Why do I toss and turn a lot when I sleep?

A frequent question asked by people who have trouble sleeping and toss and turn a lot in bed.

Do you toss and turn a lot when you sleep? This situation can occur just when you are trying to fall asleep (for minutes or even hours) or also afterwards, when you wake up and realize that you have moved all the sheets and disassembled the bed.

But why does this happen? Its causes can be very varied, and include lifestyle habits, inadequate behaviors, characteristic behavioral patterns, disorders... In this article we will see 7 possible causes that explain the fact of turning over a lot in bed, and as a consequence, not resting well.

Why do I toss and turn a lot when I sleep? Possible causes

Having a deep and restful sleep is essential for us to lead a normal life and enjoy a good quality of life.

Not having it can make us feel tired throughout the day, we can not fulfill our obligations ... and, ultimately, we can not enjoy things. That is why it is so important to get a good night's sleep. Many people, however, suffer from sleep problems, which can turn into real sleep disorders. can develop into real sleep disorders..

In this article we will talk about people who toss and turn a lot when they sleep, both when they are trying to fall asleep (without succeeding) and when they manage to fall asleep but keep moving around a lot. Why does this happen? Here we will see the main causes that could explain it:

1. accumulated fatigue

One of the causes that may be causing you to toss and turn a lot when you sleep is accumulated fatigue. Although it may seem paradoxical, and we may think that by being very tired we will sleep better, this is not always the case.

Sometimes the fact of being so tired of the day, or even of accumulated days, can make us have a more fragmented and less restful sleep, can cause us to have a more fragmented and less restful sleep, which causes us to toss and turn a lot.which causes us to toss and turn a lot in bed.

2. Anxiety

Anxiety is another possible cause of not stopping moving in bed when we go to sleep.. Let us remember that anxiety consists of an altered psychophysiological state, which makes it difficult for us to have a good quality of life, and that includes sleep.

In addition to anxiety itself, if it manifests itself in excess and is accompanied by other symptoms, we can even speak of an anxiety disorder. There are several that could explain why we toss and turn in bed when we sleep; Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) (especially this one), agoraphobia, panic disorder, etc.

3. Rituals

When we talk about rituals, we refer to a series of behaviors that we "must" repeat constantly to reduce some kind of anxiety or associated discomfort; in fact, rituals are found in the famous OCD, or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (in this case they are called compulsions), although they can also appear in isolation, and not necessarily in the context of an underlying mental disorder such as OCD.

Well then, pre-bedtime rituals can also interfere with our rest.If we feel that we have not carried them out correctly, or we simply "need" to repeat them again, this can make us wake up, feel restless, etc. If, beyond manifesting simple rituals, we also suffer from OCD, the problem worsens.

4. Preoccupations

Worries are another possible cause (in fact, one of the most common) that would explain why we toss and turn so much when we sleep.

That is to say, the fact of "having a lot of things in our heads", and of turning them over just when we go to sleepcan cause us not to rest well and to toss and turn in bed. Even the fact of having only one worry that worries us (it does not need to be more than one) can also cause the same effect.

5. Overthinking

Related to the previous cause, overthinking can also have the same effect as tossing and turning. Thus, it would not be exactly the same as the previous cause, although it would have great parallels.

One thing is to be worried about something, and the other is simply to think a lot about what has happened during the day, about plans we want to make, about plans we want to make, about plans we want to make, about plans we want to make.(without the negative connotation associated with worry). There are people who are like that, who think a lot even when they should "stop" to rest.

6. Sleep disorder

Another possible cause that explains why you toss and turn a lot when you sleep, is the fact of having a sleep disorder.

There are multiple sleep disorders; some that could explain this symptom are: insomnia disorder (insomnia), restless legs syndrome (RLS), nightmares, night terrors, REM sleep behavior disorder, bruxism, etc. In virtually all of these cases, anticipatory anxiety can develop, making it difficult to fall asleep or sleep soundly.

Two of these disorders deserve special attention:

Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) 6.1.

Restless Legs Syndrome (along with insomnia) is a frequent cause of tossing and turning. The main symptom of this sleep disorder is an urgent need to move the legs, which is accompanied by uncomfortable and unpleasant sensations in this part of the body. This means that we do not rest well and we wake up with Pain in our legs. that we wake up with pain in the legs or with a sensation of heaviness in them..

However, it must be taken into account that this is a rare disorder.

6.2. Insomnia disorder

Insomnia is a very frequent disorder in the population (between 1-10% of the adult population suffers from it; it is more frequent as age increases, and in women), that interferes greatly with our day-to-day life, wearing down our quality of life (because it causes a lot of fatigue). (because it produces a lot of fatigue).

Specifically, insomnia implies a dissatisfaction with the quantity or quality of sleep, and is associated with different symptoms, which can be: difficulties in initiating or maintaining sleep and/or early morning awakening, coupled with the inability to fall back to sleep. Thus, insomnia could be either the cause of our tossing and turning in our sleep, or its consequence.

7. Poor sleep hygiene

Finally, poor sleep hygiene could also explain why we toss and turn when we sleep. Let us remember that sleep hygiene is composed of all those patterns, habits and behaviors that we carry out just before going to sleep, and that favor an easy, deep and restful sleep..

Some examples of these are: drinking a glass of warm milk before going to bed, listening to relaxing music, reading a little, going to bed at the same time every day (and getting up at the same time), not drinking stimulating substances before going to sleep (such as coffee or soft drinks), etc.

Well, if our sleep hygiene is not good (for example if we eat excessively before going to sleep, if we spend many hours in front of the cell phone or computer, etc.), this can interfere very negatively in our quantity and quality of sleep, and can also cause us to toss and turn in bed.

Bibliographical references:

• American Psychiatric Association -APA- (2014). DSM-5. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Madrid: Panamericana.
• Buela-Casal, G., Navarro Humanes, J.F.. (1990). Avances en la Investigación del Sueño y sus Trastornos. Siglo XXI, Madrid.
• Gállego Pérez-Larraya, J., Toledo, J.B., Urrestarazu, E. and Iriarte, J. (2007). Classification of sleep disorders. Anales Sis San Navarra, 30(suppl.1): 19-36.
• WHO (2000). ICD-10. International classification of diseases, tenth edition. Madrid. Panamericana.