Pregnancy Insomnia – the Causes, Early Signs, and Symptoms

Are you tired yet cannot sleep easily? Do you feel drowsy during the day with low alertness levels? Chances are high that you are not getting the required hours of sleep.

It’s normal for individuals to occasionally have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep.  However, if this is a continual problem and you aren’t getting enough quality sleep, you could be suffering with a condition known as “insomnia.”  Furthermore, this condition is extremely common among women during pregnancy.  In fact, roughly 80% of all women experience this.  While you may find this to be somewhat concerning, it’s important to understand that your baby isn’t getting harmed by this.

Yet while your unborn baby isn’t suffering from your inability to fall asleep or stay asleep, it’s important to educate yourself about insomnia and talk to your physician if the condition persists.  They can help you determine the causes of pregnancy insomnia and identify the early signs of pregnancy insomnia.  Additionally, if you already have some type of sleeping disorder such as central sleep apnea (CSA) or obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), your symptoms may get stronger during your pregnancy. One of the key reasons is that you gain a lot of weight during this time and that is the leading cause of pressure on the respiratory system. It leads to snoring and episodes of breathlessness throughout the night. It helps to sleep on your side during this phase.

Common Causes of Insomnia during Pregnancy

There are a number of factors that can contribute to pregnancy insomnia.  Pregnant women may start having difficulties trying to sleep during the first trimester when their hormone levels begin changing.  These issues become increasingly more problematic during the third trimester as fetal growth continues and woman’s body changes.  Some of the more common causes of pregnancy insomnia include:

• anxiety
• the baby’s movements
• back pain, leg cramps, and other types of physical discomfort
• heartburn and indigestion
• hormones
• increased heart rate and metabolism
• nausea
• nighttime trips to the bathroom
• overall physical discomfort
• sleep apnea
• snoring
• vivid dreams

Each woman’s experiences with pregnancy insomnia are different, but the condition typically evolves throughout the entire pregnancy as follows:

• During the first trimester, pregnancy insomnia is caused by rapid changes in the woman’s hormone levels.  But, some women experience excessive sleepiness (hypersomnolence) during this stage and may get more sleep than they usually do.

• During the latter part of the second trimester, sleeping through the night is a rarity.  In most cases, this is due to heartburn and indigestion.

• During the third trimester, most women experience sleeping difficulties.  However, despite the fact that they wake up frequently, their total sleeping time is close to their pre-pregnancy levels.

First Trimester Insomnia:  The Warning Signs

At some point during their pregnancy, women will have trouble sleeping.  This shouldn’t come as any surprise considering the constant need to urinate, heartburn, and nausea are all common occurrences during this time.  During your first trimester, you may experience some of these early signs of pregnancy insomnia:

• You constantly need to urinate – there’s a dramatic increase in your body’s blood levels during pregnancy.  Consequently, the additional fluid gets processed by your kidneys and ends up in your bladder.  This increases the urge to urinate.

• You feel exhausted throughout the day – this sudden craving for napping during the day is attributed to higher levels of progesterone, the hormone that regulates your reproductive cycle and makes you feel drowsy in the process.

• Your level of discomfort increases – your recent breast soreness makes it difficult to find a comfortable sleeping position.  This is especially true if you usually sleep on your stomach.  This is the ideal time to train yourself to sleep on your side.

Potential Complications of Insomnia during Pregnancy

While it’s important to address the causes of pregnancy insomnia as well as the early signs of pregnancy insomnia, your body still needs a proper amount of rest in order to care for your unborn child.  Pregnancy insomnia, as well as obstructive sleep apnea, (OSA) can be exacerbated by age, family history (genetics), obesity, and smoking.  In turn, this could elevate the risk of a longer labor, needing a C-section, or a premature delivery, all of which could put the baby’s life at risk.

Furthermore, if left untreated, sleep apnea can lead to other complications including difficulty sleeping after your baby is born and high blood pressure (hypertension).  It could also make you more prone to anxiety and depression after the delivery.  As most women know, their baby’s birth may not mean the end of their insomnia.  The baby requires diaper changes, feedings, and other awakenings will continue taking a toll on your ability to sleep throughout the night.

It has been seen that over exhaustion can lead to snoring at night because your muscles relax faster. That is one of the reasons coupled with weight gain which hampers proper sleep.

Home Remedies and Treatments

The treatment of insomnia can be challenging during pregnancy.  However, it’s not impossible to do so.  While many medications are deemed unsafe for pregnant women, there are certain lifestyle changes that may be helpful such as:

• avoiding chocolate and other heartburn triggers
• drinking lots of water
• eating several smaller meals earlier in the day
• keeping your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet
• limiting your caffeine intake
• staying off your phone prior to bedtime
• stretching your leg muscles prior to bedtime
• taking short naps
• taking warm baths
• walking about 30 minutes every day

If you’re having an issue with snoring during your pregnancy, Asonor Anti-snoring Spray and Snoring Solution will help alleviate the problem. For more information, our business representatives are available to discuss more about our product and issues with snoring that you need to resolve. Call us today!