Desperately Seeking Sleep

Two of the items I am trying to focus on this year losing weight and eating healthy, have both led me down the same path. In order to lose weight, I need to eat healthier. In order to lose weight, I also need to decrease stress and the inevitable sustained cortisol response and the negative effects it is having on my body. The more research I do about stress and ironically weight loss, I keep coming across one thing they both have in common, Sleep. Sleep and I have a long, troubled past. I have written about sleep before, here and here. Researches have long attributed sleep problems to depression, meaning if you are depressed, you might be more likely to have sleep problems. However, the tide is starting to change and now, studies are showing sleep problems may actually lead to depression. In fact, one study suggests those with sleep disturbances have a ten-fold chance of getting depression. Yet another viscous cycle, sleep problems may cause depression and depression may cause sleep problems. Another chicken or egg controversy.

Regardless of which came first, the sleep problems or the depression, it is becoming clear to me that fixing my sleep issues will be an important step to improving my health and losing weight. Not getting enough sleep has been linked with not only depression, but also weight gain and a decreased ability to manage stress, which has also been linked with weight gain and ironically sleep disorders.

If fixing sleep can help me reduce the negative effects of prolonged stress, lose weight and kick depression, I think it is a little important to start understanding sleep and get better at sleeping. So, I plan to focus more of my efforts on researching sleep and getting better at it.

One thing I read over and over is the importance of a sleep routine a controlled sleeping environment and the impact diet and exercise can have on sleep and sleep quality. So over the next few days, I will look at ways to improve my sleep and increase my sleep quality. Have you had sleep problems? The more I read, the more I realize it truly is one of the most chronic problems suffered by modern society. Everyone is trying to hack their sleep and come up with the next new supplement to get them there. I have even read about learning to function highly on fewer hours of sleep, but I am not interested in sleeping fewer hours, lets try getting some sleep before we worry about functioning on less sleep because clearly that is not working for me.

Sleep Hygiene

What is sleep hygiene?

Sleep hygiene is a variety of different practices that are necessary to have normal, quality nighttime sleep and full daytime alertness.

What are some examples of good sleep hygiene?

    Photo Credit

 

 

 

According to the Sleep Foundation:

The most important sleep hygiene measure is to maintain a regular wake and sleep pattern seven days a week. It is also important to spend an appropriate amount of time in bed, not too little, or too excessive. This may vary by individual; for example, if someone has a problem with daytime sleepiness, they should spend a minimum of eight hours in bed, if they have difficulty sleeping at night, they should limit themselves to 7 hours in bed in order to keep the sleep pattern consolidated. In addition, good sleep hygiene practices include:

If you saw my earlier post on sleep, You know that I do not keep a regular sleep schedule. I am a night owl, I am sleepy all day and as soon as I get home, I am wide awake and ready to pull an all nighter, On this note, I tend to stay up late on the weekend, since I only sleep at a decent hour during the week because I have to.

The sleep foundation also recommends the following sleep hygiene

 

 

• Avoid napping during the day. It can disturb the normal pattern of sleep and wakefulness.

           Sigh... When I have a night like last night I tend to sleep in my car at lunch time. My work 

           requires a ton of focus and attention and I cannot work when I am groggy. I am certain that    

           once I get my regular sleep more controlled, I will do a much better job at skipping the lunch

            time naps.

• Avoid stimulants such as caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol too close to bedtime. While alcohol is well known to speed the onset of sleep, it disrupts sleep in the second half as the body begins to metabolize the alcohol, causing arousal.

           This is easy for me, for the most part, I don't drink, but I chain smoke at home and I drink my

           mountain dew all the way up to bedtime. I have always said the Mountain Dew didn't effect

           my sleep, because I was able to fall asleep with a bottle in my hand, like a baby, but as I get

           older and come to terms with my sleep problems, I am perhaps a little more ready to admit this

           is a problem for me.

• Exercise can promote good sleep. Vigorous exercise should be taken in the morning or late afternoon. A relaxing exercise, like yoga, can be done before bed to help initiate a restful night's sleep.

          LOL, if you read my last post, you know that I am not exercising, so I highly doubt that too

          much exercise is causing my sleeping issues, quite likely the opposite problem.

• Food can be disruptive right before sleep.  Stay away from large meals close to bedtime. Also dietary changes can cause sleep problems, if someone is struggling with a sleep problem, it's not a good time to start experimenting with spicy dishes. And, remember, chocolate has caffeine.

          I am not ready to explore this one just yet, I eat late sometimes and this is another one that will

          be harder to break.

• Ensure adequate exposure to natural light. This is particularly important for older people who may not venture outside as frequently as children and adults. Light exposure helps maintain a healthy sleep-wake cycle.

• Establish a regular relaxing bedtime routine. Try to avoid emotionally upsetting conversations and activities before trying to go to sleep. Don't dwell on, or bring your problems to bed.

• Associate your bed with sleep. It's not a good idea to use your bed to watch TV, listen to the radio, or read.

         Oops, I read, blog, watch TV and almost anything else in my bed, apparently except sleep, so
         this one is one I am going to need to work for.


Well, my warm Epsom salt, lavender bath awaits me, as well as my pillow. Hope you can get some sleep tonight, Me and my sleep cycle analyzer will see you tomorrow with our updated results and some more plans for preparing for eating right.

I feel like this today

This is what I feel like today

 

My sleep graph accurately depicts my lack of sleep last night. I am kind of fond of this little app. As you can see, I only successfully dipped into the deep sleep around 0330 and again at 0530 and then my alarm started going off. So, when I woke up feeling out of it, groggy, cranky, sleepy this morning, I can see clearly why, I slept like shit... I had often suspected that I wasn't getting quality sleep, going through the days at times, feeling like I am half out of it. On the contrary, if you look at the night before, I slept quite well, albeit I stayed up late and slept in. I definitely can feel the difference in how I feel, between the two nights.



 

While, I cannot do anything to retroactively fix my lack of sleep, I have been tying to keep track of what goes on before I go to sleep and then make note of the different results. Now, Saturday for example, I was a little under the influence. I went to bed late, with a migraine approaching so I did take my migraine pill and added a Benadryl about an hour later as well as an anti-anxiety pill to reduce some tension I was feeling and aide in sleep setting in. I also took a warm bath before sleep, with Epsom salts and lavender essential oil. This may have also impacted my sleep quality, but I will not know for certain until after I have more data points to check. So, I will continue to monitor my sleep and the things that may be affecting it before I draw any serious correlation. (Geez, I am sounding like a statistician, I kind of am by the way). So, it is already after my target 10 PM bedtime, I am going to take my bath, without the extra meds tonight and see what my sleep gram looks like tomorrow.