In this article I will look at the role that sleep plays in your Endometriosis. And because stress affects it, I’ll touch on that as well.
Many of my clients have difficulties with sleep: difficulty falling asleep or waking up often, or not getting enough, or if they do, not getting the quality they want. And studies have shown that in Endometriosis, poor quality sleep contributes to period pain, pelvic pain, painful intercourse, bladder pain and more depressive symptoms.
So what does good sleep look like, and how does it affect your Endometriosis?
Sleep actually consists of 4 stages and you go through this cycle a few times during the night:
- Transition – this should take between 1-7 mins. Your body is not fully relaxed, and it is easy to wake up.
- Light sleep (this takes up 50% of the night) – each time lasts between 10-25 minutes. Your muscles are relaxed and your breathing and heart rate are slower.
- Deep sleep – each time lasts between 20-40 minutes Your muscles are fully relaxed, and your breathing and heart rate are slow. During this stage your brain waves are very slow. It is important for insightful thinking, creativity, and memory
- REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep – each time lasts between 10-60 minutes. You experience temporary muscle paralysis except for your eyes and breathing. Your brain is more active. It is important for memory, learning and creativity. This is also the stage where you dream.
You cycle through these stages during the night. Each cycle takes between 70 – 100 minutes early in the night, to 90 – 120 minutes later in the night.
During the first half of the night you have more deep sleep. During the second half of the night you have longer light sleep and also more REM sleep.
And this is interesting: how refreshed you feel when you wake up is determined by your last stage of deep sleep.
Stress plays an important role in your sleep. Stress raises your cortisol levels (the stress hormone) and higher levels of cortisol lead to:
- Longer transition stages: so it takes longer to fall asleep or fall back asleep if you wake up during the night
- Longer light sleep stages, so you wake up more often during the night
- Shorter deep sleep stages
- Shorter REM sleep stages
- Shorter sleep overall
Cortisol also affects your immune system and contributes to chronic inflammation.
Research has shown that sleep disturbances are linked to inflammation: you produce fewer anti-inflammatory cytokines and T and B cells (which are cells that regulate the immune response) are less active.
And finally, sleep affects the production and regulation of hormones.
Sleep problems increase inflammation, making your Endometriosis worse.
So how do you get a better night’s shut-eye? Here are some strategies you might like to try:
- Reduce your stress: meditate, journal, practice mindfulness, do breathing exercises, use relaxing music, dance, spend as much time as possible outside in nature.
- Make sure you don’t have any underlying infections, such as gum disease.
- Create a clear routine and stick to it every day. Get up at the same time, go to bed at the same time, don’t sleep in. The routine ‘trains’ your brain when it’s time to fall asleep and wake up.
- Keep your bedroom dark and cool, don’t go on devices at least 1 hour before bedtime, block out any big sounds that might wake you up during light sleep.
- Follow an anti-inflammatory diet
- Don’t drink any alcohol at night. It may help you fall asleep quicker, but it reduces the amount of REM sleep.
Besides your diet, sleep is one of the main factors in inflammation and your Endometriosis symptoms. Any improvement here can help you reduce the severity of your symptoms.
If you want to explore how nutrition can help you improve your sleep and reduce your Endometriosis symptoms, book an obligation-free 30-minute Endometriosis SOS Call: https://theendometriosisnutritionist.online/endometriosis-sos-call/