I think everyone has had the experience of waking up a few hours to early, only to be unable to fall back asleep. These days, anytime I have to get up for anything, I wake up all night long. It’s pretty ironic, because it is the days where I have to get up for something that I need to get all the hours of sleep I can the most! No one really has a good day without enough sleep. For me, anything less than 9 hours of sleep turns into a disastrous day with fevers, body aches, swollen glands … all that fun stuff.
I went to bed at 11 last night because I was expecting an important phone call this morning. I woke up at 12 and removed the corner of the book from my eye. I woke up at 2:30, glanced over at Jake’s side of the bed, and he wasn’t there. I momentarily freaked out because I was sure he had been kidnapped by murderers… then realized he was just still playing his video game. Back to sleep I went. I woke up at 4 and said “NOT YET!! SLEEP!!” Then, I woke up at 6. I said “NOT YET!! SLEEP!!” and my body was like “Nope, I’ve had enough of that. I don’t care that you want to do anything other than lay in bed the rest of the day.” I resigned eventually, and got up, but I had a trick up my sleeve. On to the couch I went, with my favorite fleece blanket, heating pad, and the furnace gently humming. Perfect circumstances to drift back off… Nope. Not having it. At this point, I was feeling like this:
grrr…..
So, I decided I had no choice but to get up for awhile and try again later. However, this wasn’t over. I WOULD go back to sleep. I didn’t take any meds because once I do that, going back to sleep isn’t an option until nighttime. I tried all my favorite relaxing pick me ups. I read, I watched Good Morning America for a bit, I ate some raspberries, I took a warm bath, I listened to music, I texted with a friend… It turned out I didn’t need to take that phone call. Although in a better mood after all of this, I still couldn’t sleep. So, I have given up! I will spend my day lying flat and just using all my low-energy pick me ups I have to make the day pass bearably.
Sick or not, what’s your favorite trick to get back to sleep and/or pick me up on a rough day?
I have sleep problems because of the fibromyalgia. I try not to take anything med wise because it makes me really fuzzy the next day. Lately I’ve been looking toward more holistic things to help me sleep. I have a little bottle of lavender essential oil and I dab a few drops on my wrists. That seems to help. Then if I think it will be a bad night (waking up a lot, anxiety) I will do the bath thing. But I have been doing detox baths to help clear out all the crap I have stored inside from the methotrexate. That usually helps as well. And if all else fails, I’ll read. I don’t read anything thrilling or a page turner, I have been trying to read “a short history of Europe”…that usually does the trick. Good luck!!
I like to watch a good old saving the world sci-fi movie! Always cheers me up and let’s me relax on the couch! Like Independence Day or Dante’s Peak!
Love to lie in bed and read. Talking to any of my great kids is always a pick-me-up.
Cold water on the face and some deep breaths. Obviously as a pick-me-up rather than a get-back-to sleep!
My law is literally on the floor right now, because I had a draft saved called – Lack of Sleep – Public Enemy #1…and I was saying the EXACT same things!! It’s ALWAYS when I have something to do that I don’t sleep well the night before, and I am totally ruined the next day. I WISH I had some good tips
Great minds blog alike 😊
What helped me overcome this part of the POTS equation, taking 3mg melatonin about 10 minutes before going to bed, and no caffeine after noon. A cup of chamomile tea before the melatonin helps too.
A pick me up on a tough day, yoga, even if all you can do is the corpse pose, focus on breathing. It also helps if you work for yourself, because then you can declare a free day, pick up a good book and virtually disappear. Get someone to do the cooking, and be your slave. Don’t feel guilty, they’ll get their turn, it’s yours now.
Aww thanks. I needed to hear a lot of that! Thanks for the good ideas.
I’ve been having a lot of trouble with sleep lately, ever since I stepped up my exercise, seems a bit of resistance training in the afternoon made me sleep better but too much cardio kept me awake so I’m having to shift my workout to earlier in the day. Too much of anything though and my body is stressed, HR is up at night keeping me awake.
I used to work nightshift so sleep has always been a battle for me, some things work some of the time but not at other times so are worth trying more than once. Low vitamin D and hormone levels can throw sleep out too. There are a lot of things to try, getting enough sunlight in the early hours to reset the body clock, not doing anything mentally stimulating before bed, glass of milk, hot shower with massage mits, a few drops of lavender or sandalwood oil on a tissue tucked inside my pillowcase. I use an electric blanket (or fan/air con if it’s hot), I sleep better if I’m warm but not hot, the heat helps my pain too. Noise bothers me so earplugs, relaxation or meditation CDs or white noise, most people I know who are not in the habit of meditating tend to drift off part way through guided meditation tapes because it distracts the mind. I use soft lighting, I was thinking about trying something like a lava lamp for a meditative lighting effect, I don’t know if it would be relaxing or stimulating though. I tried a low dose of antihistamine but it drops my BP and gives me restless legs keeping me up, making me overtired and snappy instead of putting me to sleep.
What a bunch of great advice — thanks.