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Can’t Sleep? Waking Up Tired? Try These Sleep Specialist Tips

Updated on May 14, 2026 | Featured, Sleep, Your Health

A woman stretches in bed after a good night's sleep

Insomnia is a common disorder that makes it hard for you to fall asleep or stay asleep. In many cases, insomnia is temporary, such as the jet lag you may experience after a long flight. But if the problem is ongoing, you may have poor sleep habits or even a sleep disorder.

In this Q&A, Andrew W. Varga, MD, PhD, a Mount Sinai neuroscientist who specializes in sleep, explains how to sleep better and how to know if you might have a sleep disorder.

Andrew W. Varga, MD, PhD

What habits can help me sleep better?

Good sleep depends on three things:

Duration: Adults generally need 7 to 9 hours of sleep (slightly less with age)
Quality: Sleep should be uninterrupted
Consistency: Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day

To sleep better:

Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day—this is very important
Avoid screens like phones or TV before bed
Do calm activities like reading or deep breathing
Keep the bedroom dark, quiet, and cool
Use the bed only for sleep—not cellphone scrolling, reading, or watching TV

A warm shower before bed can also help your body relax and cool down afterward, which makes it easier to fall asleep.

How do I know if I might have insomnia?

Falling asleep takes most people about 20 minutes, though some people may take up to 30 minutes. If it sometimes takes a little longer, that may be normal. But if it happens often and causes stress, it can be a sign you have poor sleep habits or a sleep disorder.
Sleep problems often follow a simple pattern called the “3P model”:

Predisposing factors: Some people are naturally more anxious or sensitive to stress, which can make sleep harder.
Precipitating (triggering) events: Big life stressors, like the loss of a loved one, stress from work, or a major life change like a divorce, can trigger sleep problems.
Perpetuating habits: Engaging in behaviors that make it hard to fall asleep.

What are examples of habits that create sleep problems?

Some of the most common examples are:

Lying in bed and tossing and turning can train your brain to think your bed is not for sleep
Using devices like phones and laptops can make it harder to fall asleep because light from screens keeps you awake
Getting out of bed to clean, work, or check emails can make insomnia worse

If you can’t sleep after about 20 minutes, it may help to get up and do something quiet in another room until you feel sleepy again.

Why do I wake up early and can’t fall back asleep?

The same patterns that make it hard to fall asleep can also cause early waking. However, other sleep issues, like breathing problems (sleep apnea), restless legs, and periodic limb movement disorder, can wake you up

Ask yourself or your sleep partner:

Do you snore loudly or gasp during sleep?
Have you ever stopped breathing during sleep?
Are your legs or arms often moving at night?

If the answer to any of these is “yes,” you may need to see a sleep specialist.

Why do I feel tired even after sleeping eight hours?

Even if you sleep up to eight hours, the quality of your sleep could be poor. People with inconsistent sleep schedules, like shift workers, often have this problem. Otherwise, this problem might be related to:

A sleep disorder, like sleep apnea or movement disorder, which breaks up sleep without you realizing it
A natural need for more sleep than others (some people need between 9 and 11 hours to feel rested)
Rare conditions that cause strong sleepiness no matter how long you sleep (such as narcolepsy or idiopathic hypersomnia, neurological conditions that cause excessive daytime sleepiness)

If you often feel tired after sleeping, you should talk to a doctor.

When should I see a doctor about my sleep?

You should see a doctor about your sleep if:

You often feel tired even after enough sleep
You regularly have trouble falling or staying asleep
You snore loudly, gasp, pause in breathing, or have unusual movement during sleep
Sleeping partners notice you do these while you sleep

A sleep specialist can help find the cause and suggest treatment.

Take control of your sleep—schedule an appointment with a Mount Sinai sleep specialist

Could My Snoring Be Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

Jul 24, 2025 | Ear Nose Throat, Sleep, Your Health

Does your bed partner complain that you snore loudly or gasp for air in the middle of the night? Have you been nudged awake or kicked to the couch because your loved one can’t sleep? These are telltale symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea, and if you suspect you may have the condition, the person lying beside you may be your best ally.

Fred Lin, MD

Fred Lin, MD, a sleep surgeon and Division Chief of Sleep Surgery of the Mount Sinai Health System, recommends people to take this feedback seriously.

“Bed partners are often the first to see an important quality of life and possible health issue,” says Dr. Lin. “People with sleep apnea are generally unaware of nighttime symptoms like snoring or interruptions in their breathing. It is very possible to not experience daytime symptoms, like drowsiness and difficulty concentrating, and may even blame factors like young children or work stress.”

What is obstructive sleep apnea?

Affecting as many as 22 million people in the United States, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a serious sleep disorder that causes your breathing to repeatedly start and stop throughout the night. The condition occurs when the muscles of the upper airway relax and block the flow of air, which prevents your body from getting the oxygen it needs and causes you to wake up repeatedly during the night.

These nighttime disruptions can negatively affect the sleep of the OSA sufferer and can put a significant strain on relationships. In fact, frustrated companions are often the reason patients eventually visit a doctor.

“Bed partners end up suffering significantly,” he adds. “They may struggle to fall asleep or stay asleep. Some couples end up sleeping in separate rooms.”

How do I know if my snoring is obstructive sleep apnea?

Consistent snoring, pauses in breathing, or gasping for air in the middle of the night are common symptoms of the condition and should be evaluated by a physician. If left untreated, sleep apnea can lead to serious complications. For instance, individuals with OSA are more likely to have high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, and diabetes.

That being said, it is hard to make a diagnosis from symptoms alone. To know for sure, Dr. Lin explains, you need a sleep study. In the past, patients had to stay overnight at a sleep center for testing. But today, for most patients, a sleep study is performed at home using minimally invasive equipment, sometimes requiring only a special finger and wristband gadget that is connected to a smartphone. Home sleep tests record the number of times your breathing is interrupted throughout the night, revealing if you have OSA and, if so, how severe it is.

“Home studies are unbelievably easy to do with the current technology,” explains Dr. Lin. “Most insurances cover the studies and the devices are generally mailed directly to the patient’s home. I don’t think anyone should be nervous about having a sleep study.”

How is obstructive sleep apnea treated?

If you are diagnosed with sleep apnea, there are three types of treatments that can help. Dr. Lin likes to start with the least invasive treatment.

CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) therapy has long been the gold standard treatment for OSA. This is a machine that uses air pressure to keep the airway open throughout the night. Patients wear a mask while sleeping—placed over the nose or both the nose and mouth—that connects to this device. Although several options and models are available, research shows that only half of patients can tolerate sleeping with the mask.
Oral appliances are an alternative to CPAP machines or are sometimes used in conjunction with a CPAP device. Oral appliances are worn in the mouth to reposition your lower jaw while you sleep. These appliances are made by a dentist and molded specifically to fit your teeth.
Surgery is recommended when noninvasive therapies fail to provide relief or patients struggle to successfully use CPAP, oral appliances, or both. There are numerous options that open, reshape, enhance, or stimulate the upper airway and eliminate symptoms like snoring and breathing interruptions.

What are the surgical options to treat sleep apnea?

The type of surgery required depends on the severity of your symptoms, the severity of the condition, and your unique anatomy. Dr. Lin works closely with patients to decide what procedure is right for them.

Soft tissue procedures—Dr. Lin likes to compare the upper airway to a house. With soft tissue surgeries, the goal is to make more room internally renovating the space. This may involve nasal, palate, or tonsil surgery, which creates more room in the passageways for air to flow.
Skeletal surgeries—With skeletal surgeries, the goal is to make the house bigger by building it out as you would by adding a new room. These more extensive operations include widening or forward movement of the jaws and chin advancement. The goal of these surgeries is to improve the position, balance, and movement of the upper airway.
Neurostimulation/Hypoglossal Nerve Stimulator—Inspire ™ therapy is a newer therapy that has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration. It stimulates the base of the tongue to expand the airway. Like a pacemaker, the device is surgically implanted into your chest and connected by a wire to the upper airway. You can control the device using a remote device. Mount Sinai’s Division of Sleep Surgery was one of the early adopters of Inspire therapy.

Learn more about Sleep Services at Mount Sinai

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I Have Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Should I Get a Drug-Induced Sleep Endoscopy (DISE)?

Sep 9, 2021 | Ear Nose Throat, Sleep, Your Health

Loud snoring. Gasping for air. Feeling tired after getting plenty of sleep. Nearly one in every 15 adults in the U.S. suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, a common sleep disorder that causes the airway to collapse and breathing to be repeatedly interrupted throughout the night.

The first line of defense for individuals with this condition is a treatment known as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), a machine that helps push air into the lungs and keep the airway open. Unfortunately, as many as half of those who use the machine do not have success, and look to surgery as an alternative to CPAP to treat their sleep apnea. But what surgery is the right one for the patient? Drug-induced sleep endoscopy helps to answer this question.

Known as DISE, this advanced diagnostic tool allows sleep surgeons to assess the anatomy of the upper airway in 3D under sleep-like conditions. Studies have shown that the evaluation technique, which has become increasingly popular over the last 10 years, improves surgical outcomes in patients that do not respond to CPAP.

How does DISE help patients with sleep apnea?

Courtney Chou, MD

“Every individual’s anatomy is different,” explains Courtney Chou, MD, a sleep surgeon in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who specializes in treating patients with obstructive sleep apnea. It is her job is to figure out what is blocking the patient’s flow of air. In some patients, for example, the base of the tongue or the soft tissue palate collapses, which then causes the airway to close.

“DISE allows us to locate the sites of obstruction in individuals with sleep apnea and figure out a plan to alleviate these blockages,” says Dr. Chou. “There are several different types of sleep surgeries, and DISE really helps determine which one will benefit the patient the most.”

According to a recent study in Sleep and Breathing, the results of DISE changed the surgeon’s original treatment plan as much as 75 percent of the time. In the past, surgeons relied only on medical history, patient evaluation, and the results of a standard sleep study to decide on the best intervention.

“In general, sleep surgeries are quite successful for patients with obstructive sleep apnea. We really try to meet each individual’s needs. When we are deciding on a surgery, it is important to think about what the patient’s main complaint is—are they snoring so much that it affects their bed partner, or is their oxygen saturation dangerously low?” she explains. “It is also important to consider how severe their sleep apnea is on their sleep study. But the key to identifying the intervention that is going to be maximally effective is understanding the patient’s anatomy. DISE is an important piece of the puzzle that helps us do that.”

In rare cases, DISE can also be used to troubleshoot nonsurgical therapies. If a patient is having some benefit with CPAP or an oral appliance, DISE may be used to evaluate if there is a tweak that could make the current treatment more effective or improve their ability to tolerate it.

What should patients expect during the procedure?

DISE is a minimally invasive, same-day procedure that is well tolerated by most patients. However, people who are pregnant, allergic to sedatives, or have severe cardiopulmonary disease that would prevent them from having surgery would not be candidates for DISE.

On the day of the surgery, after the patient checks in, they will meet with an anesthesiologist for a short evaluation. Afterward, a sedative will be administered intravenously. Once the patient is asleep, a sleep surgeon will place a thin flexible scope into one nostril that passes through to the upper airway. This scope has a small camera on the end that sends 3D real-time videos back to a monitor, allowing the surgeon to visualize exactly where and how the airway is collapsing while the patient is sleeping. The patient is then taken to a recovery room as the sedative wears off.

The procedure takes 30 minutes to an hour, is not uncomfortable, and patients do not deal with side effects besides post-surgery drowsiness, which means they will need a ride home after the procedure.

“Sleep is so critically important to our health,” says Dr. Chou. “With tools like DISE, Mount Sinai can help those who are struggling find the right plan and not suffer in silence.”

Dr. Chou is currently treating patients at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai. To make an appointment, call 212-979-4200.

Learn more about Sleep Services at Mount Sinai

Trouble sleeping? Try Sleeping in a Cooler Room

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Sleep, Your Health

Most everyone appreciates the comforts of a warm, cozy bed. But if you’re having trouble sleeping, one suggestion is to try throwing off some of those blankets and avoid sleeping in a way that leads to overheating.

“If you have difficulty sleeping, you should err on the side of keeping the room a little colder,” says Andrew Varga, MD, PhD, at the Mount Sinai Integrative Sleep Center. And don’t pile on the blankets. If you’re too warm in bed, that can make sleeping difficult.

In this Q&A, Dr. Varga provides more insight into what makes for a good night’s sleep.

Experts say your body temperature goes up and down throughout the day, and it tends to decline at night. As you begin to fall asleep, your body temperature can drop by as much as a degree or two. Then, as morning approaches, your temperature starts to rise a little. Keeping your room on the cool side promotes the deepest levels of sleep.

“Some people think that if it’s snowing out, I should pull out my thickest comforter,” explains Dr. Varga, a physician and neuroscientist. “They end up being even warmer than in summer. And that could be making it a little harder for your body to get its optimal night’s rest.” In fact, the importance of the proper temperature is one reason you may have seen advertisements for cooling mattress pads and even cooling mattresses.

What room temperature is best?

There is no specific temperature that’s perfect for everyone. If you have trouble sleeping, consider lowering the room temperature a bit to see how it affects you. Many people find temperatures between 60 and 70 degrees to be most suitable. You may need to play around a little to determine what temperature works best for you.

Should everyone sleep in a cool room?

Some people are lucky when it comes to getting a good night’s slumber. They sleep well in a room that’s 60 degrees and one that’s 70 degrees. They get quality sleep regardless of the sirens, honking horns, and car alarms that punctuate New York’s nights. They aren’t even bothered by streetlamps, neon signs, and other light pollution.

If you’re one of these fortunate folks, you don’t have to worry about ambient temperature. This advice is only relevant for people who think they sleep too much, find themselves craving a catnap during the day, can’t fall asleep at night, or do something weird while they snooze, such as snoring, talking, walking, or even sleep-fighting. Sleep fighting is when someone shouts, punches or kicks during sleep. If you get a good seven or eight hours’ rest a night and feel like you’re already sleeping well, you probably are.

Why is it so important to get a good night’s sleep?

The importance of sleep is increasingly recognized. But people still don’t treat sleep as something that’s as important as diet and exercise. The three of them fall into the same category. We all pay attention to what we put into our bodies and how much we move them. We need to put the same amount of thought into how well and how long we power down.

Poor sleep over time has been linked to high blood pressure, diabetes, and certain types of cancer. It can also have an immediate impact on your life. If you don’t get a good night’s rest, you could feel tired, sluggish, and irritable, and you might find your reflexes are slower than usual. You might even mistakenly think you’re just fine. One of the symptoms of not getting enough sleep is the inability to recognize our own deficits.

What makes a good night’s sleep?

A good night’s sleep takes into account two things: quantity and quality. Quantity is easy. Almost everyone needs between seven and eight hours of sleep. A lot of people think they do just fine on, say, five hours a night. That’s true for some people, but the percentage of people who fit into that category is extremely small.

Sleep quality is more subjective. Some people worry if it takes more than a half-hour to fall asleep; others are concerned if they wake up more than once during the night; still others fret if they wake up in the middle of the night and can’t fall back asleep. If you have any questions, don’t ignore it. You should probably have it checked out. You can make an appointment with a sleep specialist who will review your medical history, make a diagnosis, and prepare a treatment plan. A specialists may ask you to keep a sleep log for two weeks and bring it with you for your initial consultation. Sometimes the evaluation will include an oversight sleep study.