Causes of Insomnia and Treatment Options to Help You Sleep

By Mila McManus MD

This article isn’t about obvious causes of insomnia, such as heartburn or chronic pain.  Its focus is on some causes of insomnia about which you may not realize, and some suggested treatment options.

Potential causes of insomnia:

• Hormonal imbalance or deficiencies despite normal lab results. Symptoms matter as well. Click here to test yourself for hormonal imbalance and deficiencies, such as low thyroid, estrogen dominance, and low T.
• Adrenal fatigue (another form of hormonal imbalance). Click here to test yourself for adrenal fatigue
• Poor sleep hygiene (e.g. working in bed, watching TV in bed, trying to sleep with a nearby light on)
• Shift work-if you work sometimes during the day and sometimes during the night time hours, this will cause disruption of your circadian rhythm (internal clock)
• Certain medications, prescription or over-the-counter (e.g. ADD medications, decongestants, diet pills)
• Neurotransmitter imbalance-these are chemicals in the brain. There are tests available to check for this
• Stress (it makes everything worse, doesn’t it!)
• Ambient temperature, mainly temperatures above 70 degrees, can affect your quality of sleep
• Alcohol-while it may help you fall asleep, it affects your ability to stay asleep
• Caffeine-some people are very sensitive and don’t realize that having a soda, iced tea, or coffee with lunch can affect their ability to get to sleep at night

Treatment options

• Get your hormones balanced and optimized. Call 281-298-6742 today for help.
• Avoid napping during the day-it confuses your internal clock
• Turn off the TV, turn off your cell phone, and turn off ALL the lights
• Avoid caffeine after 10am
• Talk to your doctor about which medications you are taking may be affecting your sleep. Call 281-298-6742 or click here for us to contact you to learn about how we can help treat the underlying reasons why you need certain medications so that you aren’t dependent on them.
• Avoid alcohol
• Manage your stress! We all have stressors, but we don’t all react the same way to stressors. It may be impossible to rid yourself of stressors, so work on managing the stress. Some options would be meditation, deep breathing exercises, EFT, massages, yoga, bubble baths.