Why am I Tossing and Turning in My Sleep?

June 10, 2022

4 mins

Nothing is more frustrating than being unable to sleep when you know you need it.

If you find that you're tossing and turning in bed frequently, chances are there may be an underlying cause––and effective solutions.

Below is a closer look at common causes of tossing and turning as well as practices to help you get to sleep faster and stay asleep.

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What are the Potential Causes of Tossing and Turning?

An inability to sleep every once in a while is nothing to write home about, but a continual pattern of not being able to fall asleep can pose a real problem.

Anyone who's gone through an entire workweek sleep-deprived knows the feeling.

You not only feel drained while working, but sleep deprivation can turn into problems with your home life, such as a decreased sex drive, less control over mood and emotions, and even long-term detriments to your health.

Below is a closer look at some potential causes of tossing and turning to help you better understand why you may be having difficulty getting to sleep.

Caffeine

Caffeine is a natural substance found in soda, coffee, chocolate, and tea. The special power of caffeine is its effect on the brain.

The caffeine molecule closely resembles the body's neurotransmitter adenosine, which plays a role in your ability to fall asleep. This close resemblance allows caffeine to bind to adenosine receptors in the brain, which tricks your brain into feeling more awake and alert.

While caffeine makes for an ideal energy boost, it can also come back to bite you when you try to get some sleep.

If you enjoy caffeinated foods or drinks too close to bedtime, it could cause you to have a hard time falling asleep, causing you to toss and turn throughout the night.

As a general rule, you should avoid anything with caffeine roughly four to six hours before you're planning to go to bed. For some, you may need even more time to get caffeine out of your system.

This includes the main caffeine culprits like coffee, tea, soda, and medications that use caffeine in their formula.

Stress

Going to sleep is a multistage process, and one of the most important steps is allowing yourself time and processes to relax. Relaxation is important to lowering your heart rate and respiration, both part of the natural sleep process.

If you're stressed when you try to go to bed, it can be challenging for your body to reach the relaxed state necessary for sleep.

Whether it's temporary or constant, if you find that you feel stressed leading up to bedtime or as you lay in bed, it's time to consider stress-coping techniques. 

Some of the most effective approaches to relieving stress (both chronic and acute stress) include a regular workout/exercise regimen, journaling, hobbies that take your mind off of stressors like work. 

Comfort

We spend almost half our lives in bed. If you're sleeping on a hard, lumpy mattress that keeps you up, it's time to re-consider your priorities.

The comfort of your bed and pillow are incredibly important when it comes to getting good sleep. A number of factors contribute to sleep comfort, including mattress firmness, pillow firmness, bedding material, and support.

For many, being able to stay in one position comfortably throughout the night is key to getting good sleep.

Everyone is different when it comes to sleeping comfort preferences, and these preferences are largely determined by sleeping position and body type. When your bedding doesn’t align with your sleeping preferences, tossing and turning throughout the night may be inevitability. 

A mattress retailer can help by letting you lay on and try multiple beds and mattresses. Watch for pushy salespeople, but testing out multiple mattresses is the ideal way to find what works for you. Many online retailers now allow you to send your mattress back, too.

Temperature

In addition to bedding comfort, the temperature in your sleeping environment plays a major role in your ability to sleep. Sleeping in an environment that's too hot can actually delay or even interrupt deeper and important REM sleep like REM.

As you enter sleep, your core body temperature naturally decreases. It's an important physiological component of getting to sleep.

There is no ideal temperature for everyone when it comes to sleep, and room temperature for optimal sleep is up to personal preference, but preferred sleeping temperature generally falls somewhere between 60 and 70° F.

Noise and external stimuli

When you wind down and get ready for sleep, it's important that you limit the number of external stimuli.

Subtle noises you may not have noticed before bed may be brought to your attention and keep you awake at night, reducing the quality of your sleep even if you're not aware of it.

Reducing external noise that's outside of your control can be difficult, but you can use tools such as a white noise machine to drown out distracting noises or even earplugs to block them out entirely in the worst situations.

Falling asleep with a television on, for example, might sound soothing to some, but sleep researchers believe this habit can limit sleep quality. 

Sleep disorders

Sleep disorders affect over 50 million Americans. According to the The International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD), sleep disorders that keep people awake include:

• Insomnia - including chronic, short-term, and other (when the patient has insomnia symptoms but does not meet criteria for the other two types of insomnia)

• Sleep-related breathing disorders - including obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea syndromes, and sleep-related hypoventilation disorders

• Circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders - including a variety of disorders related to your sleep cycle being unaligned with normal night-time sleeping routines

• Parasomnias - include a variety of unusual behaviors that occur just before falling asleep, during sleep, or when waking up. These behaviors are generally unconscious and usually unremembered. Exploding head syndrome, for example, has nothing to do with one's head exploding, but rather unreal noises that are loud and of short duration when falling asleep. 

How Can I Sleep More Easily?

There are a near-limitless number of reasons why you might find it difficult to fall asleep. This can range from the room being too hot all the way to having a lot on your mind when your head hits the pillow.

Luckily, there are real action items you can do to help yourself get to sleep and stay asleep, in both the long-term and short-term.

Here are some methods and techniques to avoid tossing and turning and achieve better quality sleep. 

Nighttime routine and sleep hygiene

One of the best things you can do to improve your ability to get to sleep and stay asleep is to create a nighttime routine.

A nighttime routine is an important part of good "sleep hygiene." What is sleep hygiene? These are the practices and situations surrounding going to bed. 

A good nighttime routine for quality sleep involves:

• dimming the lights in the 30 to 60 minutes before bed

• choosing a relaxing activity like reading in the hour before bed

• and even practicing a little self-care

All of the above have been shown to improve peoples' ability to get to sleep.

Additionally, there's more you should be thinking about in the hours before bed. 

Good sleep hygiene (including a routine) involves:

• avoiding the use of electronics and screens in the hour before bed

• avoiding exercise at least one hour before bed

• making sure your sleeping space is quiet, at a good temperature, and that you have quality bedding that works for your sleeping position

• avoiding eating large or heavy meals or snacks before bed

If you want an example of poor sleep hygiene, eating a bowl of potato chips or ice cream while watching television in the final hour before bed isn't doing your body any favors before trying to sleep. Neither is staring at your phone screen just before turning out the lights and rolling over. 

When you make a habit of a quality nighttime routine and practicing good sleep hygiene habits, these processes can act as a natural cue for your body to prepare for sleep, which can be extremely helpful in allowing you to fall asleep faster and stay asleep.

Medication

When a lack of quality sleep becomes a chronic issue, it can have real detrimental impacts on your quality of life.

These effects can range from a decline in cognitive performance to affecting your sexual health and ability to attain an erection.

For those that are candidates, medication is one way to attain some relief when a lack of quality sleep is a consistent problem. This is especially true for those diagnosed with sleep disorders.

For the right patients, Rex MD can help with non-addictive prescription sleep aids sent directly to your doorstep. Our licensed clinicians prescribe medication online, if appropriate, with no copays, no in-person doctor visit, and affordable pricing. 

Tossing and turning in your sleep is an indication that you're not getting quality sleep.

This can be due to a number of factors, including stress, caffeine consumption, poor sleep hygiene, your sleeping environment, and even recognized sleeping disorders.

Identifying and fixing the shortcomings in your sleep hygiene is the first step in getting the sleep you need: turn off screens 60 minutes before bed, go to sleep at the same time each night, and avoid big (and unhealthy) snacks before bed. Medications for sleep can help for the right patients, too, some of which are now available from Rex MD online, if appropriate.