5 ways to treat sleep problems as you age

HealthMarkets helps you figure out why you’re not getting enough shut-eye — and what you can do about it.

Healthy sleep is important at any age. But as you get older, it may feel more challenging to fall asleep or stay asleep. You may even find that you’re drowsy during the day.

However, sleep problems aren’t something that always happen to a person as they age. The issue may have to do with prescription drugs you’re taking or even be a sign of something more serious. But there are things you and your health care provider can do to improve your sleep.

Here are 5 strategies to help you get a better night’s rest.

You can help pay for the care you need to get better sleep with a health plan. Call a licensed insurance agent at (800) 827-9990 to discuss available plans, or browse your options online today.

1. Pay attention to snoring

Or rather, ask your spouse or someone else to watch you while you’re sleeping. If you’re snoring and gasping for air as you sleep, you may have a health condition called sleep apnea. It occurs when the muscles of your upper airway relax too much during sleep, making it harder to breathe.

“As you age, the degree to which your muscles relax changes, including when you sleep,” says Joshua Lennon, M.D. He’s the facility director for the Neurology Clinic Sleep Center in Memphis, Tennessee. (He’s also an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.) So, that’s why you see more people getting sleep apnea as they get older, he adds.

Doctors typically treat the condition by having you wear a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine while you’re sleeping. A CPAP machine prevents your airway from closing by providing continuous pressurized air through tubing that connects to the mask.

2. Consider insomnia therapy

Often, treatments for sleep problems don’t involve prescription drugs. For example, if you have insomnia, which becomes more common as you age, your doctor may recommend Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I).

“CBT-I is the go-to [treatment] for sleep difficulties,” says Dr. Lennon. It’s a short, structured, evidence-based approach to dealing with insomnia. It focuses on identifying and addressing thoughts, feelings and behaviors that are contributing to the symptoms of insomnia. In addition to the ones listed above, symptoms can also include waking up too early.

“CBT-I is highly effective in older adults,” says Kelly Glazer Baron, Ph.D. She’s a professor, clinical psychologist and the director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine program at University of Utah Health. “It involves usually 4 to 6 sessions, meeting with a therapist individually or in a group. There are also online versions and workbooks that walk people through it.”

If you want to try any of these treatments, find a health plan with mental health coverage. Call a licensed insurance agent at (800) 827-9990 to discuss available plans, or browse your options online today.

3. Review which prescription drugs you’re taking

If you’re having sleep problems, review your list of medications with your doctor or pharmacist. “Medications very commonly could impact sleep in one way or the other, either by affecting your alertness during the daytime or by directly impacting the brain’s ability to achieve one or more different stages of sleep across the night,” says Dr. Lennon. Ask your doctor if your sleep issues could be a side effect of a medication.

“Many common medications, such as those used to control blood pressure, for example, are known to cause sleep disruption,” says Baron. If a medicine is affecting your sleep, your doctor may be able to make an adjustment to your prescription that can improve your sleep.

4. Get more exercise to help with sleep problems

How active you are during the day impacts your sleep at night. The less active you are during the daytime, the more active and restless your sleep will be at night. The opposite is true, too: The more physically active you are during the day, the less active and more restful your sleep will be at night, Dr. Lennon says.

As a result, if you stop exercising or being as physically active when you retire, it can be bad for your sleep. “There’s a tremendous amount of data that people who are more active have better sleep at night, so physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for your sleep,” Baron says. This puts an even greater emphasis, she notes, on activities like:

• Walking
• Gardening
• Light activity such as gentle yoga or tai chi

To improve the quality of your sleep, Dr. Lennon advises trying to get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise every week. That’s what is recommended for by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (It can be broken down into 30-minute chunks of exercise, 5 days a week.)

If you’re not able to do that much exercise, keep in mind that any amount of physical activity is better than none. For example, one of the goals for older adults in the guidelines is to sit less and move more. But before you start any new exercise regimen, be sure to talk to your doctor.

5. Wake up and go to sleep at the same time daily

A person’s inner clock runs on roughly a 24-hour cycle, which is known as your circadian rhythm. Going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time consistently helps you stay in sync with that rhythm, which also helps support healthy sleep, explains Dr. Lennon. That means maintaining the same sleep-wake schedule on the weekends as on weekdays.

“Staying in a good rhythm and routine is really critical,” agrees Baron, who ranks establishing a consistent wake-sleep schedule as her top piece of advice for healthy sleep.

When figuring out what your ideal sleep schedule is, keep this in mind:

• You need the same recommended amount of sleep as other adults — 7 to 9 hours each night.
• Your circadian rhythm is sensitive to light, especially sunlight, which affects your sleep. Dr. Lennon recommends bright light upon waking and for most of the day, then reducing light exposure at night. “Optimal timing for sleep is to wake up sometime between about 5 and 7 a.m., right around or just before sunrise, and to go to sleep sometime between about 9 and 11 p.m.,” he says.
• Only spend time in bed when you’re sleeping, so that you only associate your bed with sleeping, Baron says. In contrast, activities like watching TV, texting or staying in bed when you can’t sleep can create an association with being awake or stressed in bed. If you’re having trouble getting to sleep, get out of bed and engage in a quiet activity such as reading until you feel drowsy enough to fall asleep.

Any additional questions about plans? Call a licensed insurance agent at (800) 827-9990 to discuss available plans, or browse your options online today.