning and low in the evening. If you suffer from insomnia or chronic lack of sleep or are suffering loss of sleep, your body’s natural system of balance get “out of balance” which will then affect various aspects of your health, including loss of hair and general luster in skin. Generally lack / loss of sleep occurs due to various reasons, stress being a big factor, and stress is a big cause of hair loss as well.  Generally, you will notice an increase in hair loss when you wash your hair, or brush it, and some people notice hair strands on their pillows or bed on waking.

What can I do to reverse it?

As a naturopathic doctor, my recommendations are as follows:

1. Talk to your naturopathic doctor about your hair loss and loss of sleep. They will be able to identify the root cause of the problem and help you treat it naturally.

2. Try to identify any lack of minerals and vitamins that may also be affecting both your hair loss and insomnia or lack of sleep – Your naturopathic doctor should be able to do the necessary tests to help you with this.

3. If its stress that is keeping you awake, join our stress management program to handle your stress better or find strategies to cope better with your stress.

4. Get onto a really good schedule with regards to your sleep. Acupuncture and certain supplements are great to restore sleep to bring back the body to balance.

5. Trace back your steps to identify what came first – hair loss or loss of sleep? Improving your diet in either case will help tremendously, especially cutting back on the caffeine, alcohol and nicotine.

By: Sushma Shah, Naturopathic Doctor at the Natures Intentions Naturopathic Clinic, in Toronto.

Seasonal Affective Disorder And Vitamin D Levels

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As the days are getting shorter and gloomier, lots of people have been complaining about feeling more anxious or depressed for no apparent reason. If you are one of those individuals, you could be suffering from SAD also called the Seasonal affective disorder, and here are simple natural things you can do to feel better and more optimistic.

1. Go see your Doctor, be it a Naturopathic Physician or a Medical Doctor, and get them to test your Vitamin D levels. Usually the medical laboratories recommends to assume that living in a temperate zone, you are Vitamin D deficient, I do recommend however its better to know how low. Based on the results, you naturopathic doctor or medical doctor will generally recommend the required dose. If you are low and are a female, it might also be a good idea to test you bone density and calcium levels. Quite often these will be effected as well.

2. Do fun things in and around the house – Just because the weather has become colder, it does not mean that your heart has to feel the same way – COLD. No, warm up your heart with different chores that you enjoy but never get around to in the summer. Here are a few examples: cleaning up the garden, one day at a time, and make sure you do it when the sun is out, this will help you body manufacture some Vitamin D as well. You can restart old projects in the house that you had a good mind to finish when you started them, and pace yourself.

3. Change your decorating theme in the house to reflect on warmer colors – light brown, taupe and beige could be very comforting with warm burgundies and maroons. Spice up your fireplace with some decorative pieces that you like – maybe a photo frame with pictures that bring back good memories. And nothing beats the smell of warm bread (you can bake healthier versions) with a warm cup of hot chocolate with lots of little marsh mellows floating in them.

4. Light therapy is available at various health stores and regular pharmacies. So for those really bad days, give yourself an extra 15 to 20 minutes. You should use them daily for about 20 – 25 minutes depending on the model. If going south is an option, make sure you take full advantage of the sunlight while you are away.

5. Your sleeping hormone melatonin also plays a role in SAD / Seasonal affective disorder, so make sure you are resting well, and getting a minimum of 7 – 8 hours of sleep a night. A small cereal snack might help you sleep better, as it releases serotonin, your feeling good hormone and also helps with Seasonal affective disorder. If you are suffering from insomnia, this will worsen feelings of sadness and depression. Ask you naturopathic doctor to test your hormonal levels to make sure this is not causing the problem.

By: Toronto Naturopath, Sushma Shah, at the Nature’s Intentions Naturopathic Clinic.

Treating Insomnia / Restless Sleep Related To Stress

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Quite often we have people at our naturopathic clinic who come in to be treated for insomnia or restless sleep.

What causes sudden insomnia and restless sleep?

Stress is a huge factor for most people. Especially for those individuals who tend to take work stress home, have a hard time managing stress, and tend to internalize it. In doing so, when they try to get to sleep, all the thoughts that weren’t dealt with during the day, come up at night and disturb the individual sleep – where they might have a very active and restless mind and cant stop thinking when they should have been sleeping.

A simple solution to this would be to try and journal all your thoughts before bedtime in your library or study area or any area away from the bedroom.

You could also try some form of deep breathing or mediation before bedtime to help you calm your mind and body down. Physical exercise during the day is also great for stress relief. Acupuncture and relaxation is what we found to be the most effective, along with certain supplements for sleeping ailments that are stress related.

A deficiency in certain key nutrients may also cause restlessness during sleeping hours, talk to your naturopath about perhaps checking your nutrient status, especially if you are using stimulants such as coffee to get you through the day.  You might also want to get your cortisol levels checked (a key hormone that allows the body to adapt to stress), especially if you are getting a second wind at night or are rather alert when you wake up in the middle of the night. Usually saliva hormone testing is the best way to check the cortisol levels. Talk to our Toronto naturopath to see if this would be applicable in your case.

By: Sushma Shah, Toronto Naturopathic Doctor, at Nature’s Intentions Naturopathic Clinic.