Painsomnia

Pain + Insomnia = Painsomnia

If you have landed yourself searching for this blog, I AM SORRY. You are stuck in a vicious cycle: you can't sleep because of the pain and the pain gets worse because you aren't sleeping. What do you do?

Honestly, aside from getting some sort of new treatment or starting a new med that ends up being your golden ticket, painsomnia relief comes in small doses. Here are some things that I have learned along the way and work for me:

1. Keep Your Sleep Space Sacred

If you are in the kind of pain I think you are, then you are spending a lot of time down in bed. You sleep in bed, you eat in bed, you watch tv in bed, and so on. After doing this for so many days or weeks, your brain gets confused on what it is supposed to be doing in bed... sleeping! One easy (or not so easy, if you are immobilized) thing you can do, is spend your day out of bed. Ideally, you can get yourself into another room and set up a comfortable space on the couch or a spare bed. If you cannot get to another room, there are still steps you can take to change your sleep space. Make the bed (or have someone make the bed for you) and lay on top of the covers and use a special "daytime" blanket. In either case, open up windows or turn on the lights during the daytime. If possible, get dressed or put on "daytime" pajamas. These little things will help your brain remember that when you do your nightly routine, it is time for sleep.

2. TV Routines

Are you stuck watching TV all day? No judgement here! Trust me, Netflix has saved me hours (scratch that - months) of boredom. Something I learned though, is to have a "bedtime" show. If you are able to just turn off the tv and go to sleep, then that's even better, but if you like to fall asleep to tv, you need to pick a show that you have seen almost every episode and doesn't get you too excited. During the day, try to put on more stimulating shows, like crime shows, action heros, cooking shows, game shows, sports tv, current news, etc. Try to stay away from sitcoms and reruns. At night, when it's time to go to sleep, put on a rerun of a sitcom and set the sleep timer. My personal favorite to fall asleep to is The Office. I absolutely love that show and while my eyes are closed, I can still picture the whole scene because I have seen every episode a dozen times. Sometimes, when I am really tired, I just need to hear the first few notes of the theme song and I'm out.

3. Time Your Meds

If you take a certain medicine that makes you drowsy or gives you good pain relief, time it up right before bedtime. (Of course, make sure it is ok with your doctor to adjust any medication timing.) I take nightly meds, but if I take them right at bedtime, it takes an hour or so before they kick in and then I'm laying there... NOT sleeping. You want to avoid laying in bed awake instead of actual sleep as much as possible. I have learned to take my night meds about an hour before I go into sleep mode. It makes a huge difference. If you take a sleeping pill of any kind, make sure you know how long it takes to kick in before you climb into bed. Avoid just laying there awake waiting for it to kick in.

4. Sleep Mode Electronics

This should go without saying, but turn off your phone or put it on silent. No, not vibrate - silent. If your phone buzzes every time you get a freaking email, then you might as well set an alarm to go off on snooze all night long. If you are going to complain about not sleeping well and you have your phone laying next to you making noise all night, you are on your own. I can't help you. What's even better, is there is a "Do Not Disturb" option on phones now. I set mine to put everything on silent from 9pm - 6am every single night. I have my closest family members set as exceptions, so if there is a family emergency, my phone will ring. Peace of mind... and no extra sounds. Give it a try!

5. Back to Basics

Look up anything about insomnia in general, you will be reminded to not drink caffeine after lunchtime, smell lavender before sleep, try a warm bath or shower before bed. Any of these things can help, but if you are in the kind of pain I am in, there is no way in heck you are getting me to shower before bed every night. Oh heck no. And, if I am going to my husband's football game at 7pm, then I will drink a giant ass coffee on the way. The basics hold true, but not always for those in severe pain. Try as many of those tricks and tips that can work for you.

Ultimately, you need to find a way to turn on your own personal "sleep mode". Giving your brain routines, even when you are very limited on options, will definintely help. Just remember, sleeping is SO important to the healing process. The more you sleep, the better you will feel. The less you sleep, the crappier you will feel. Figure out what works for you to get more sleep. And, yes, naps help!

#painsomnia #pain #insomnia #cantsleep

#tipstosleep #chronicpain #ineffablepain