Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine
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9 Best King-Size Mattresses in 2024

By Claudia Fisher, Oct 3, 2024

Cooling. “It is essential for your body to be able to cool off during the night,” Alex Dimitriu, MD, board-certified psychiatrist and the founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine, previously told SELF. “Research has found that [this] makes us sleep deeper and possibly longer.” That’s why finding a mattress that’s built with breathable, heat-dissipating materials and layers that promote airflow should be a top priority for folks.

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Could This New Schizophrenia Treatment Be a Game Changer?

By Elizabeth Millard, Sep 27, 2024

Another medication already in use, clozapine, also works on muscarinic receptors but has significant side effects, adds Alex Dimitriu, M.D., a psychiatrist and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine in California. “The question has been whether focusing on these receptors in a different way could help in schizophrenia without the effects of clozapine, and KarXT attempts to do that,” he says.

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Can You Get Hooked On Melatonin? Experts Share the Truth About This Popular Sleep Supplement

By Emily Laurence, Sep 27, 2024

Since melatonin occurs naturally in the body, you may be wondering when it can be helpful to take it in supplement form. Dr. Alex Dimitriu, MD, a sleep doctor and psychiatrist, says that some people find it beneficial to take melatonin when they’re traveling to help with jet lag. Some people also take melatonin to help them fall asleep faster or to stay asleep longer.

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The top 5 worries — and 5 worst sleep habits — that are keeping Americans up at night

By Melissa Rudy, Sep 25, 2024

Although COVID has “come and gone to some degree,” Dr. Alex Dimitriu, sleep medicine specialist and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine in California, noted that war and gun violence are on the rise. “This fits with my perception in my work as well, that ever since COVID, the world has caught a ‘fever,’” Dimitriu, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital. “With increased social and geopolitical unrest, we are hearing more violence in the news and certainly see its impact on sleep.”

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Low Sex Drive? Difficulty Orgasming? How Bipolar Disorder Affects Your Libido

By Michelle Pugle, MA, Sep 23, 2024

The telltale sign of hyposexuality for people with bipolar disorder is a significant drop in sexual desire compared with their typical experience. According to Alex Dimitriu, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist and sleep medicine doctor, hyposexuality comprises these aspects:

  • Reduced overall libido (sexual desire)
  • Reduced ability to achieve arousal or erection
  • Reduced ability, or inability, to orgasm
  • Symptoms severe enough to cause personal or relationship distress

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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)

By Maggie Aime, Sep 20, 2024

“Cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia uses cognitive therapy, behavioral therapy, and mindfulness, to treat insomnia, adds Alex Dimitriu, M.D., double board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine.  Some people call CBT-I “sleep therapy” for short. Put simply, the “cognitive” part of CBT-I helps you change the thoughts that disrupt your sleep, like those late-night worries. The “behavioral” part focuses on building good sleep habits and eliminating the bad ones.

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Can tramadol be used for sleep?

Sep 19, 2024

If chronic pain is what’s causing your insomnia, tramadol could be pretty effective. “Tramadol is an interesting drug because it works in two ways. First, it is a weak synthetic opiate, which can relieve pain – but this also means it can be addictive,” says Dr. Alex Dimitriu, double board-certified in Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine. “Secondly, it works on the serotonin and norepinephrine systems in ways similar to some antidepressants. Most of the research on tramadol and sleep involves pain, so, unsurprisingly, tramadol improves sleep quality by reducing pain.” In one study, patients with moderate or severe pain from osteoarthritis showed “significant improvements” on the Chronic Pain Sleep Inventory after taking tramadol.

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Get a handle on your sleep health with the best sleep trackers for 2024, tested and reviewed

By Aly Walansky, Sep 18, 2024

One thing to keep in mind is that generally, a device needs to be in contact with your body to be able to provide more accurate data. Dr. Alex Dimitriu, a double board-certified expert in psychiatry and sleep medicine, says, “The closer the tracker is to the brain, the more accurate the data. While most people won’t sleep with a head-mounted device, options like mattress pads, watches and rings offer practical and reasonably accurate solutions.” He adds that to categorically know what stage of sleep someone is in, EEG or brainwave data is necessary. Most sleep trackers don’t offer this information. “For most of these devices, the more sensors, the better, as they are all trying to infer sleep and sleep stages based on non-EEG data — like heart rate, movement, breathing, temperature and heart rate variability,” he says.

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High-Dose of ADHD Drugs Linked to Higher Risks of Psychosis and Mania: Harvard Study

By Rachel Ann T. Melegrito, Sep 12, 2024

Dr. Alex Dimitriu, founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine, who was not involved in the study, told The Epoch Times that in his practice, most patients only require up to 40 mg of Adderall. “As would be expected, some with more severe ADHD or other comorbid conditions such as OCD or depression may benefit from higher doses,” he said. “However, the number of patients in ranges above 40 mg is not many,” he added.

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You Actually Burn Calories While You Sleep. Doctors Explain How It Works.

By Rozalynn S. Frazier and Erica Sweeney, Sep 12, 2024

“The body is always burning calories,” explains Alex Dimitriu, M.D., a double-board certified physician in psychiatry and sleep medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine. Even during total inactivity or sleep, the body’s basal metabolic rate (BMR) reflects the number of calories your body needs at rest to carry out basic functions like breathing, circulation, digestion, and cellular repair, Dr. Dimitriu says.

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The 2 Most Obvious Signs of an Unhealthy Parent-Adult-Child Relationship

By Beth Ann Mayer, Sep 9, 2024

“A healthy parent-child bond serves as a model for the child’s future relationships,” says Dr. Alex Dimitriu, MD, who is double board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine and the founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine. Unhealthy parent-child relationships can affect how children see themselves, others and the world. However, these relationships don’t suddenly become obsolete when a child reaches adulthood. They can persist—or even develop—as people grow and evolve. Knowing the red flags of an unhealthy parent-adult-child relationship is important.

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The Relationship Between Caffeine and Sleep

By Lauren Panoff, Aug 23, 2024

Alex Dimitriu, M.D., double board-certified in Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine, tells Sleepopolis that caffeine is a blocker of adenosine — a substance that relaxes your blood vessels and affects your heart rhythm. “Adenosine builds up in the brain as we get through the day, and when levels are higher, we begin to feel tired and sleepy. [Caffeine blocks adenosine], which is the reason it makes us feel awake and alert,” he says.

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Does Trintellix cause sexual side effects?

By Sarah Bradley, Aug 19, 2024

According to Alex Dimitriu, MD, psychiatrist, sleep medicine specialist, and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine, certain antidepressants—particularly SSRIs, which affect your serotonin levels—can cause a decrease in sex drive because they block specific receptors in the brain that contribute to sexual arousal. Additionally, increasing serotonin levels with SSRIs can lower the amount of dopamine in your brain, the “feel-good” hormone tied to desire. “Very generally speaking, there is a balance in the brain between serotonin and dopamine, and for some people, increasing serotonin can lower dopamine,” Dr. Dimitriu says. “I often tell my patients that SSRIs dull the passions, bad and good.” 

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The Best Cooling Bedding to Help Hot Sleepers Chill Out in 2024

By Jessica Kasparian, Aug 19, 2024

Everyone has their own preferences in the bedroom—how firm your mattress should be, how much background noise is acceptable, and how dark it is are all deeply personal decisions. But if you’re a hot sleeper, your p.m. setup isn’t just about comfort—losing sleep can lead to a host of health issues. “It is essential for your body to be able to cool off during the night,” Alex Dimitriu, MD, board-certified psychiatrist and the founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine, tells SELF. “Research has found that [this] makes us sleep deeper and possibly longer.” And according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), not getting enough sleep can contribute to cognitive issues, a sluggish metabolism, a weakened immune system, an increased risk of heart disease, and more.

Click HERE for the full article.

Does Mercury Retrograde Affect Sleep? Here’s Why We’re All So Tired

By Danielle Sinay, Aug 9, 2024

According to a recent study, when you sleep matters more than the amount that you did. “Sleep loves rhythm and regularity, and part of that regularity is having a predictable sequence of events that starts telling the brain to slow down and get ready for bed,” says Alex Dimitriu, MD, a double board-certified psychiatrist and sleep medicine specialist and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine in California. “A regular sleep-and-wake schedule, as well as a daily schedule for slowing down past a certain hour, is very helpful for sleep. Try not to sleep in too long on the weekends, ideally not more than an hour later than usual.”

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MENLO PARK PSYCHIATRY & SLEEP MEDICINE

CONDITIONS TREATED: Anxiety, Depression, Attention Deficit Disorder, Insomnia, Bipolar Disorder, and Treatment Resistant Depression

REGIONS COVERED: We serve clients of the Bay Area, including the communities of Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Los Altos, Mountain View, Portola Valley, Atherton, Sunnyvale, and San Jose

Phone 650-326-5888
Address 1225 Crane Street, Suite 205
Menlo Park, CA 94025
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