Waking up in the middle of the night is common. The most common cause is a liver problem, but there may be other reasons why your sleep is disrupted including sleep apnea, nocturnal hypoglycemia, viral infection, urinary issues, digestive issues, potential food allergies or stress.
“Everyone wakes up multiple times per night,” says Wu. “It's very common for people to wake up around 2 or 3 a.m. because this is when our sleep architecture (the pattern of our sleep stage cycles throughout the night) naturally has a shift from more deep sleep to more REM sleep.
Disturbed sleep is common and results from various causes like stress, health conditions, and medications. The hormones melatonin and cortisol regulate our sleep cycle. The rising cortisol levels around 3 AM or 4 AM with emotional sorting by the brain are probable causes why you wake up around the same time every day.
02/7Waking up at 1 am
For those who sleep on time, 1 am is a deep sleep phase and you are completely relaxed. But if you wake up at this hour, it means that you have too much worry in your heart and mind. And those troubles and resentments are now testing you.
There are many reasons why you might be waking up too early. They include external factors, such as environmental disturbances like temperature, light, and noise. They also include internal factors, like your circadian rhythm, sleep disorders like sleep apnea, and/or medical issues, like heartburn.
11pm-1am is the time of the Gall Bladder and in order to wake feeling energized the body should be at rest. In Chinese medicine, this period of time is when yin energy fades ad yang energy begins to grow. Yang energy helps you to keep active during the day and is stored when you are asleep.
A parasomnia is a sleep disorder that involves unusual and undesirable physical events or experiences that disrupt your sleep. A parasomnia can occur before or during sleep or during arousal from sleep.
Middle insomnia describes a difficulty maintaining sleep after initial sleep onset. For these individuals, sleep is fragmented with frequent awakenings at night. Middle insomnia is commonly associated with neurological syndromes (e.g., RLS), pain syndromes, or depression.
The main cause here is stress and high cortisol levels. See, our circadian rhythm directs our cortisol, an awakening hormone, to rise around 3am, in preparation for the next morning. However, if you cortisol levels are already high, which is a consequence of stress, then it's likely you will wake up.
The best way to put an end to late-night awakenings is to keep a consistent sleep-wake schedule. That means getting up at the same time each day (yes, even on weekends). Committing yourself to a proper bedtime is only half the battle to improve your sleep hygiene. Having other good sleep habits is just as important.
Fatal familial insomnia is a very rare and invariably fatal autosomal dominant neurodegenerative prion disease caused by a mutation of the prion protein (PRNP) gene.
Depression and Insomnia
Early wakening is closely associated with depression, as well as difficulty falling asleep at night. Those with depression may switch back and forth between insomnia and hypersomnia during a single period of depression.
Causes of sexsomnia
depression, stress and anxiety. previous sleep deprivation. poor sleep hygiene. excessive consumption of alcohol or drugs.
At 1am is when our liver energy starts to flow, and the liver is the main detoxifying organ in the body.
For example, the liver meridian is associated with the hours of 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. If you wake up during this time frame, then there is an issue with your liver meridian. So knowing this information can be very important to an acupuncturist/Chinese medicine practitioner.
Usually, the most common cause of waking up between 1-4: 00 am is a liver problem. It may be that you have liver inflammation or fatty liver disease, also known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
"The overall best is if you can wake up naturally because you're done sleeping," he said. On the other hand, if you're waking up early on just a few hours of sleep, you should probably try and squeeze in some more shuteye.
Waking up a few times during the night is common and completely normal. If you struggle to fall back asleep or wake up frequently, other factors might be keeping you from a good night's rest. Environment, diet, medication, mental health or physical health could impact your sleep quality.
Reasons this might happen include drinking caffeine or alcohol late in the day, a poor sleep environment, a sleep disorder, or another health condition. When you can't get back to sleep quickly, you won't get enough quality sleep to keep you refreshed and healthy.