A pharmacist's night routine for wind and early light

Cold water and hard training late in the day leave the nervous system switched on. Get warm and dry properly, eat something with protein in it rather than only sugar, and give yourself an hour of dimmer light before bed.

A hot shower an hour or two before sleep is useful; the cool-down afterwards is what helps you drop off.

Wind, heaters and mouth-breathing dry the nose and throat overnight. That is behind a lot of the '6am sore throat' we hear about in spring.

Saline spray before bed, a glass of water on the side, and if you are heating the room, something damp in it. If you are blocked enough that you cannot sleep through your nose, that is worth sorting properly rather than every night.

Waking at three and staying awake is usually one of alcohol, a full or very late meal, caffeine still on board from a 4pm coffee, a hot room, stress, reflux, or an early sunrise through thin curtains. On this coast in spring it is often two of those together.

Alcohol is the common one. It gets you to sleep and then takes the second half of the night away. Coming down is not the same as sedating yourself.

This is the part we would most like you to do. Bring the pile: prescription medicines, supplements, magnesium, melatonin, sleep teas, antihistamines used as sleep aids, pain products, herbal formulas.

Doubling up is common — two products with the same sedating ingredient, or a night medicine plus an antihistamine plus alcohol. Some things genuinely should not be layered, and some are keeping you awake rather than helping.

We are not going to start you on a scheduled sleep medicine over a counter, and nobody should. We will happily go through the list and tell you what to drop.

Sunrise moves fast this time of year. Block the light in the room and get some real light on your face in the first hour of the day; the second half of that pair does more for sleep than the first.

Loud snoring with pauses in breathing, waking gasping, unrefreshing sleep with daytime sleepiness, low mood or anxiety that is not shifting, or insomnia lasting more than a few weeks — see a doctor. Book a consult or WhatsApp us for a medicine review first if the pile is the problem.