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How does old age affect sleep?
People aged 65 and over talked to us about how getting older affects their sleep. They told us about some of the reasons they might...
Here, older people talk about how their health or health conditions affect their sleep. They talk about why sleep is important for your health and the impact of health conditions, worrying about health and pain on sleep.
Many people we talked to believed it was important to have a healthy diet and to take some form of exercise. They were also aware of the need for sleep, although the amount needed varied from person to person, and several people believed that less sleep is needed in later life. In particular, several people were actively changing their diets to try and eat more healthily, such as eating more fruit and vegetables, and they ranked sleeping well alongside eating well, in terms of maintaining their health.
Others felt that a healthy diet, physical activity and sleeping well were all important, not just for their health, but also if they wanted to carry on with their daily routines.
A lot of the people we talked to, though, had some serious health problems, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, and prostate cancer. Some people had several illnesses at the same time and were unsure which had the most impact on their sleep. Sometimes they thought the illness itself caused them sleeping problems, and sometimes they thought it might be the medications they were taking.
Mary wonders whether the medicine she takes for her heart might be stopping her from sleeping well (see Sleep medication, other medication and over the counter remedies).
One person we spoke to had sleep apnoea which is a condition which causes interruptions in breathing during sleep and often makes people feel very sleepy during the daytime.
Two of the people we spoke to, who also have heart problems, told us they often wake up in the night struggling to breathe. If the problem with their breathing continues, they can suffer a panic attack. Both think that their breathing difficulties and panic attacks are due to stress, but they have to get up and calm their breathing down before they can go back to sleep.
Several people we spoke to had more than one serious health problem and sometimes just worrying about their health kept them awake at night. Ron has diabetes, prostate cancer and is awaiting major heart surgery. Worrying about his future surgery wakes him up at about three in the morning and he is then unable to get back to sleep. Otto was very anxious that he hadnt heard when he was due to have his cataract operation and the worry over this made him wake up a lot in the night.
Several men said that prostate problems could cause changes that affected sleep. Some people had prostate surgery for cancer or other problems, whilst others were on some form of medication. Everyone who had prostate problems said they were getting up in the night more frequently to go to the toilet.
Sometimes surgery worked for them and they got up less frequently in the night, but for others surgery made no difference. Otto has had prostate surgery, but believes it made no difference because he still gets up the same number of times in the night.
Diabetes also made people need the toilet more frequently at night. It could also disturb the sleep of their partners. Robert’s wife, who had diabetes, frequently needed help going to the toilet in the night and he was often ‘on guard’ listening for her movements.
A few were very concerned that they may suffer from a ‘hypo’ (hypoglycaemia), where the sugar level in their blood drops dramatically and they may feel unwell in the night.
Many of the people we talked to had some form of arthritis that often caused discomfort and pain in the night. Pain could make it hard to get to sleep and could wake them up in the night too. For some it was difficult to get comfortable in bed. Juliet has rheumatoid arthritis. Her special bed lets her sleep partly upright and helps her get up more easily if she wakes up in the night to go to the toilet.
Other illnesses also brought pain and disturbed sleep. People tried to manage this pain in different ways. Some took over the counter painkillers, others were prescribed stronger painkillers by their doctor. Some tried their own remedies. Anne puts lavender oil drops on a microwaveable wheat pack, to put on her back before going to bed.
Other health problems that disturbed sleep included cramp, twitching and shooting pains in the legs. Some took over the counter remedies for cramp, others were prescribed quinine tablets, or drank tonic water, which contains quinine. Others didn’t take anything for cramp and just got out of bed and stretch their limbs.
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