By Eileen Bailey, May 11, 2022

“It is important to note that the people in this study had severe enough infections to require hospitalization,” Dr. Alex Dimitriu, a psychiatrist with expertise in sleep medicine, told Healthline. “Hospitalization often means things got clinically bad enough to require a hospital stay – and this often means hypoxia, sepsis, or other illness symptoms that became severe. When the body is that sick, there are certainly impacts on the brain – from infection, inflammation, or low oxygen, and these can be damaging to brain tissue.”

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By George Citroner,  May 9, 2022

Dr. Alex Dimitriu, double board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine and BrainfoodMD, noted that parents need to focus on themselves first. “Self-care is the first priority,” he said. “It is mandatory for the parent or caregiver to assure that their own basic biological needs are met – besides work and parenting.” Dimitriu advises caregivers to focus on their basic needs. He recommends that parents follow ‘SEMM,’ which stands for sleep, exercise, Mediterranean or another healthy diet, and meditation, or at least make sure they regularly get some quiet and “alone time.”

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By Lauren Vinopal, May 4, 2022

People who take antidepressants will stop abruptly for many reasons, but psychiatrist Alex Dimitriu says it often has to do with the fact that antidepressants take weeks to work. “Because of this delayed feedback loop, it’s easy to not see the benefits or costs of starting or stopping treatments — it can sometimes take weeks to catch up with you,” he explains. “Certain psych meds, especially ones with a shorter half-life, can have quite significant discontinuation symptoms.” For instance, faster-acting medications like venlafaxine, or Effexor, should be tapered off more carefully. 

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By Jenn Sinrich Apr 29, 2022

If you frequently find that you need to catch up on sleep with a long nap or sleep in on the weekends or on vacation, it could be a sign that you’re lacking in sleep efficiency, warns Alex Dimitriu, MD, who is double board-certified in Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine. “Beware of the flip flop insomnia pattern: Some people go from undersleeping one night and oversleeping the next, in a vicious ongoing cycle,” he says. The best fix for this issue is to get enough sleep consistently, not to feel you have anything to make up for. 

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By George Citroner, Apr 27, 2022

“Obstructive sleep apnea results when the throat/airway collapses due to obstruction during sleep,” explained Alex Dimitriu, MD, double board certified in Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine and BrainfoodMD. He described it as trying to suck on a straw that is blocked on the other end; the straw collapses. “And the airway can do the same in people who have a tendency for airway collapse,” said Dimitriu. “Fortunately, almost no one dies from sleep apnea, as the oxygen-starved brain wakes up and re-opens the airway.” Dimitriu pointed out that the problem is that some people will experience these sleep disruptions from five to 30 times per hour throughout the night.

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April 23, 2022

Fit for Joy Podcast. Valeria Teles interviewed Dr. Alex Dimitriu about natural mood and brain boosters. Dr. Dimitriu brings a deep respect for science and spirituality into his work. Professionally, Dr. Dimitriu is dual board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine. He is currently writing a book about the interplay of therapy and medication, and is involved in the development of BrainFoodMD, a natural brain-boosting supplement.

Click HERE to listen.

By Hedy Phillips, Apr 14, 2022

However, melatonin can become so much a part of someone’s daily routine that they may feel like they can’t sleep without it. “Many people who take melatonin for insomnia may also have some degree of anxiety, especially around sleep — and this is where routines become locked in, and people can become anxious with any change to a particular routine, such as taking melatonin,” explains Alex Dimitriu, MD, a double board-certified physician in psychiatry and sleep medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine and BrainfoodMD. If someone becomes so reliant on melatonin that they’re almost afraid to find out what would happen if they stopped taking it, they may have what Dr. Dimitriu calls a psychological addiction.

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