Most of us have had nights where sleep just will not come. You might lie awake thinking about tomorrow, wake several times during the night, or find yourself staring at the clock far earlier than you would like. An occasional restless night is normal. But when poor sleep becomes a regular pattern and starts affecting your days, it may be insomnia.
Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder in Australia, with around one in three adults experiencing insomnia symptoms, and around 10 to 15% meeting the criteria for chronic insomnia.
For many of us, coffee is a comforting part of the morning routine. It helps shake off tiredness, improves alertness and can make starting the day feel a little easier. But during perimenopause and menopause, you may notice that your usual coffee suddenly affects you differently.
Hormonal changes can influence everything from sleep to temperature regulation, and caffeine may make certain symptoms more noticeable. If you are struggling with insomnia, hot flushes or night sweats, it may be worth taking a closer look at what is in your cup.
Have you ever had a poor night’s sleep and found yourself rereading the same email, forgetting why you walked into a room or struggling to find the right word? That frustrating, fuzzy feeling is often described as “brain fog”, and poor sleep may be one reason it happens.1
Sleep is essential for much more than simply feeling rested. Your brain relies on healthy, restorative sleep to support attention, memory, decision-making and clear thinking.1 When insomnia repeatedly disrupts that process, everyday mental tasks can start to feel surprisingly difficult.
Have you ever noticed that after a poor night’s sleep, small frustrations suddenly feel much harder to handle? A stressful email, a traffic jam or an unexpected change of plans might normally be manageable, but when you’re running on too little sleep, your emotions can feel closer to the surface.
There’s a reason for this. Sleep plays an important role in how the brain processes emotions, and when insomnia becomes ongoing, emotional regulation can become more difficult.
We’ve all had nights when our mind seems to switch on the moment our head hits the pillow. You might replay a stressful conversation, think about tomorrow’s workload or simply wonder why you’re still awake. Unfortunately, stress can make sleep harder, and a poor night’s sleep can leave you feeling even more stressed the next day.1
When this happens repeatedly, it can create a frustrating sleep-stress cycle.
If you regularly struggle to fall asleep, wake throughout the night or feel exhausted despite spending enough time in bed, it can be difficult to know what is actually going on. Insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can occur separately, but they also commonly occur together, a combination known as comorbid insomnia and sleep apnea, or COMISA.
Talking openly with your doctor about all your sleep symptoms can help you get a clearer picture. Here are some useful questions to guide the conversation.
When insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) occur together, it is known as comorbid insomnia and sleep apnea, or COMISA, and managing it often means looking at the bigger picture. Rather than focusing on a single treatment, most people benefit from addressing both conditions through a combination of healthy sleep habits, lifestyle changes and targeted therapies.
Building healthier sleep habits: Simple changes to your daily routine can provide an important foundation for better sleep…
Living with poor sleep night after night can affect much more than how tired you feel the next morning. When insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) occur together, a condition known as comorbid insomnia and sleep apnea (COMISA), the effects of two sleep disorders can combine and have a significant impact on everyday life and long-term health.
Poor sleep can become an ongoing cycle - Insomnia can make it difficult to fall or stay asleep, while OSA repeatedly disrupts sleep when the airway narrows or closes…
We all know how difficult it can be to get through the day after a poor night’s sleep. But for people living with both insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), disrupted sleep can become an ongoing problem that affects much more than how tired they feel.
This combination is known as comorbid insomnia and sleep apnea, or COMISA. Around 30 to 40% of people with insomnia also have sleep apnea, while 30 to 50% of people with sleep apnea experience insomnia symptoms.1 In Australia, up to 10% of adults are thought to have COMISA.
