Uploaded on Sep 19, 2022
Do you wake up with a stuffy nose or sneeze when asleep? You may have seasonal or round-the-year allergies if such things happen to you. Experts suggest that every four people out of 10 suffer from allergic rhinitis.
How do allergies affect your good night’s sleep
How do allergies affect your good night’s
sleep?
Do you wake up with a stuffy nose or sneeze when asleep? You may have
seasonal or round-the-year allergies if such things happen to you. Experts
suggest that every four people out of 10 suffer from allergic rhinitis. They
show symptoms like sneezing, itchy or runny nose, and watery eyes. Some
people even experience trouble with sleep. Here is how having an allergy can
be bad news for your rest.
How do allergies lead to poor sleep?
When you have an allergy, you experience irritation in your nasal passages. It
happens because the allergens enter your nose and lead to symptoms like
nasal congestion, sneezing, trouble with breathing, and watery eyes. The
condition worsens explicitly at night, leading to poor sleep quality. Because
of this, people may spend their nights tossing and turning in beds and miss
sleep. This, in turn, can make you feel tired during the day and impair your
daytime performance. If it continues for an extended period of time, it may
heighten anxiety and stress response, running your sleep.
Here, you must note that allergens not only impact your ability to fall asleep
but also affect your ability to stay asleep. Many allergic patients wake up
with a congested nose, sneeze, or coughing fit in the middle of the night.
Over time, this type of allergy-induced sleep deprivation can add up and
create a vicious cycle. Many people rely on alcohol or sedatives to overcome
these, but doing so is not helpful.
What sleep disturbances can come from allergies?
Being allergic can affect all aspects of sleep. Individuals may develop
problems like insomnia, increased snoring, poor sleep efficiency, high risk of
sleep apnea, trouble falling asleep, and short rest duration. In some cases, the
wheezing noise gets so loud that your bed partner may get annoyed and
begins searching for how to stop snoring.
In severe cases, sleep issues can develop into serious sleep disturbances such
as bedwetting, snoring, insomnia, and restless sleep. Experts also suggest that
seasonal allergies can cause or worsen obstructive sleep apnea. It is of
particular concern because OSA can lead to complexities like high BP,
cardiovascular diseases, and death.
The problems do not end with inadequate sleep. Because of poor rest,
patients with allergies also experience trouble waking up. They feel fatigued
during the daytime and have morning headaches and sinus pain.
How do allergies affect sleep in children?
Paediatricians suggest that having allergies increases the risk of OSA in
children. Those with allergies are two times more likely to develop sleep-
disordered breathing than children who don’t have it. Poor sleep caused
because of allergic rhinitis can have behavioural problems, problems with
memory, and poor IQ levels.
So, these are a few ways allergies can affect your everyday life and lead to
complexities.
Thank You
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