Allergies and Sleep

Whether your allergies are seasonal or a constant state of being, your sleep may be affected negatively without careful planning and care. This means you may struggle to go to sleep or find it difficult to stay asleep.

Types of allergies & symptoms

There are many types of allergies around that can affect your sleep cycle, the main ones we hear about are hay fever, pet hair, dust, and mould. Any combination of these can make it a hardship to attempt to rest.

Symptoms for all of these are similar:

• Coughing
• Congestion
• Sneezing
• Eyes watering
• Headache
• Skin irritation
• itchy Nose
• Rash

This is obviously not an exhaustive list, and everyone reacts differently. As always, if you’re concerned about any of these things, please consult your doctor.

The Impact

Disrupted sleep effects both the mental and physical health of the individual. This can also lead to sleep issues of varying severity such as insomnia, increased snoring, fatigue, sleep apnoea and more.

Solutions

We have a variety of (non-medical) suggestions to help relieve allergy symptoms:

• Place a sheet over your duvet cover during the day to create a barrier so that pollen etc cannot land on your bedding.
• Change your sheets more often, washing the used ones on a hot temperature.
• Anti-allergy bedding.
• Keep windows and doors closed.
• Use an anti-allergy mattress protector.
• Dust and vacuum regularly.
• Shower before bed.
• Keep pets out of your bedroom.
• Elevate the head to relieve congestion.
• Use a barrier balm, such as coconut oil or Vaseline, under the nose.
• Invest in a good quality anti-allergy mattress.