Tips For Better Sleep

[MajestyJo]

At lot of these are good, not always doable and workable for me, with fibromyalgia. I can be up 20+ hours and other times, I am up 4 hours and can't stay awake.

A good thing for me was buying ear plugs. With fibromyalgia, I don't go into a lever 4 pattern and therefore, I don't have a deep sleep. The least little thing is often heard. With the ear plugs, I get a sounder sleep. I can hear my alarm, the fire alarm, the phone ring, but it keeps the noise down and it isn't so invasive.

I have learned over the years to lsiten to my body. Allow it to do what it needs to do. Having said that, it is my responsibility to give the body the exercise, food, and health care that it needs. It is important to be grounded, in the moment, and make healthy choices. What I eat is so important. I am not big on exercise, but I can still walk. Stretches are especially good.

I sleep with my heating pad wrapped in a towel. I can' stand extreme heat or cold. At one time, I couldn't stand blankets on my feet. Now they are numb from the diabetes, I no longer have that problem, but the numbness is another set of problems. They often hurt so bad I can't sleep. I have yet to figure out how they can be numb and not feel when I step on a piece of broken glass and have such extreme pain that I want to cry. I have a Dr. Scholls foot bath to use when I have the ability in my hands to fill it with water and carry it to my chair. I can always move it to my chair and fill it, it is the task of emptying it that is the problem. I just had a vision of knocking it over and having to mop up the water. My back and mops are not often of the same mind.

The biggest thing for me is acceptance. Accept what is in the moment. If I can't sleep after 15-30 minutes, I get back up. Tossing and turning doesn't help. Sometimes I am over tired, the other night, I wanted to sleep and I couldn't. Even when I am yawning, my body hits the bed and has a mind of it's own.