Painsomnia

Like I’m sure many of you have as well, I’ve had many a battle with insomnia. I’ve lain awake, staring at my phone, or a book, or the ceiling—heck, even the inside of my eyelids—willing myself to sleep. Checking the time, counting my remaining hours left to sleep until my alarm goes off and I have to blearily try to make my way through another day.

Painsomnia is a lot like insomnia, but the thing keeping you awake is pain. It can be mild to severe. Whatever the level of severity, it doesn’t make painsomnia any easier to deal with. There are actually times for me personally where a small amount of pain located in just the right spot can make a night seem to last forever, whereas an intense, sharp pain in a different area seemed easier to ‘work around’, and was therefore less troublesome and impeded my dozing in and out throughout the night much less.

Make sure if there are any medications you need to take, or may need in the night, that they are easily reached from your bed. Also make sure to have a glass of water. I keep my migraine and nausea medications in a small flat bag on a shelf next to my bed. I also have bottles of Tylenol and Ibuprofen...but they’re more for show at this point. I take my regular prescription medications before bed, and there are pills to help me sleep included.

Meditation, deep breathing that completely fills your lungs and inflates your abdomen, and even music, podcasts, or books on tape are all tools I’ve been instructed to use by my pain management doctor to try and distract myself from my pain.

These are not always available where sleep is concerned. Deep breathing is always a great way to ready your body for sleep, and there are some really impactful sleep meditation apps out there that you can download for free (my favorite is called #InsightTimer). Music, Podcasts, and books on tape may not be the best thing to listen to as you fall asleep, however, as they may be too distracting.

If you’re like me, and your #depression and/or #anxiety cause s you to hear vague sounds or incoherent conversations, then a white noise machine may be helpful at bedtime as well. I also sleep with an electric blanket, so when my back and legs begin to ache, I don’t need to get up and get a heating pad or hot water bottle. I usually turn it on for a bit before I get in so the mattress is warm when my back is flaring up.

I’ve also found that doing some stretches/exercises with my body parts that hurt while I’m still in bed rather than getting up to do them helps, but you may find other methods that work better for you. I have a hard time getting sleepy and then staying asleep is also difficult, so if I keep my eyes closed and stay in that cloudy sleepy state while I stretch or rub sore areas, it’s easier for me to fall back asleep.

What do you all do to help with #painsomnia? I’d love to hear your stories via the Contact Us feature of particularly difficult hurdles with it that you’ve overcome, or maybe you’d like to share difficulties you’re still having. Someone else may have some great advice that we haven’t heard from yet!