I found certain medications greatly impacted my sleep. Celebrex caused insomnia. Sleep meds (benzos) caused lower deep and higher REM. While tapering off the latter I'm watching deep increase and REM decrease (thank you ZEO!). I have a neurological sleep disorder so my sleep architecture is always off! I wish there was a magic bullet to increase deep sleep...REM, too. My average for the past 2 weeks was 24 min. of deep and 54 min. of REM.

quietmorning said:

What are the types of things that get in the way of someone getting deep sleep?  What's worked for you?

 

I get on average about 30 minutes of deep sleep a night – which is MUCH better (was getting only a few seconds and absolutely no REM sleep) than I was getting before my Apnea diagnosis and treatment.  

 

Is there anything I can do to help myself stay in deep sleep and perhaps drop into deep sleep more often?  I know I have a pretty significant sleep debt, already.  

Howdy!

There are a few things that we as humans can do to boost our Deep sleep - but it's important to remember that Deep sleep, more than any other sleep phase, decreases noticably with age.  Until we find a way for our cells, organs, and brains to remain forever 25, there's no work around.  Dr. John Winkelman of Sleep Health Centers explains this in a quick video here.

However, small lifestyle changes can have a big impact on Deep sleep (and sleep health overall).  As you found out already, taking care of an underlying health issue has noticably improved your sleep quality. In addition, sticking to healthy habits, such as a set bedtime and risetime every day, getting your daily does of excercise, and giving yourself time to unwind each day can have a positive impact on Deep sleep as well.

To help you on your Deep sleep journey, I recommend the following articles.  Many of them go into greater depth (no pun intended!) about Deep sleep, how it works, and what you can do about it.

• The 3 Rules of Deep Sleep
• What's Your ZQ?
• Age and Sex Affect Sleep Quality and Quantity
• 7 Ways to Improve your Sleep Tonight

I hope these help & sleep well!

-Andi

Andi,

None of your bulleted links work. Any chance you could update I am very interested.

Sometimes it is extremely difficult to explore good and useful information out there when doing research. Now I will send it to my colleagues as well. Thanks for helping me out. festive lights