Is it a problem that I often wake up during the night?

Waking up occasionally is normal. At home, you wake up on average about twice a night. If you fall back asleep quickly and feel fine during the day, there is little to worry about. Does it happen more often, do you lie awake for long periods, or do you feel drowsy during the day? Then it is something to take seriously.

The most common medical cause is sleep apnea: your breathing repeatedly stops while you sleep. This fragments your sleep and can startle you awake with a feeling of breathlessness. Sleep apnea is also associated with high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, type 2 diabetes, and stroke. Does a bed partner wake up because of your snoring, or do they notice that you stop breathing? If so, see your doctor.

Other conditions that significantly worsen nighttime waking are PTSD, dementia, and in children, autism. With PTSD, the wake-ups are often accompanied by nightmares. With dementia, 40% of people suffer from sleep problems, which makes memory problems and the risk of falls even greater. In children with autism, the proportion with sleep problems ranges from 40 to 86%.

There are two medications with reasonably good evidence, but both warrant caution. Trazodone (an antidepressant that also promotes sleep) reduces the time spent lying awake after initially falling asleep by an average of just over 13 minutes, but also causes more side effects. Sleeping pills based on benzodiazepines give the feeling of sleeping better, but disrupt deep sleep and can cause concentration and memory problems. Use them only under close medical supervision.

What can you do yourself? In people with dementia, more physical activity and social engagement during the day helps somewhat against nighttime waking, although the evidence is limited. For everyone: if you fall back asleep quickly and feel fit during the day, there is probably nothing wrong. Do you regularly lie awake for long periods or feel tired during the day? Then discuss it with your doctor.