Are You a Good Sleeper?

Really excellent responses folks, thank you very much indeed.

pete T15 - I must do every one of your 'don't do' list so that's a good place to start!

G

That's great Minh , 

Yes liver heat is something that is hard to grasp but I certainly felt better after a few sessions , I now go about once a month or so to keep on top of things . I certainly recommend it but definitely make sure see someone who has been referred . 

Good luck with your studies . 

Peter.

Number 6 the hardest  :-)

And here I am after another night of only 5 and a half hours of shuteye...which sucks even more because after my regular job I have to referee an ice hockey game tonight starting at 10:00 PM   I hope I can nap in between work and leaving but I am generally not a good nap taker when I know there is an impending reason to get up.

Shiftwork has ruined my previously excellent sleep routine, however I have discovered three things that really help:

1.  Camomile tea

2.  Boots Lavender pillow spray from their botanics range

3.  Boots lavender soothing gel from their botanics range.

I have found all three extremely effective in helping me to sleep.  A good book helps too of course.  The Boots stuff has certainly been adopted by several fellow work colleagues too and they've all found it a great help.

Jonathan

I also should mention black out curtains, either a liner into the curtains or if you have rods a second layer you add behind. 

Basically making the room much darker and more conducive to sleep, hence summer with bright early / late getting good sleep is more problematic than in the winter.  

That said, if you're not getting enough light in the day time (especially in Winter), ensure you aren't getting the symptoms of 'Seasonal Affective Disorder'

Yup ... I suffer with this and my blood oxygen level dips to the low 80's every 5 minutes or so when I'm asleep.

Of course everyone who knows me is aware of my athletic build (well, Sumo's are athletes!) and I have the Alien-like face hugger mask and CPAP machine that I'm supposed to use at night but can only handle for a couple of hours before I wake up and tear it off but yes, I stop breathing every five minutes or so...

Not fun...

Phil

Hi Phil,

Sorry to hear you're a fellow sufferer. There are many CPAP machines on the market and it was only when I tried the Respironics machine that I have now that I was able to be 100% compliant. If you pop me an email I'll give you the details. (See Profile)

Steve

This is very true. I have an L5/TFL problem with my hip that wakes me up like clockwork in the middle of the night (or never allows me to go to sleep in the first place). I find that if I don't eat after say 7pm the pain is much less. If you look at a 'clock' of the body according to Chines traditional medicine principals, you'll see that between 11 and 3am is the time of the gallbladder/liver. So knock off those late meals (esp desserts) and glasses of tipple and one may do much better. Of course seeing an acupuncturist is always good, but just changing your diet and habits is cheaper (though not necessarily easier). 

Isn't sex meant to be a remedi for a good nights sleep?  ATB Peter

We haven't all married women nearly half our age Peter. 

Thanks ... I'll Google it ... I have a ResMed S8 AutoSpirit II which I got on the NHS but bought the humidifier for as it dried out my airways so much and that helped but I find that it always ends up blowing like hell after a couple of hours (I guess I unseat the seal) and I can't breathe...

Phil

... erm ... not sure whether that's available on the NHS though!

(However I do believe that it is available privately and I guess they'd dress as nurses!)

Phil

Yeah but that's not sleep - that's exhaustion!

Phil

There are many different attachments from full face to nasal inserts. It's just a case of finding the right one that you feel comfortable with. I use a triangular shaped one that goes over my nose.

Steve

Thanks for the reminder though ... I packed mine away when I moved (expecting to be moving again soon after) and so haven't used mine for a loooong time (over a year) and I've been meaning to get it out of storage again - that prompted me to pop over to the container and get it!

Phil

It's not doing you any good in a container Phil. 

It's in the back of my car now (along with a brand new facemask and hose)... 

LOL, hey maybe that explains my bad back!  ( It's only 13 years though) ATB Peter

Well S looks half your age! 

I'm not really the build type for apnoea so I don't think it is that. 

Very quiet BBC World Service helps shorten the wakeful hours but often it is on and off then the 4:30 wake-up and that's me until getting up at 6:15. Grrrr.

Will try some 'sleep hygene' remedies.

Thanks again

G

I take no credit for that!  ATB Peter

From a physical medicine standpoint I can recommend a device called the Rumble Roller - comes in 2 sizes, and 2 levels of firmness.  I have right sided ITB issues and using this really helps.  I recommend the blue (not as hard) one and in the larger size.  (I also bought the harder black one in the smaller size as well.)

It's available (like damn near anything else) on Amazon.  It can help with all manner of musculo-skeletal issues either by itself or as an adjunct to NSAIDS, manipulation, and massage.

  Some transcendental meditation or to imagine your mind as a blank page and make the lightest of sketches.

A very interesting thread this  I have found my sleep getting worse as I get older. I used to sleep solidly and straight through but find myself more and more having restless nights. It's not good as I can be a right grouch when not getting enough sleep. Recently I have found reading for half an hour to an hour in bed before I drop off helps. No electronics after 10.30 pm either accept at weekends when I stay up a little later. Black out curtains help enormously and is something we need to get ASAP. Thanks for all the tips, ill definitely be trying out one or two