6 Reasons You Feel Awful When You Wake Up
Hooray! You got a solid 8 hours of sleep last night. But then why did you wake up this morning feeling like roadkill? Facing the day refreshed isn't as simple as logging those elusive 7 to 8 hours in dreamland. We've got six surprising reasons you're not feeling your best—and simple fixes.
You read your Kindle before bed.
People who read before bed using an iPad or similar device find it harder to wake up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed than those who curl up with a printed book, according to a recent Harvard study. The reason? The blue light emitted from the Kindle suppresses the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin, which controls your sleep and wake cycles, says Robert Rosenberg, DO, FCCP, an Arizona sleep medicine specialist and author of Sleep Soundly Every Night, Feel Fantastic Every Day. Translation: When your melatonin levels are out of whack, you probably aren't sleeping as soundly as you think you are. He recommends shutting down all electronic devices (computers, cell phones, tablets, eReaders) 90 minutes before bed. Also, move your cell phone out of the room; even if it's on airplane mode, a phone emits enough light to interfere with sleep, says Sylvia Morris, MD, MPH, an internist in Atlanta.
You sleep in a bad position.
Waking up with a sore back? It may be from sleeping on your side all night, which can create significant flexion at the hip, says Benjamin Domb, MD, founder of the American Hip Institute. If you're one of the 57% of Americans who slumber in this position, it's a good idea to sleep with a pillow between your legs to maintain proper hip alignment.
"Hip injuries are some of the most common, yet trickiest, sleep injuries because the pain from the injury often shows itself in a different part of the body—like in the lower back," says Domb. (Here's how 3 common sleep positions affect your health.)
Your pillow sucks.
That huge fluffy pillow may seem like luxury, but it can cause massive pain. "Sleeping with your head propped up pulls your spine out of alignment—it's like walking around for 8 hours during the day with your neck tilted down," explains Shawn Stevenson, BS, FDN, founder of the Advance Integrative Health Alliance and author of the 2016 book Sleep Smarter: 21 Essential Strategies to Sleep Your Way to a Better Body, Better Health, and Bigger Success. Use a pillow that's soft but has a supportive foam core, like the Intelli-Gel pillow ($150, amazon.com).
You grind your teeth at night.
If you wake up with a headache, it's most likely because you've been clenching your jaw or grinding your teeth overnight, says Kathy Gruver, PhD, a massage therapist in Santa Monica, CA.
Research shows that massage can help with symptoms, so apply some gentle pressure and/or a warm, damp cloth to the jaw area right before you go to sleep and as soon as you wake up in the AM to help break the cycle. Also consider seeing your dentist for a mouth guard, which keeps your teeth from grinding down.
You have a nightcap.
It's true that booze can send you off to dreamland quickly, since alcohol does have a sedative effect. But it also disrupts your normal sleep cycle, says Aaron Clark, MD, a family medicine physician at Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center.
In a 2015 Australian study, people who downed orange juice mixed with vodka as a bedtime drink showed more alpha brain activity while they snoozed, which meant they weren't getting deep, restorative sleep. Women are particularly susceptible to sleep disruptions from alcohol because we metabolize it faster, according to the National Sleep Foundation, so we're bound to wake up sooner.
An occasional glass of spirits won't hurt, but to make sure you're getting quality z's, limit yourself to one drink a night and have it a couple of hours before bedtime.
You have undiagnosed sleep apnea.
Half of all adult women have some type of sleep apnea, according to a 2012 study. (Women between the ages of 20 and 44 have a 25% chance of having sleep apnea, which also affects 56% of women ages 45 to 54 and 75% of women ages 55 to 70.) With this condition, "patients briefly stop breathing multiple times through the night, which leads to poor sleep quality," explains Clark. Sleep apnea is especially common in women as they go through perimenopause, when they mistakenly assume that their frequent night awakenings are a result of hot flashes. As a result, you'll often wake up exhausted, even if you've theoretically gotten plenty of sleep. Ask your doctor for a referral to a sleep specialist.
The best way to diagnose sleep apnea is via a sleep study—at-home devices can pick up only severe cases. Mild cases can often be treated with weight loss and alcohol avoidance before bedtime, but if you've got a moderate to severe case, you'll need to use a device like a CPAP, an oxygen tube under the nose that emits mild air pressure to keep the airways open.
One arthritis apple cider vinegar remedy uses a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar mixed to a glass of water. Honey or even some spice may be added to this mixture to improve the taste; honey is even thought to enhance the strength of the solution. This mixture is then taken in the morning and before going to bed at nighttime, to provide relief from arthritis symptoms.
An additional way to use apple cider vinegar is to apply it as a liniment, using it straight to afflicted joints. It is almost always warmed, then applied through the use of a clean washcloth. It can then either be massaged in or simply applied to provide immediate respite from the pain.
Many people believe in the effectiveness of apple cider vinegar for arthritis. Nevertheless, whenever employing an alternative form of treatment, it's always best to check with your medical doctor to avoid any possible complications.
Apple cider vinegar is available in supermarkets, and even on the web. In purchasing this vinegar you need to also look at the quality so it will be more effective for the management of diseases. Organic vinegars are believed more potent, specially those with the mother-of-vinegar still included.
Apple cider vinegar is one of the techniques that arthritis has been treated through the years, and it has been considered effective and safe - important points for those with arthritis. If you need to find out about apple cider vinegar and exactly how it can help your arthritis, have a look at 
“Fish oil can be harmful if not a good quality—if it’s rancid or contains heavy metals,” says Daniela Turley. “It’s always best to come in the form of food, which means eating small fish that are low down the food chain. When I do recommend it as a supplement, in cases of autoimmune disease, for example, I recommend a brand that just makes fish oil. Eskimo Oils or Nordic Naturals are good examples. In studies, these are high quality and low in residue.”
“People with with inflammatory-based illnesses,” says Turley, “people who can’t eat fish three times a week. I recommend it in cases of autoimmune disease, e.g. psoriasis or 
Your feet are actually an effective barometer of your overall health. If your feet have very dry skin coupled with ulcers that won’t heal, it could be an indication that you have diabetes. The high glucose level associated with diabetes contributes to a decrease in oil and sweat production. Moreover, if you traditionally have hairy toes and you notice that it disappears while the skin on your feet becomes shinier or thinner, you may have 
The extract from the semiparasitic plant has been used in multiple studies. Findings concluded that the extract has shown the ability to kill cancer cells. However, studies have not yet proven that the extract can help the human body fight cancer.
In the United States, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has yet to approve the mistletoe extract for any medical conditions. Furthermore, it does not allow the import of injectable mistletoe to be imported, sold, or used for anything other than research purposes.
It is clear that European mistletoe has proven to provide many benefits to cancer patients, including combating side effects of chemotherapy, decreasing fatigue, and raising morale. But can it actually cure cancer in humans? The answer right now is no. Many human studies have been conducted since the 1960s, but no substantial evidence has been found. However, the findings do provide some hope that the European Mistletoe may someday be the answer. So stay tuned!
By Pat DeRiso
Sources: