So what is insomnia?

I was thinking that everybody has a bad night now and again, or a bad week or a bad month or two.  Most people have disturbed sleep if they're worried or excited, maybe busy at work or concerned about family or health problems.  So I guess we're all insomniacs now and again.  In my case, it's always just been an inability to relax. When I'm awake, it's as though my brain is permanently switched on. I've tried all sorts of relaxation techniques and while some of them help to some degree, they really just don't make any significant difference to the way my brain works.

I don't know what the medical definition of insomnia would be, but I guess that it becomes a problem when it affects your ability to function. We all feel grotty after a restless night, but as long as you can get up, get to work, live a normal life, then while it makes you feel lousy, it's not affecting your ability to get on with your normal routine.  It's a problem when it affects your ability to function. I used to regularly fall asleep at my desk, once for a couple of hours!  But I realised it was a real problem when I started to fall asleep driving, usually on the motorway!  And then the migraines started....

Our body needs a balance of excercise, rest, nutrition (ie food and drink) to enable us to live.  If you only had 60% of the food you need to survive, you'd eventually die of starvation.  So if you only have 60% of the the rest you need over a long period of time, it's bound to have a significant effect!

Of course the occasional bad night or bad week will balance out over time.  So if you're going through a difficult period and it's affecting your sleep, chances are that it'll sort itself out over time and you'll fall back into your normal sleeping pattern once things in your life have settled down.

The problem is when your life settles down but your sleeping doesn't get back to normal.  Then the insomnia becomes a problem in its own account.  And if you start worrying about not sleeping, that just exacerbates the problem!


So we all suffer from insomnia from time to time.  It becomes an issue and a health problem when it affects your ability to function.  And the best thing you can do is to try and not stress about it.  Don't go to bed thinking "oh I hope I sleep tonight" because chances are you'll get yourself stressed up about it all and not sleep.

There are loads of things you can try to help sleep and I'll talk about them over the next few months, from lavender on the pillow to medication.  I'm sure you'll find something eventually that will help without having to resort to medication, but I do think that the best advice is simply not to worry about it. 

Bernadette











 

Calling all insomniacs!

Hi World

Thought I'd start a blog about something I'm really good at.  Yes, I guess I'm the world's most skilled insomniac! 

For over 20 years now, I've suffered from lack of sleep on a regular basis and it has completely changed my life.  I can't work normal office hours so have had to start working for myself.  It has caused me to be a chronic migraine sufferer and I suffer from depression.  It was a major factor in my marriage ending - guess it can't be much fun being married to someone who is totally exhausted all of the time.

There is a lot to talk about when it comes to insomnia.  But there are lots of long sleepless nighthours to blog about it!  More than anything else, I just thought it would be good to set upa blog so that people know that they aren't alone - there's nothing worse than living in the surreal world of being wide awake at 4am night after night and thinking that you're on your own.  There are only so many times you can watch reruns of Frasier on Sky!

Anyway after years of trying to make it go away, I've sort of come to terms with how I am and don't fight it any more.  I'm building a business that I can do from home and in the hours that I'm awake, rather than trying to fit into the corporate world of 9-5.  

So this is me saying hello and hoping it helps you to know that you're not alone. Over the next few months I'll be talking about the practical and psycological effects insomnia has had on my life and how some of the medical/non-medical things I've tried to help.  Clearly they haven't worked for me, but most people find something that helps at some point, so it's worth knowing about them so you can decide for yourself whether you want to try them. 

I'll welcome your comments and any suggestions you may have for others to try. 

But although I'm still an insomniac, I'm feeling a lot more relaxed and confident about life since I stopped trying to fit into the 9-5 world.  And I really think that the most important advice that I could give anyone suffering from insomnia, whether long term or short term is to relax and try not to fight it.  I know that's difficult when you have to get up for work at 6 or 7am and you're counting down the hours.  But surely you're better having 3-4 hours of decnet sleep than 3-4 hours of interrupted/light sleep. 

So I'd suggest the following:

• First, get out of bed - you should only be in bed if you're sleeping or having sex!  You'll make things worse lying in bed TRYING to sleep.
• Next, make a cup of chamomile tea or something else soothing.
• Then put some gentle lighting in the sitting room and read a book.  Something relaxing, not revision for your physics finals!  If you TRY to stay awake to read, I'm betting you'll be asleep within half an hour.  It might be in the armchair but chances are, you'll wake up at some point and get yourself to bed for the rest of the night.

Of course, this won't cure a long term problem, but will probably help if you are having an occasional bout of sleeplessness.   The main thing is not to TRY to get to sleep - you'll simply tense up your brain and your body and probably make the problem much worse.

I'll be back soon with my next Insomniac's blog!  Wherever you are in the world, I hope that you have a good sleep tonight.

Bernadette