Sleep problems
If you’re not getting a good night’s sleep you could have more problems than just tiredness. Studies suggest sleep disorders are associated with ED. Chronic sleep problems have also been linked to familiar conditions such as high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity. Not the Perfect Storm again!
Sleep apnoea is a sleep disorder in which a person’s airway temporarily collapses, causing him or her to stop breathing. Unsurprisingly, research has confirmed a link between ED and sleep apnoea. Men with ED are more than twice as likely to have sleep apnoea. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine buy Cialis in Australia reports that with CPAP therapy (continuous positive airway pressure therapy) the results on improved erectile function were significant. If you suffer from sleep apnoea, then CPAP therapy is strongly recommended.
You may have come across pronouncements that 7 hours of good sleep is optimal. What is optimal depends on your age and being able to function without the lack of good sleep symptoms such as memory problems, feeling tired, not being able to make decisions as you normally do etc. According to David K. Randall’s definitive book on sleep, Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep, your age and your genetics determine how much sleep you require.
Teenagers are generally built to sleep later and need more sleep and, older people go to bed earlier and need less sleep. It’s a fascinating book dispelling modern sleep rules probably enforced upon us by marketing departments trying to sell sleeping drugs and even big beds! Social taboos get in the way of lighter sleeping women demanding separate beds and even separate rooms from snoring, fidgety and sleep talking men! Good sleep reduces stress and grumpiness and enhances good relationships. This can only be good for any ED condition.
A fascinating conclusion from the book is that we are genetically evolved to have two sleeps with an intervening period. This is based on the evolutionary need for someone in the social group to be awake at all times to protect the group. Hence, if you do wake during the night do not stress about your lack of sleep, consider a sex encounter and then get relaxed into your second sleep – provided of course that your partner is not deprived of sleep. This is especially relevant if you suffer from Performance Anxiety and you feel in any way obligated to perform before lights out! What a terrific way to spend the intervening wake period and to get you relaxed for your second sleep. We will examine Performance Anxiety in Psychological Sources of ED.
Another fascinating conclusion from research quoted in David К Randall’s book is that sleeping drugs in general only add 10 minutes to the beginning and end of a sleep. The placebo effect on your brain probably has a much bigger effect than the profit contribution you make to the drug companies peddling sleeping drugs. Here are some common sense tips to help with good sleep:
– Cut caffeine – depending on your make up, the effects of caffeine can take as long as eight hours to wear off.
– Avoid excess alcohol as a sleep aid – it may initially help you fall asleep, but it can also lead to non restful sleep, not the type you need.
– Relax before bedtime – create a pre-sleep ritual, such as a hot bath, to help you relax and unwind from the day’s events.
– Exercise – regular exercise, usually in the mornings or afternoons, can help you sleep.
– Find what works for you and do it. Most people find a dark, quiet, and comfortable bedroom healthy. In Step 6 – 7 we will spend a lot of effort on correcting your mind processes and learning to relax.
– There is substantial research that shows that bright lights from a computer screen or even a bright book reader interferes with the your body’s natural circadian rhythms controlling your body’s need to sleep. Find out of this is an issue for you and if you like to read before you sleep, adjust the contrast.
– Have a sex encounter!
Another syndrome associated with lack of good sleep is Restless Legs Syndrome – RLS to you and me. Yes, you heard correctly and even I was incredulous when I first heard it. There is some debate about the validity of this condition but there is general acceptance that it does exist and that it contributes to sleep problems.
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