Do you ever feel like your cold symptoms are worse when you’re trying to go to sleep at night? Not too long ago, a member of the team got sick with a viral throat infection coupled with seasonal allergies. He noticed that he was well enough to be on his feet during the day, but felt awful at night! The symptoms were worse: his nose and sinuses clogged up, coughing increased and his headache was much worse. He wondered why and decided to ask our doctors.
Here’s what Dr Russell Thomson had to say:
There are three main problems that you’re looking at:
- Nothing to distract you from your symptoms. The biggest problem we face at night is the lack of distraction. When you’re at home, or even at work, many things distract you from your symptoms. But at night, when you’re trying to fall asleep, there’s nothing to keep you busy, so you tend to really notice your symptoms.
- Medicine wearing off. Your headaches and other symptoms get worse in the middle of the night because the medication you took hours ago are beginning to wear off.
- Lying down. It’s time for bed and you lie down. The problem with being in a horizontal position: your congestion tends to be worse because gravity is working against you!
How To Make Yourself Comfortable
So now you’re probably wondering if there’s a way to make it better. There’s not much that you can do to speed up the recovery process, but you can make things a little bit more comfortable. Here’s how:
- Don’t go to sleep thirsty. Dehydration can make flu and cold symptoms worse. Also keep a bottle of water nearby just in case you wake up with a dry mouth or throat.
- Try to lift your upper body so that you’re not lying completely flat on your bed. This may help ease the congestion. You can do this with extra pillows or a folded blanket.
- Make sure you have a box of tissues nearby, so you can just grab a tissue when you need one.
- Rest during the day. When you’re fighting a viral infection, your body must rest if you want to recover faster. The sooner you beat the virus, the better you’ll sleep at night.
Source: http://www.avogel.co.uk/health/immune-system/blog/are-your-flu-symptoms-getting-worse-at-night/