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Sleep Hygiene - Clean Up Your Act!
Tue, 12/22/2009 - 5:23pm
I wanted to set up topic areas for people in the SLEEP Forum at Lumigrate.com which are similar to what has worked with Fibromyalia Forum: Provide the base structure and then let others start topics too. My intention with Lumigrate is to provide a progressive, valid, streamlined, fun health and well-being website experience (and related facebook and Twitter) that maintains what Aretha Franklin would say 'R-E-S-P-E-C-T'. Please keep these things in mind and diplomatically guide others who might be used to other places' way of doing things. If you think if the Internet as a playgound and Lumigrate as the sandbox, no throwing of sand, speak respectfully, and mostly invite others to join and make newcomers welcome. Naming of particular products is fine/ encouraged AND what I strongly suggest is that you also say how the product is obtained; is it retail, multi-level marketing, available online. IF you are a person / company benefitting from the sale it is really necessary that you do this, please (and thank you).
In this topic, I invite people who have studied "sleep hygiene" to write -- professionals and non (as we all are able to learn and become experts in something at least, aren't we?). I think I can speak for the Grate Group and say we all are looking forward to having a place for everyone to learn! Thank you for reading, writing, and doing something to help others know. "Print" this page -- it will look AWESOME -- give it to people or put it places where it might help others learn about coming here.
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Mardy Ross, OTR Founder, Lumigrate "Lighting the Path to Health and Well-Being" Follow us on social networking sites such as: Twitter: http://twitter.com/lumigrate facebook: My personal page: Mardy Ross Fan Pages: Lumigrate, Lumigrate: Fibromyalgia, Lumigrate: Fibromyalgia Health Education and Counseling (Lumigrate Webucation is a 'personal page' replaced by fan pages but used for 'fun' still).
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e-mailThis forum is provided to allow members of Lumigrate to share information and ideas. Any recommendations made by forum members regarding medical treatments, medications, or procedures are not endorsed by Lumigrate or practitioners who serve as Lumigrate's medical experts.
Sleep Hygiene: How to Help You Sleep
One of the most common problems in our society is poor sleep habits, of which I am guilty of right now as I write this. Staying up to late then getting up too early. We compound the problem by altering the cycle with drugs, chemicals, work, video games (Battlefield 3 has my attention at the moment), etc. And we hype up our systems by late night TV or other media consumption. All of these unhealthy, yet common, errors in sleep habits give us the universal grouchy persona during the awake cycle.
So as I sit here typing at 1:30 AM, I begin to think about what is wrong with this picture. How could I and millions of other unsettled souls avoid this situation? What are the effects of deprivation of dreamland vacations? By the way, you may say that most or all of these things are common sense, but just count how many of these habits you follow. If it were so common sense how come you have made all of these mistakes one time or another? They are worth repeating, especially to me at 1:30 AM after I ate late and drank some caffeine and had a nap…
Personal Habits
Fix a bedtime and an awakening time. With the current rules of society, expansive volume of things to do, and the limit of 24 hours in a day, finding a schedule and following it can be difficult. But we have to. Do not let the times to sleep and not sleep drift. The body becomes accustomed to sleeping and waking at certain times; this only happens when you have a schedule. Let your body get used to it. Waking people up at random times with uncertain times to go back to sleep is for prisoner of war camps, not your comfortable bedroom. Even if you are retired or not working, you still should follow this rule.
Avoid those siestas. As much as I LOVE naps and almost want to move to South America to fully enjoy its glory, naps can be bad for you, kind of. If you nap throughout the day, how do you expect your energized body to lie down for the night? If you can limit or be blessed to have a 30-45 minute window into dreamland, it is fine. You should be able to still sleep that night.
Avoid alcohol 4-6 hours before bedtime. Coming from a non-drinker, this is an unbelievably easy one. I am an exception I think. Although many believe alcohol helps you sleep, it doesn’t. Hence to bolded and italicized warning back a few sentences. It may get you to sleep, but as the alcohol level in your blood depletes there is a wake-up effect.
Avoid heavy, spicy, or sugary foods 4-6 hours before bedtime. These wonderful additions to anyone’s diet simply just keep you up. Pretty simple. Just like the next piece of advice.
Avoid caffeine 4-6 hours before bedtime. No brainer again. It simply stimulates you too much, too close to bedtime. Remember this includes coffee, tea, many sodas, energy drinks, and chocolate! Plus, all that caffeine has a diuretic effect and will have you in the bathroom more often, disrupting your and your roomie alike.
Exercise, but not right before nighty night. Exercise is terrific. It is a great habit to have for so many reasons. It boosts your immune system, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and emotional health. It improves many chronic pain conditions. So do it, but not too close to bedtime or it may decrease your ability to fall asleep.
So this is the first of three parts I am putting together about sleep. I would love feedback on what it true for you, what is not, what has helped you, etc. I am in no way an expert, but I have done my homework, both anecdotally and scientifically. Hope this helps and I really do hope you enjoy a great night’s rest. Maybe this has been boring enough to get your eyelids weak and back into bed. I am not offended; I am happy to help.
I am a recent physician assistant graduate who has stepped into the daunting field of interventional pain management. I am eager to contribute what I learn along the way and, more importantly, learn from the experts who deal with pain every day, with the goal of providing compassionate and evidence-based care.
Wow! Don .. thank you. This is so GRATE I'm going to copy and paste it into it's own topic in this forum and hope that you're a very regular contributor here at Lumigrate! Please follow to this link, those who are reading and want to see what I have to comment about this and any others. This truly is worthy of starting it's own "stream". www.lumigrate.com/forum/go-bed-already-part-1-3-me-re-sleep
Mardy Ross, OTR Founder, Lumigrate "Lighting the Path to Health and Well-Being" Follow us on social networking sites such as: Twitter: http://twitter.com/lumigrate facebook: My personal page: Mardy Ross Fan Pages: Lumigrate, Lumigrate: Fibromyalgia, Lumigrate: Fibromyalgia Health Education and Counseling (Lumigrate Webucation is a 'personal page' replaced by fan pages but used for 'fun' still).