Poor quality sleep takes its toll on your body after only a few nights. You feel groggy, grumpy, and dizzy, and this happens after a couple of nights of tossing and turning. You can imagine what happens if you suffer from long-term sleep deprivation. Or maybe you can’t, which is why we would like to mention just some of the side effects that your body will experience:
• Memory issues. Your brain uses sleep to form new connections and remember new information. When sleep lacks, these connections don’t form, and both short-term and long-term memory are affected.

• Trouble with thinking and with concentration and creativity. Problem-solving skills are affected as well.

• Mood changes appear very often as side effects of sleep deprivation. You become emotional and quick-tempered.

• High blood pressure. It appears when you often sleep less than 5 hours per night.

• Increased risk of diabetes.

• Increased risk of heart disease.
These are just some of the negative effects of sleep deprivation on your body and mind. If you have been suffering from it for a while already, you might feel tempted to use some sleep medication as an aid. However, this should be among your last choices. It is not that we don’t support the idea of using sleep medication for better sleep. If you need it and it is the only solution, go for it. The problem is that sleep medication can lead to other side effects, including dizziness and changes in appetite. There are other things that you can use before medication in an attempt to improve sleep quality, things that have proved to be efficient. Here are a few ideas at this source. You can try one of the following:

• Start a sleep ritual. It is one of the first things that you should do to improve sleep quality. Go to bed at the same time and also wake up at the same time. Stick to the ritual on weekends and holidays. It will help balance your body’s inner clock, the circadian rhythm.

• Exercise. Your body is naturally stimulated to produce more melatonin when you exercise. A simple walk in the park can help your body create enough melatonin to improve sleep quality.

• Reserve the bed for sleep. You might be one of the people who work from home. If you are, then don’t take phone calls in bed and don’t respond to emails. Your body will be tricked that the bed is the place where you need to work and stay awake, and you will find it difficult to fall asleep.

• Forget about late afternoon napping. Forget about late afternoon coffee as well. You might feel like you can’t properly function without a cup of coffee but switch to decaf if it is past 2 pm.

• De-stress. It might be a difficult thing to do, especially when you have a lot to juggle with at work and in your personal life. However, you should try to leave everything aside and try to relax right before you go to sleep. Take a hot bath, read a book, or meditate.

• Keep it comfortable. If you want your body to relax and easily fall asleep, then you need to make sure that you use a relaxing bed, pillow, and mattress. You don’t necessarily have to buy a new bed. A new mattress that uses modern technology is enough. As long as you get one with a lot of support, such as a memory foam mattress, your sleep quality is improved. If you need some help and guidance for choosing one of the many types of memory foam mattresses available, please access this website.