It is no secret that sleep is vital to your overall health and well-being. When you sleep, your brain works hard to rejuvenate and prepare your body for the day to come. Unfortunately, getting and staying asleep can be a challenge. This might be due to poor sleep habits, various sleep disorders, or other health conditions.
One of the most common health concerns that can be affected by your sleep patterns is high blood pressure. If you already have a family history or have been diagnosed with hypertension, symptoms associated with this disorder can also make it difficult to get a full, restful night’s sleep. It can also lead to daytime drowsiness and frequently waking up throughout the night.
If you think you might have high blood pressure but have not received an official diagnosis, now is the time to act. Discussing treatment options with your primary care physician or a trusted sleep medicine expert can help you directly address your high blood pressure symptoms and get back on track for healthier sleep.
How Are Sleep and Blood Pressure Related?
Poor sleep habits and consistently not getting enough rest can lead to a host of health concerns. Symptoms like weight gain, heart palpitations, mood swings, daytime drowsiness, and others are common in patients who are getting 6 hours or less of sleep each night. However, what is not as well-known is how sleep habits can affect blood pressure.
There are a number of different sleep disorders that can cause high blood pressure. Sleep apnea, for example, is a condition in which people stop breathing for short periods of time while they sleep. This can lead to a drop in oxygen levels in the blood and an increase in blood pressure as your heart works to make up the difference by pumping more blood through your body. Other sleep disorders that can affect blood pressure include insomnia and restless leg syndrome.
There are several ways that poor sleep can lead to high blood pressure. Typically you will begin to see high blood pressure symptoms after weeks or months of poor sleep. This is because when you don’t sleep well, your body produces more of the stress hormone, cortisol. Cortisol increases your heart rate and makes your blood vessels constrict, which can lead to high blood pressure.
In addition, poor sleep can also lead to weight gain, which is another risk factor for high blood pressure. When you don’t get enough sleep, your body’s hormones get out of balance. This can cause you to crave high-calorie foods, and you’re more likely to overeat when you’re tired. If you already have high blood pressure, you run the risk of over-eating causing more major health concerns. If you have any of these sleep disorders and are struggling to maintain conditions, it is important to seek treatment from a sleep medicine specialist.
High Blood Pressure Symptoms To Watch For
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a condition that affects millions of people worldwide. While it can be caused by a variety of factors, poor sleep habits can lead to high blood pressure. People who sleep less than 6 hours a night have a greater chance of developing high blood pressure than those who sleep seven to eight hours a night. High blood pressure usually occurs when the arteries carrying blood to the heart are constricted. This can lead to a host of symptoms and side effects, including chest pain, shortness of breath, headaches, and dizziness.
If you think you are experiencing symptoms of high blood pressure, it’s important to see a doctor as soon as possible. High blood pressure can be dangerous if left untreated, so it’s important to get a diagnosis and start treatment right away.
Tips to Improve Your Sleep Habits
High blood pressure is very common among adults in the US. That does not mean that it should not be taken extremely seriously, though. High blood pressure can increase your risk for heart disease and stroke if left untreated for long periods of time.
If you have high blood pressure, making changes to your sleep habits can help lower your blood pressure and protect your health. There are several factors that can affect the overall quality of your sleep. Fortunately, there are a few simple changes you can make to help you get a good night’s sleep:
- Maintain a regular sleep schedule
- Create a relaxing sleep environment
- Limit use of electronic devices in your bed
- Restrict caffeine intake
How Can a Sleep Medicine Specialist Help?
There are many benefits of contacting a sleep medicine specialist to address sleep disorder symptoms. Sleep medicine specialists are trained to diagnose and treat sleep disorders, which can often be the underlying cause of symptoms like fatigue, insomnia, and daytime sleepiness. In some cases, sleep disorders can also lead to more serious health problems, so it’s important to get treated as soon as possible.
Sleep medicine specialists can also provide lifestyle and sleep hygiene counseling to help you get the rest you need. If you have a sleep disorder, there are often things you can do to improve your sleep and reduce your symptoms. A sleep medicine specialist can help you identify these lifestyle changes and develop a plan to implement them. Some ways that a sleep medicine doctor can help address your symptoms include:
Prescribe Medication or Medical Devices
By the time most people take the step to see a sleep specialist, their sleep patterns have already been severely disrupted, to the point that certain medications are often necessary. In some cases, medication is the most effective treatment. Sleep disorders like narcolepsy, for example, can be quite dangerous for both the patient and those around them if left untreated. If lack fo sleep has led to other medical issues, it is likely that your sleep specialist will recommend seeing a specialist who can treat your other symptoms as well.
Furthermore, many sleep disorders are caused by things like hormonal imbalances, nutritional deficits, and other minor health issues. Many of these causes can only be successfully treated by medication or supplements.
Medical devices, like Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines, are also an extremely common treatment tool for sleep disorder specialists because of how common conditions like sleep apnea are. In less extreme cases of sleep apnea, a small mouth guard may be used to help keep airways open, or positional therapy may be recommended for patients uncomfortable or unable to sleep with a CPAP machine.
Weight Loss
In many cases, sleep disorders are caused by obesity. In disorders like sleep apnea, excess fat in the neck and chin areas could be blocking airways when a person sleeps. Obesity can also cause high blood pressure and poor blood circulation, which is often connected with restless leg syndrome.
In some cases, a sleep disorder doctor might recommend a strict workout and diet regimen to their patient, to alleviate some of the pressure on their body. Even just a small amount of weight loss has been reported to help patients achieve a more restful night’s sleep.
In cases where a patient would need to lose an extreme amount of weight to overcome their sleep disorder, the doctor might recommend the patient sees a weight management specialist who will be able to present them with all of their options in regard to weight loss.
Behavioral Changes
Many patients do not even realize how much damage their surroundings are doing to their regular sleep patterns. Sleeping with the television, light, or lamp on in the room is not only distracting but can also cause fitful sleep.
Another negative habit that your sleep specialist might suggest you kick is using your phone to go to sleep. Studies show that scrolling on social media or entertainment apps before bed can actually engage your brain and make it even more difficult to fall asleep. Research also shows that the blue light emitted by your cell phone negatively impacts the production of melatonin, the hormone that controls your sleep-wake cycle, which can trigger insomniatic episodes. If you are already struggling with erratic sleep patterns, things like online shopping, reading, or socializing is not the solution.
Counseling
In some cases, disrupted sleep patterns are a side effect of mental health issues. In these cases, when the sleep disorder is not the most major underlying condition, your sleep disorder specialist may refer you to a psychiatrist to help you address whatever mental health disorder you might be suffering from.
It is very common for patients who suffer from insomnia to also struggle with depression or manic episodes. Other conditions like parasomnias and various disruptive sleep behaviors (such as sleepwalking, sleep talking, and excessive movement) can be caused by untreated ADHD, ADD, or OCD.
Gingras Sleep Medicine
Gingras Sleep Medicine, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a sleep medicine clinic specializing in sleep disorders and related conditions for patients of all ages. Founder and Medical Director, Dr. Jeannine Gingras is a triple board-certified sleep medicine specialist who has been studying and treating sleep disorders for decades! She gets to know each patient individually, ensuring she has a clear picture of their issues and concerns, carefully determines the causes, and creates a personalized treatment plan to get them the relief they need.
Call (704) 944-0562 or visit us online to make an appointment today to start your journey towards healthy sleep!