Erin O'Hara: naturopath and wellness expert unpacks why we wake up in the middle of the night

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble going back to sleep again?

Research shows this may happen for a number of reasons, including lighter sleep cycles, stress, underlying health conditions, or environmental factors. 

Naturopath and wellness expert Erin O'Hara explains how we can best combat restlessness - and better prepare for a good night's sleep. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News talks'b.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Time to talk Wellness, and I'm joined by Erin O'Hara.
Good morning, Good morning. So many of us find ourselves
looking at the bedroom ceiling at about two or three
in the morning, wide awake. Maybe some people have, you know,
racing minds, or maybe you're just wide awake, or like me,
maybe you've had a rodent in the ceiling. Oh my goodness,

(00:34):
really busy dealt to that? Why do we wake at
three in the morning.

Speaker 3 (00:40):
Yeah, three o'clock wake up is such a common problem.
Quite often getting to sleep, fine, sleep great, Suddenly two
or three o'clock boom, awake, can't get back to sleep,
lying there maybe thinking maybe not even busy night mind,
but just can't sleep, which is really problematic as well.
And then just lay there for the rest of the night.

(01:01):
And this is a really really common problem, and it
can be common when we maybe have too much stress
during the day. It's probably a big trigger for this.
Is it stressful days, anxious during the day, and then
you think you calm at night, and then actually you
get this little quartzole surge and you're awake at three
o'clock and that's it for the rest of the night,

(01:22):
and that then has a flow on effect for the
next day, being tired and usually having poor regulation for
the next day of your nervous system as well, because
you're usually then sleep deprived, and you then get this
cycle that goes on and on and on of poor
sleep and then more stress and anxiety and tiredness the
next day. And it's hard to get that balance right.

(01:43):
There's lots of things that can trigger these three am
wake ups and make it really challenging to get back
to sleep. Actually has a name middle insomnia or sleep
maintenance insomnia. And if that's you're looking at first, what
are the reasons why you're waking? Is it stress and
anxiety during the day that's activating a fight or flight response.

(02:05):
Are you drinking too much much caffeine during the day,
Are you having like ten cups of coffee that's obviously
going to then affect your nighttime sleep. Or maybe alcohol
before bed big one, especially as we age alcohol before
bed or alcohol in the evening, we then get to
sleep fine because we're so calm and sort of zen,
and then we're from the alcohol kind of zoned us

(02:26):
out and then we're waking up at three o'clock, can't
get back to sleep. The environment of your bedroom, whether
there's too much light, too much noise, too cold, too hot.
There's so many factors with the bedroom of like getting
that balance of like a good sleeping environment, or maybe
it's a medical condition like rescisig syndrome or sleep at

(02:46):
near are common things that will wake people in the
middle of the night and they make it quite hard
to get back to sleep. So there's many factors that
can affect sleep and this nighttime wake up, particular sleep
pattern that goes on.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
I can remember you telling me, because you know we're all,
you know, trying to drink a good amount of fluid
and water during the day. You think to me, drink
the majority of your water wool for two o'clock in
the afternoon the night to go to the low. And
that is so true.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
It is so true, because that even that waking up
to go to the toilet can then get back into
bed and oh my god, I can't get back to sleep.
So that can be another challenging one, particularly actually for
men as they age and might suddenly the prostate might
be a little bit off balance. And then we've got
you know, the wake ups of maybe five times in
a night, which if anyone's woken up five times in

(03:34):
a night knows it's actually quite hard to get enough
sleeping and you wake up feeling pretty exhausted the next morning.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
Okay, quick tips to help us sleep better.

Speaker 3 (03:46):
So always looking at sleep hygiene first, which sleep hygiene
like how you're preparing for bed, creating that routine, creating
the bedroom environment, also limiting your caffeine and alcohol. And
then also don't go to bed with a full tummy.
You're always never going to sleep that great if you've
got a full tummy when you're going to bed.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
Love it.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Thank you so much. Erin enjoy the rest of your weekend.
We'll see you next week.

Speaker 1 (04:10):
For more from the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it B from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.