We Asked a Doctor ALL the Questions You Had About Sleep

This story is part of the Healthyish Guide to Finally Getting a Good Night's Sleep. Click here to read the whole guide—then get those zzzs.

We all know that sleep is good, but that doesn't necessarily make it any easier. How do you fall asleep? Or not wake up in the middle of the night? Or get through the day without that cup of coffee that you swear you need to function but makes you jittery when you get into bed? Instead of late-night-panic-Googling, we enlisted functional and integrative medicine practitioner (and Seamus Mullen's personal hero) Frank Lipman, M.D. to give his best advice. Dr. Lipman believes that health is not just absence of disease, but a total state of physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and social wellbeing. Sleeping well, in all its complicated glory, is at the center of that belief and of his new book, How to Be Well. A few weeks ago we put out a call on Instagram stories for all your burning sleep questions, and you had a lot. We asked Dr. Limpan as many as we could get to, and here's what he said.

So, I need caffeine to function during the day. But what's the latest I should drink a cup of coffee before it keeps me from falling asleep at night?

The answer to that is actually different for everyone. It depends on how you metabolize caffeine. Coffee has a half life of up to seven hours, but that doesn't affect everyone the same way.

Wait, what's a half life?

That's how long it takes for half of the caffeine to still be in your system. For some people that means they shouldn’t drink it for 12 hours before go to sleep, but for others it can be a few hours before bed and not make a difference. The best way to decide is to listen to your own body. If you think it might be making you agitated, try cutting it out and see if that helps. Even if you just have a cup in the morning, it could be making it hard for you to fall asleep.

Okay, so cutting down on or eliminating caffeine makes sense, but what about food? I have to eat, so what's the latest I should be having dinner or snacking before I go to bed?

I usually recommend about three hours, which should give your body enough time to digest fully. You should also avoid sugar at night. When an late-night snack craving strikes, try eating a spoonful of almond butter to help stabilize your blood sugar.

Cool. What about weed? That will totally help me fall asleep, right?

Weed can definitely help some people. Personally, I use CBD oil, the non-psychoactive part of the cannabis plant, and think it works fantastically. Both weed and CBD are much better to take before bed than alcohol. Alcohol might help you fall asleep initially, but you're much more likely to wake up in the middle of the night, usually four to six hours later, because of the way it's metabolized in your body.

What about melatonin? I heard that if I take too much I'll stop making it naturally.

Theoretically, if you're younger, you can stop producing melatonin naturally. I am wary of using it in younger people just in case. As you get older, your melatonin levels decrease anyway, so sometimes in those cases it can help get your circadian rhythms right.

So then should I use something stronger, like Advil PM or ZZZQuil?

In terms of sleep aids like those, I think they're okay to take sometimes, but I’m certainly not a fan of taking them all the time. You really shouldn’t rely on anything that suppresses natural parts of body functions.

People take magnesium for sleep, though, right? Is that okay because it's natural?

Magnesium is great. It calms down the nervous system, and most people are deficient in magnesium anyway. There are a lot of kinds out there, but one I like is magnesium glycinate. I actually have my own supplement line, magnesium included.

Is it possible to get too much sleep?

Yes, I think it is. If you're sleeping more than 10 hours a night, then you should probably look into why that’s happening. It could be a sign of depression, or too much alcohol, or too much medication.

I like to go to sleep early, but my partner tends to stay up late. It drives me nuts. Please tell me there's a way to negotiate our different habits.

An eye mask is great because it’s important to have complete darkness when you sleep. Sometimes a bigger bed can help. Snoring partners are tough and unfortunately there are no simple solutions to that. Try earplugs, or a sound machine—anything to help create a barrier around the sound.

Is there anything I can do to make myself sleep through the night when I'm always waking up at 3 or 4 a.m. for a couple of hours?

Generally that is stress-related, meaning it happens because of what was going on during your day or what you're thinking about going on tomorrow. I’m a big believer in and endorser of meditation right before you go to bed. CBD also may be something to try. The more you can control your mind, the less chance you’ll wake up in the middle of the night. Sometimes it’s hormonal in women around menopause, but mostly it has to do with stress.

So I know that looking at my phone or computer right before bed is bad. But I always have them on night mode when I do, so that's okay, right?

It's probably better than nothing, but I recommend switching them all completely off. I know that feels unrealistic for a lot of people, but if you can unplug by 9 or 10 p.m., that's the best thing you can do for yourself.

That does feel unrealistic! Plus, I need my phone on by my bed so I can hear my alarm when it goes off in the morning.

Believe it or not, it's possible to find alarms other than the one on your phone. There are light alarms that gradually illuminate at a set time in the morning, or chime alarms that get louder as they prompt you to wake up. There are also simple battery-operated alarms available for cheap. Try one of those.

If I'm not getting enough sleep, am I more likely to have problems with my mental health? Or can it exacerbate issues I already have?

Yes, sleep is very important to one’s overall well being. Not getting enough can impact your memories, can give you foggy thinking, and over time can even lead to things like Alzheimer's. It can heighten feelings of anxiety and depression, as well.

How does that even work?

We have a lymphatic system in the brain that I always say is like a cleaning crew. When you sleep is when they work. And when you're not sleeping, they're not working, and toxins are building up. Sometimes I equate it to having a party where you don't clean up, and then the next week you have another party and don't clean up, and on and on until everything is a total mess.

I don't want my brain to be a mess. What's the best way for me to be approaching an overall healthier relationship with sleep?

Your body needs rhythm. Sleep is a rhythm. Waking up and going to sleep at the same times is important. Don’t sleep less during the week and then try to catch up on the weekends. Get light during the day and surround yourself with darkness at night. Go for a walk, process your day before you get in bed. Don't expect to run, run, run all day and then go right to sleep. There needs to be some sort of transition period where you wind down.