Quote:
Originally Posted by eponagirl
Hello, there are lots of posts on people's various methods of trying to sleep with PCS. It is the holy grail for us!
Everyone seems to be different in what works for them. Are you on any meds at all right now? They typically start you out on Elavil (amitryptaline) and that helps many. You should work with your Dr to start finding the best thing for you. Some can't sleep due to anxiety, others pain, etc. so may warrant different treatments. For me, my brain just has trouble crossing into sleep so nothing works for very long without some other undesired effect, like feeling drugged for days after taking some meds and others simply not working at all.
Good sleep hygeine helps: going to bed at the same time, winding down with no tv or stimulation about an hour or so before bed. maybe take a hot shower to relax your body before bed. Not having caffeine at all. I just started wearing a sleep mask to help block out the light too.
Perhaps other people will their experiences or you can do a search for sleep and many old posts will come up.
Good Luck, there are many up with you!
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eponagirl: thanks for the helpful post. Your "holy grail" metaphor made me laugh - rest/sleep does seem to be the most important piece in the recovery puzzle.
I'm hoping that improving my sleep environment (making it darker) will help - right now my parents' guest room has "solar blinds," these perforated things that let in a fair bit of light (this morning the light was streaming in a 5:30 am). Today I bought a sleep mask to tide me over until my new curtains arrive. My naturopath said to see whether the darkened environment improves my natural melatonin production, thereby improving my sleep quality.
I'm trying to reduce the amount of stimulation I get from computer use. I find it easy to rely on too-long periods of web-surfing, emailing, etc. to distract myself. This can be helpful up to a point, but I can't imagine that spending a lot of time in front of the computer is good for the healing brain, especially in the evening.