Sleep Issues
Everything is worse when you don’t sleep well. On the contrary, literally everything in life and health gets better when you’re rested.
If you’re not sleeping well, the most important first step is to get you sleeping ASAP. Yes, even for a Naturopathic Doctor, this may include prescription medications to make you sleepy or to address symptoms that are keeping you awake like pain or anxiety.
What causes sleep issues?
The second (simultaneous) step is to investigate why you’re not sleeping well. The causes of poor sleep are many…
Undiagnosed sleep disorders like obstructice sleep apnea (OSA) and restless leg syndrome (RLS)
Hormonal imbalances like low progesterone or swings in estrogen, which happens in menopause
Sympathetic dominance (high stress response) and PTSD
Underlying inflammatory conditions such as mold illness or chronic pain
Life circumstances such as young children or working the night shift
Treatments to help you sleep better
The options for addressing poor sleep are also many. Of course, the focus of treatment is to address the root cause of your sleep issues. It’s important to establish foundations of a healthy sleep routine, called sleep hygiene. These include a consistent bedtime and waking time, circadian rhythm support, and daily movement to discharge your stress energy and prepare your body to enter rest mode. Herbal medicines and supplements are commonly used to support the nervous system in making this shift into a parasympathetic state.
Sleep is #1. Let’s make it better.
You can’t operate at your full capacity when you’re sleep deprived. You’ll be on a path to chronic illness if you don’t figure out your sleep issues. Naturopathic medicine shines at sleep medicine because we have so many tools at our disposal. If you’re curious about a holistic, integrative, and personalized approach to healing your sleep struggles, click the button below to inquire about working together.