I have a sleep number bed.

We decided to get one when I was pregnant with our first kid because, back then, I always struggled with sleep. And I think it helped (until my kid was actually born! No bed can help with that).

We upgraded a few years ago and now the bed tells ME how I’m sleeping! Which is pretty hilarious because it has to be wrong.

Every night I get a (low) score out of 100.

My high score? It was while I was on vacation and NOT sleeping in my bed. I assume it was the cat. Glad she’s so well-rested with her big fat 89.

One of my sleep-expert colleagues said those devices we love that tell us about our sleep, range somewhere between 30-50% accurate. Not ideal.

I don’t look at my score most of the time because it’s not helpful to me. I know staying up late watching a Pirates of the Caribbean marathon with a midnight donut (or 3) is the real reason I feel like crap in the morning.

But you know what is helpful? Learning more about what’s in the realm of normal for your sleep and what’s not.

Because sometimes we’re doing better than we may think.

One of the most common complaints I hear from patients is that they wake up frequently during the night.

And sometimes, after digging a little more, I can put them at ease that this is a normal part of their sleep cycle!

Waking up every 90-120 minutes, briefly, isn’t something to be worried about if you can fall back to sleep.

That’s how long a typical sleep cycle runs because you start in the lightest sleep, work down to the deepest (hopefully) and then come back out of it again. And if it’s not time to get up yet you’ll just go back into another cycle.

Most people don’t remember these short waking moments (it happens multiple times every night!) but when they do, it can lead to anxiety which is definitely not a friend of bedtime.

And what better time to celebrate the good, normal things about your sleep than at the turn of the calendar to 2025!

May the start of this year be kind to your zzz’s!​

Cheers to healthy brains,

Dr. B

Jessica Beachkofsky, MD

Your friendly, online psychiatrist!

P.S. In our situation, the Sleep Number bed we have is kind of silly. Other than neither side ever getting a score over 40 (yet we both tend to sleep really well and enough!), we also both sleep at 95 for firmness! So in our totally adjustable bed we both pick the same number anyway. 🤷🏼‍♀️

P.P.S. I’ve got a bunch of new videos cued up about sneaky, subtle side effects, the cardiac electromagnetic field, medications like Spravato and Cobenfy, conditions like PCOS and PMDD, and semaglutide meds. Get ready for it!