How the vaccination could make you feel and what to do after you’ve had it. Comments from Phil Day, Superintendent Pharmacist at Pharmacy2U, the UK’s first and largest online pharmacy:
“Like all medicines, there is a potential for side effects. These are generally mild and disappear within a day or two, and not everyone who has the vaccine will be affected. The most common side effects include fatigue, having a tender arm where you had your injection, and general aches and flu-like symptoms. These are common for many vaccines; the vaccine cannot give you Covid-19. It’s important to remember that if you experience mild symptoms after the first dose, you still need to get the second dose.
You must continue to take all recommended precautions to avoid infection
“It will take a week or two for your body to build up protection from the first dose of vaccine. No vaccine is 100% effective, and we still don’t know how much the vaccine prevents transmission of the disease, so you must continue to take all recommended precautions to avoid infection. In order to minimise any risks, for you, your family or other people you may come into close proximity with, you should continue to practise social distancing, wear a face mask, wash your hands frequently and follow the current government guidance.
“Although the fact that such a vast number of the population are receiving their vaccination is hugely positive, it’s important not to get complacent. By doing this, we can continue to alleviate pressures on the NHS. There is still a long way to go before life returns to pre-Covid normality and you can play your part in getting us all thereby sticking to the national guidelines.”
Three ways daylight saving affect your sleep — and what you can do about it
The clocks go forward on March 28th — marking the start of daylight savings. Unfortunately, this means one less hour in bed, so prepare to feel extra sleepy that day!
As it turns out, this lost hour can have a greater impact than you may initially think on your sleep cycle. To help you prepare, we’ve identified three ways daylight savings affects your sleep, plus three ways you can fix it.
It disrupts your rhythm
Our bodies use circadian rhythm, a sort of internal body clock, to keep track of the time. It takes things like sunlight, how often we eat, and other aspects of our routines to determine when we should be awake and when we should be asleep. So, the hour lost from daylight savings could throw us off track and impact our nightly rest.
Maintaining a routine is crucial if you want to fall asleep easily
Solution: don’t oversleep. Try and keep to the exact same routine as you would normally. It may be tempting to lie in an hour past your alarm to ‘regain’ your lost hour of sleep, or even to have a nap during the day to catch up. But, these may be more detrimental to your body’s natural rhythm than if you were to stick to your regular pattern. Instead, it’s better to simply mourn the lost hour and move on, sticking to your usual routine.
The nights are shorter
This is the time of year where nights start to get shorter. By this, we mean that there are more hours of daylight, which is great for packing in loads of fun activities during the day. But, it can make sleeping difficult when the sun streams into your bedroom at times when you’d usually be trying to rest and recharge.
Solution: separate day from night. Darkness is key for sleep, as it tells our bodies to produce a soporific hormone called melatonin. So, at this time of year, you may wish to try installing thicker curtains or blinds to keep the light out and closing them around two hours before bedtime, so you can start to get sleepy when you need to.
Additionally, it can help to try and get as much light during the day as you can so that your body produces enough melatonin to keep you asleep through the night (NIH).
The weather is warmer
Summer sun is definitely something to look forward to, and the clocks going forward is signal that warmer weather is on the way. Unfortunately, this can mean sticky, sweaty nights and disrupted sleep, which can certainly put a damper on things. According to experts, the optimal temperature for encouraging sleep is between 15 and 20 degrees, much cooler than you might expect (Sleep Foundation).
Solution: keep it cool. The best solution would be to open your windows, as not only will this let the heat out, but the circulating air can make it easier to breathe too. You should also make sure you have a breathable mattress, as well as a lighter tog duvet than you would use in winter. A good summer duvet is generally around 4.5 tog, or anything up to 7.5 if you prefer a heavier blanket.
“The clocks going forward can make you feel off kilter for a few days, but it can have an even bigger impact on your sleep if you let it. Remember that sleep is a cycle, and maintaining a routine is crucial if you want to fall asleep easily and stay out of it until the morning.
“I always think of daylight savings as the start of summer, but, while longer days and warmer weather are a definite plus, if you’re not sleeping well, you can’t even enjoy the sun properly. Fortunately, by taking steps to make sure our bedrooms are the perfect environment for sleeping, we can enjoy a good night’s rest and longer days at the same time.”
Phil Lawlor, sleep expert at Dormeo. For more info please visitdormeo.co.uk
Round & About Magazine expands in to its ninth county as the family business continues to fly the flag for print publishing
In October this year we launched the latest edition of Round & About Magazine, for all the residents of Hungerford, Marlborough and Pewsey. As per all our other magazines it‘s Royal Mail delivered to all the homes within the RG17, SN8 and SN9 postcodes, giving local and national businesses complete penetration within the area.
The region is a good match for our target audience, complementing our current geographical reach and it will offer existing and new clients another great region to target.
To cope with the demands of ever more editions and content creation we are very pleased to have Karen Neville join us. Karen, who leaves her current role of production editor at Bath Chronicle, has worked in newspaper publishing, including for the Oxfordshire Guardian group, for many years, and thus has a sound knowledge of the areas we already reach. She will bring a great amount of experience and a valuable skillset from an international business.
Working with Liz Nicholls, our talented editor, Karen will help Round & About deliver ever more localised content, writing articles on issues that matter to our readers and help the machine run smoothly!
Our expansion over the last few years brought us to Howbery Park in 2015, enabling us to have the space to grow and offer employees an enjoyable environment to work in.
To help us reach our growth plans in 2019 we are expanding our advertising sales team. The right person doesn’t necessarily come from a sales background but someone that is a “people person”, has strong customer service skills and can offer sound solutions to potential advertisers, matching their needs with our offering.
If you feel you have the skill set to manage some existing accounts and develop new ones we would like to hear from you. Please email the sales director Luke Maitland on [email protected]
