IBS insomnia: How to Sleep Better with IBS
Generally, when people think about symptoms of an IBS attack, they just assume that it’s your daily routines that are affected. Friends and family often don’t understand that it’s actually the whole day that can be thrown off by a flare-up. The tired fog that clouds you daily isn’t just a side effect of IBS, it’s a side effect of sleep disruption. And it always seems like your symptoms are even worse the next day after no or limited sleep.
You try to lay down to sleep early. You try eating healthy and sticking to a good routine. You may have even tried sleeping aids at this point, but the side effects either exacerbate your symptoms or give you concerns you may be becoming addicted.
But sometimes, no matter what you try, it seems like nothing helps.
Here we will discuss some of the science behind your pain and some solutions that can help once you get to the root of the actual problem.
Insomnia Frequency in IBS Patients
Insomnia is difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. Many IBS sufferers have this problem. There are a lot of contributing factors to why IBS patients may have problems sleeping. However, studies are conflicted on whether IBS patients have a harder time sleeping than the rest of the population.
The variation in study results comes from the study design. Studies that use self-report questionnaires show that people suffering from IBS report trouble sleeping. While studies that use polysomnographic data reported no difference for IBS vs non-IBS controls.
It is believed that the hypersensitivity IBS patients tend to have is what leads to this difference in study results.
Regardless of what these studies say, IBS patients do experience more problems the day after a bad night of sleep. After a sleepless night, you’re likely to experience more abdominal pain, fatigue, and anxiety.
So what causes these disturbances that keep you up at night with excruciating pain or trips to the restroom?
Sleep-Wake Cycles and Their Importance
We know that your next-day symptoms are worse after a night during which you did not get much rest. But what causes that restless night in the first place (other than the pain and restroom visits)?
When you sleep your body goes through different cycles. The two main cycles to consider are rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM).
About 20-25% of your sleep consists of the REM cycle. This is when you experience dreams. This is also the time for your brain to consolidate memories and things you’ve learned. The rest of your sleep cycle is the NREM cycle.
The wake-sleep cycle is what is often referred to as your circadian rhythms. The sleep cycle helps your brain to reset your body and the organ systems within it. During the sleep cycle, your hypothalamus turns off your arousal systems to make sure your body gets into the deeper states of sleep.
Your awake state is controlled by
- The time you wake up
- The time you go to sleep
- The times that you eat.
All of these things will affect your hormones, alertness, muscle tone, and physical activity.
Your melatonin and cortisol secretion along with your body temperature all affect when your body and brain will go to sleep.
Your Digestive System During Sleep
When you go to sleep your body is like a store shutting down for the night. Only the essential regulators, like refrigerators, stay on and everything else that shouldn’t be used, like most of the lights, will be turned off.
People with GERD often have problems with their symptoms flaring up at night time because of laying flat. The reduction in saliva production makes it so the acid doesn’t stay at bay. Usually, a specific type of pillow will help in relaxation and allows for better sleep.
This same posture is bad for gas. When you are upright gas is able to flow more easily through your system to be expelled. When you’re laying down gas tends to get trapped and build up causing you to experience strong abdominal pains and cramping.
During NREM sleep your colonic contractions pretty much stop and start up again during REM cycles. This could be part of the problem with IBS symptoms. The pressure created by the colonic contractions may be just enough to wake you up with discomfort.
Why Your IBS Symptoms Flare Up at Night
The gas and colonic contractions are a huge part of your IBS night-time problems, but there are several other things that can be a major part of your pain.
Sugar causes a lot of issues in this cycle. When you don’t sleep well, your body craves sugar. When you give in to the sugar cravings, you’re throwing off the balance of the microbes in your gut. They make you crave more sugar and feed bad bacteria that overwhelm the good.
Sugar metabolism has a huge impact on the sleep-wake cycle and affects different brain areas that help you to keep on a good sleeping pattern.
Your sleeping patterns can also control the inflammatory response that tends to get out of control with IBS. Inadequate sleep levels will actually increase inflammatory cytokines which will exacerbate your IBS symptoms.
Some studies found that IBS patients spend a longer amount of time in the REM state than controls which may have something to do with their discomfort. However, nothing has been figured out on how to remedy this quite yet.
Another study found that women with IBS-C experienced higher noradrenaline, adrenaline, and cortisol levels during sleep while IBS-D women experienced much lower levels of these neuroendocrine levels. These differences will make you awaken much easier.
Anxiety and depression have a lot to do with the severity of your IBS and insomnia problems. Getting these under control can help a lot. But sometimes medications for either of these problems can lead to sleeping difficulties as well. So if you’re on medication for anything, checking with your doctor about insomnia could help you to adjust to a proper medication level so you can sleep better.
Sleep Remedies for IBS Pain and Symptoms
Ask your doctor if taking melatonin might help you to sleep better. Melatonin in IBS patients was shown to reduce abdominal pain even if it didn’t help the frequency patients woke up during the night. It was shown in another study to help reduce the amount of time it took for subjects to fall asleep.
Getting stress, anxiety, and depression levels under control will help drastically. Talking to your doctor about what would be the best way to control these, will help to reduce IBS symptoms and improve sleep quality.
Making sure you are sleeping comfortably can help too. Having a new mattress that supports the way you sleep can help. Getting body pillows to prop you up and improve the flow of your digestive tract can improve gas flow and reduce the pain associated.
Waking up earlier and walking around during the day can help your body to feel more ready to rest at night time.
Eating healthier and reducing sugar intake can help your digestive system and reduce inflammatory cytokines throughout your body. Reducing caffeine and alcohol intake can help to regulate your sleep-wake cycle as well.
Doing mindfulness exercises can help to relax your mind and body and let you get into a better sleep state. Try introducing yoga or meditation into your evening routine to help encourage digestion before bed and easing your mind of all of your stressors.
The best thing you can do, though, is getting to the source of your IBS problems. Finding your trigger foods and reducing them can help you to avoid having flare-ups.
Taking herbal remedies can help to reduce inflammation and support your overall health. Using products like Atrantil that were created specifically to help with IBS can help to reduce your problems. Ask your doctor if Atrantil could be right for you. Not only was it created by a doctor but it passed two double-blind placebo studies with 80%+ success rates.
Take care of your mind and body. Both of these will contribute to living a healthier and more pain-free life. What have you found to help you when you’re experiencing sleep struggles? Let us know in the comments section below!