Thursday Thirteen - Sleep

 

Sleep.  Peaceful, restorative, blissful sleep.  I have no idea what that is!  It is elusive, meaning I have difficulty falling asleep, and even when I do sleep, it's often fitful leaving me groggy in the morning.  I'm technically not an expert, but I have done a lot of research on how to achieve restful sleep.  Not all of them work for me, but here we go.

1.  Routine.  Going to bed and waking up at approximately the same time every day.  This one is difficult for me.  I'd love to hear your story if it's worked for you.

2.  Decreased Exposure to Blue Light.  Blue light, the kind that you're exposed to on electronics like your phone or computer, supposedly mimics daytime light which prevents your body from producing melatonin.  Wearing blue light blocking glasses at night is supposed to help, but I haven't tried them.  Have you?

3.  Meditation or relaxation.  There are a dozen or so apps out there to help with meditation.  I downloaded one and used it once.  I know.  If I don't use it, how will I know if it works or not?

4.  Quiet.  The noises in your home or outside your windows could possibly keep you awake.  I have a white noise machine that prevents those noises from interfering with my sleep, and I do think it helps.

5.  Temperature.  It's difficult to sleep if you're too hot.  My husband turns the AC way down at night, so my room is always cool.

6.  Dark.  I used to like a nightlight on, and there was a time when I slept with the TV on every night, but as I've gotten older, I need a dark room to sleep well.  My daughter has used a sleep mask for years.

7.  Exercise.  Just don't exercise too late in the day.  Exercise gives you an initial burst of alertness and energy, but it also contributes to more restful sleep.  Kind of ironic.

8.  No naps.  Self-explanatory.  This one is sometimes difficult for me.

9.  Aromatherapy.  Lavender is said to induce relaxation, particularly when the essential oil is diffused into the room.  There is a variety of lavender products available:  lotions, bubble bath, body spray, pillow mist.  Other essential oils can aid in relaxation such as bergamot, chamomile, and cedarwood.

10. Melatonin supplements.  Melatonin is a hormone the body produces that helps control your sleep-wake cycle. These can be taken in tablet form, melts, or chewables.  

11. Reduce caffeine intake.  I try to limit myself to one soda's worth of caffeine a day, and I try not to have any past the afternoon.  I think it helps.

12. No eating or watching TV in bed.  Use the bed for sleep (and if this were a different kind of blog... well, you know.)

13. Medication.  According to drugs.com, there are about 74 medications that are used to aid with sleeping, some over-the-counter, some prescription.  The ones I know of are Ambien, Lunesta, Diphenhydramine, and Sonota, but clearly, I haven't experienced all of them.

I hope you get a good night's sleep tonight, but if you're awake and need something to do, visit Thursday Thirteen for more fun lists!

Coffee Chat

Our lovely hostess at Ink Interrupted asks us...

What is your favourite way to spend the weekend?

(I love spelling favourite like our hostess!)

Everyone in my family will tell you that my favorite weekend activity is SLEEP.  During the school year, I get about 6 hours of sleep a night Sunday through Thursday, oftentimes less.  I'm a night owl, so going to bed early is not easy for me.  I'd rather stay up late and sleep in, which is impossible when you have to be at work at 8:15 AM.  So, I make up for it on the weekends.

The experts tell us that you should try to keep the same sleep schedule every day, but I say, "Why?" as long as I get back on my regular schedule Monday. The experts also say that too much sleep is just as damaging as too little sleep.  Too much is 9 or 10 hours.  If you use the law of averages, I get about 7 1/2 hours per night.  And according to research by the National Sleep Foundation, an exact amount of sleep cannot be pinpointed, just a range of hours, and I think I'm within my range.

Perhaps I should have been a cat.  They sleep 12-16 hours a day!  So, my favorite weekend activity is a little boring, but it's not the only thing I enjoy.  A good weekend also includes reading, eating out, spending time with my husband, maybe church on Sunday, if I'm not sleeping (I know, I know!), and the best weekend includes avoiding the grocery store.  Grocery shopping is my least favorite chore ever.

This past weekend did not include a lot of sleep due to our daughter's wedding.  It was absolutely beautiful!  Here's the proof!

So, even though this past weekend did not include extra sleep, it was so worth it! Subscribe in a reader

Sleep, Please?

I have a hard time falling asleep at night.  I have trouble turning my mind off, so I'm trying to find a few ways to fall asleep and stay asleep.  I want to sleep like a baby. (Or, maybe not.  Don't they wake up frequently and cry?)

1.  Obviously, there are OTC sleep aids.  They contain diphenhydramine which is actually an anti-histamine.
2.  Prescription sleep aids such as Ambien and Lunesta.  Lunesta did not make me drowsy, and Ambien leaves me feeling like a zombie the next day.
3.  Natural sleep aid such as Melatonin.  I prefer the kind that melts under the tongue.  Helps me sleep like a baby occasionally.

4.  There is a technique called 4-7-8.  Take in a deep breath for 4 seconds, hold for 7, exhale for 8.  This is a new relaxation method I'm going to try tonight.  Read more about it here.
5.  Exercising during the day to reduce stress may lead to easier sleep.
6.  Avoid naps.  But I love naps!  I only get them on weekends, though, because I get no sleep during the week.
7.  Turn off the TV and computer. Both stimulate the brain so much that they can prevent sleep.  Again, hard for me to do.

8. Wear an eye mask to make sure the room is completely dark.  My daughter does this.
9.  Keep your bedroom cooler than the rest of the house.  Cool temperatures are more likely to put you to sleep.
10. Comfortable clothing and bedding promotes better sleep.
11. Aromatherapy, and lavender in particular. I don't know why, for sure, this fragrance helps people sleep more deeply, but I feel like it calms me a little.

12. Putting on socks is rumored to help regulate your body temperature for sleep.  Can anyone sleep in them?  Everyone I know says they take them off either before bed or during the night like me.
13. Tart cherry juice, if consumer twice daily, will increase your Melatonin naturally in about two weeks making it easier to fall asleep.

I've got to start sleeping better.  Sleep is crucial for your health, your sex life, learning, remembering, and so much more.  I'm going to go try to catch some Zzzzz's now.  Here's to relaxation and sleep.

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Sleep

The Sunday Scribblings topic this week is sleep.

Do you sleep well? I envy those people that do.

For as long as I can remember, I have had trouble with sleep. Trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, trouble finding enough time to sleep.

I’ve read all the articles and advice on how to get a good night’s sleep, and there are some very good ones out there (helpguide.org and Univ. of Maryland Medical Center are two of them), but it just doesn’t happen that way for me.

I think part of it is the busy-ness (not business, although that works, too) of being a mom, a wife, a full-time employee, and trying to keep a fairly organized and well-run household. There is just so much to do and only a finite amount of time to do everything. Part of it is that I have to have my quiet time when everyone else is finally in bed, so that cuts off some of my sleep time. I blame the Internet for part of it. Okay, not really, but MY ATTRACTION to the Internet is partially to blame. I can have the computer all to myself when everyone else is peacefully sleeping. I also love to read, and if I have a book that I just can’t put down, then I give up some sleep for that. Part of it is that my husband snores. He recently had a pillar procedure that is supposed to help, but so far, no such luck. And the fact that my mind races practically 24/7 doesn’t help, either.

But whatever is to blame, I don’t get enough sleep. The experts advise us not to take naps, but I sooooo look forward to weekends when I CAN take a nap. Just like I did today!