Sleep Disturbance

Your sleep can be disturbed by many things. Lost sleep is only a problem if tiredness affects you the next day. In general, people worry about their sleep too much.

If you are worried about your sleep pattern, ask your pharmacist for advice. Treatments you can buy in the pharmacy are for short term treatment only.

• Do not worry if you lose one or two nights sleep, your body will make up for it.
• Try to work out what is stopping you from sleeping and deal with that problem.
• Prepare yourself for sleep. Be tired and relax before you go to bed. Leave enough time between work and sleep.
• Have a milky drink as your last drink of the night - not tea or coffee.
• Reserve the bedroom for sleep and relaxation. Do not work or do mentally challenging tasks there.
• If you cannot sleep, get up, do something else and then prepare yourself for bed again. Never lie awake in bed worrying about when sleep will come. You must relax to sleep.
• If you have to go to the toilet a lot in the night, avoid tea and coffee in the day and drink less in the evenings.
• If you snooze through the day, do not expect to sleep at night as well.