Experts Share Crucial Advice for Those Struggling with Insomnia

Have you ever jolted awake in the middle of the night, checked your phone, and noticed it’s just after 2 or 3 a.m.?

It turns out this oddly specific timing is a widespread experience among sleepers worldwide, occurring so frequently that it has caught the attention of medical professionals.

Doctors now advise taking this pattern seriously, suggesting it could be more than just a random sleep disturbance. According to specialists at Alderberry Care, regularly waking during these early morning hours—and struggling to fall back asleep—might point to an underlying health issue.

In particular, it may signal elevated cortisol levels, the hormone responsible for managing stress in the body.
“Our carers see the toll broken sleep takes,” one representative of the care home explained. “Most of our elderly patients who wake around 2am will feel drained and less steady the next day.

“Insomnia and waking in the middle of the night are common in most older people, but we never treat it as ‘just normal’. We look for simple fixes and signs that mean a GP should be involved.”

“It should be low in the middle of the night so the brain can move through deep sleep and REM,” health educator Dr Eric Berg also told Birmingham Live. “Around 2am, many people are in slow-wave (deep) sleep.

“If cortisol rises then, it sends a wake-up signal.”

This trigger, in turn, causes the heart rate to increase slowly, blood sugar levels to skyrocket, and the mind to suddenly feel more alert.

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