Hi Thanks for your question. There has been some research to suggest that some sleep disorders can have an established genetic basis - including chronic primary insomnia. You won't experience insomnia because of your genes but you are more likely to genetically predisposed to having insomnia. It is ...

Hi Sarah Thanks for your question. There has been research to suggest women need more sleep than men but generally most healthy adults - whether male or female - need around 7-9 hours of sleep per night. However, some people need slightly less and some need slightly more. Sleep is highly individual ...

Hi Valerie Sorry to hear this. Sleep disturbance from chronic pain is common. Are you receiving medical advice for each of them as this will help in terms of your ability to get to and stay asleep? It would be worth speaking to your GP about your health conditions and how it is affecting your sleep....

Thanks for your question. It's not uncommon to find that teenagers don't want to go to sleep until later. When they hit adolescence changes happen in the brain. It develops, and hormones are changing. They are biologically more likely to produce the sleep hormone, melatonin, later at night meaning t...

Hi Gilly Thanks for your message. When we sleep, we sleep in cycles and each cycle lasts around 90mins. In each cycle we experience four stages of sleep: Non-REM Stage 1 Non-REM Stage 2 Non-REM Stage 3 REM Stage 3 is our deep or slow wave sleep and it accounts for around 25% of our sleep. It is vita...

Hi June Thanks for your message. You're not alone in struggling with dark mornings and feeling groggy. That grogginess you feel first thing is something called sleep inertia - it's because we are still in a sleep state. It usually lasts from around five to 30 minutes but it can last for as long as t...

Hi Alison Thank your for your message. Snoring is a common problem. When we sleep, our airway narrows. But if our airway narrows too much, fast-travelling air is pulled through it, causing the soft tissue in the back of the throat to become dehydrated and vibrate. This sound is what most people know...

Hi Susie Thanks for your question. Many people focus on how little sleep they get but actually getting too much sleep can also impact on health. There are times when you do sleep more (recovering from illness etc) but if you are regularly sleeping more than 10 hours, it's worth making an appointment...

Great that you've already taken steps not to eat too close to bedtime and avoiding large meals. It sounds like something you're eating is playing havoc and you may have some food intolerances? Might be worth looking at what you're eating on the nights you don't sleep well - ie. eating more processed...

Porridge is a healthier choice - rather than tea and biscuits - and it's important that the size of snack is in proportion to the dip in your blood sugar levels.

It would be worth you speaking to your GP generally about your fatigue and low blood sugar levels.