Re: Getting to Sleep and Distraction

[Guest guest]

At 06:58 AM 5/30/03 +1000, you wrote:

>Does anybody else use a radio, or TV, or tape/CD/mp3, or something like

>that to aviod the total overwhelming of the pain that hapapens when you

>lie there in the dark with just the pain for company? Please please

>tell me its not just me!

No, Ricky, it's not just you! I've been using a CD player at night for a

long time. It really helps me relax enough to get to sleep and it does give

the mind something else to focus on. My wife and I found some Celtic

instrumentals that we really like and just switch off between a couple of

disks through the week.

Moderator, Yahoo! Chronic Pain

http://home.dejazzd.com/hower

[Guest guest]

An option to having to wake up enough to awitch it off is to get one with a

sleep timer. I have one like that the time will go for up to 90 minutes and then

shut it down.

Jami

Hower wrote:

>At 06:58 AM 5/30/03 +1000, you wrote:

>>Does anybody else use a radio, or TV, or tape/CD/mp3, or something like

>>that to aviod the total overwhelming of the pain that hapapens when you

>>lie there in the dark with just the pain for company? Please please

>>tell me its not just me!

>

>

>No, Ricky, it's not just you! I've been using a CD player at night for a

>long time. It really helps me relax enough to get to sleep and it does give

>the mind something else to focus on. My wife and I found some Celtic

>instrumentals that we really like and just switch off between a couple of

>disks through the week.

>

>

>Moderator, Yahoo! Chronic Pain

>http://home.dejazzd.com/hower

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Ricky,

I have been fighting for sleep for years, and have used your methods.

Infomercials on TV usually work better than the radio for me. If that doesn't

work, I will go lay in a warm bath with only a candle for light. It is very

soothing for me, and even if I don't fall asleep, it relaxes me and eases some

of my pain. If I do fall asleep, I wake up when the water cools and quickly

transfer to my bed. Sometimes I am too sleepy to get out and just stay in the

tub, turning on the hot water with my feet! A little unconventional, but maybe

it will work for you? Oh, I make the tub more comfortable by using a piece of

foam rubber that I bought at the craft store. It's 3 inches thick, 18 inches

wide, and almost 4 feet long. This has been a real life saver for me, and I

recommend it for anyone who experiences pain from the hardness of the tub.

Cyndie

[Guest guest]

Ricky:

Yup, I used to have a lot of problems getting to sleep. I would lay in bed,

play games on my laptop, listen to music or watch TV. And then in

desperation, since I have three small children to care for, I would take a

medication that would make me sleepy and knock me out. When I told my

psychiatrist what I was doing, she immediately gave me an Rx for Ambien. I

take 1/2 of one each night and within 30 minutes to an hour, I'm sleepy and

able to get to sleep. Yes, I know that sleep aids aren't supposed to be

taken every night, but I'm not going to sleep without them. I told my GP

that I was taking them every night to get to sleep and he felt it was better

than giving me tranquilizers to achieve the same effect.

I started taking a whole tablet, but I had a lot of trouble waking up in the

morning. When I cut back to 1/2 a tablet, I still had a good night's sleep

most nights, and had no trouble waking up at a reasonable time in the

morning, although what I consider " reasonable " and my children's idea are

two different things.

There are some other medications that will not cause dependency, that work

well for some people. They haven't worked for me, but you might want to

explore them first.

Take care and I hope you can find better rest.

Kathleen in Escondido

[Guest guest]

At 07:17 AM 5/30/03 -0400, you wrote:

>An option to having to wake up enough to awitch it off is to get one with

>a sleep timer.

We use a small, portable CD player. I don't bother turning it off when the

disk ends.

Moderator, Yahoo! Chronic Pain

http://home.dejazzd.com/hower

[Guest guest]

Hower wrote:

> We use a small, portable CD player. I don't bother turning it off when the

> disk ends.

I use a fan. " White Noise " seems to work the best for me.

[Guest guest]

Ricky wrote

" Firstly I tend to put it off because I know it's gonna be unpleasant. "

and " Then I can't manage to be in the dim light with *just* the pain(and my

myriad other icky symptoms) for very long. Maybe 20 mins or half an hour at the

most. This is NEVER enough time to get to sleep. "

and " So after a little bit I give up on trying to get to sleep in a Dark,silent

room. Or maybe, if it's a really bad night, I skip that step altogether because

I know it never works, basically. "

and " I lie quietly under the covers, in the near-dark, and listen to the radio

until exhaustion overwhelms pain and radio distractions ... and eventually fall

asleep. "

and " Does anybody else use a radio, or TV, or tape/CD/mp3, or something like

that to aviod the total overwhelming of the pain that hapapens when you lie

there in the dark with just the pain for company? Please please tell me its not

just me! "

Don't beat yourself up Ricky! I always use a speech radio station to fall

asleep to. It helps me relax, works wonderfully as distraction. Also if I pick

a station that has relevance to a different time zone, it kindof makes me feel

like its not so bad that I can't sleep. The world service of the BBC is good as

is BBC radio 5 live (national but available via webcast).

Good sleep hygiene also involves not using bed for activities other than sleep

or sex, so don't. Having said that, for you, and me and lots of other folks,

having some noise is part of our sleep routine as an anti pain measure.

Sleep well,

Siel

[Guest guest]

Cyndie wrote:

> Ricky,

> I have been fighting for sleep for years, and have used your methods.

> Infomercials on TV usually work better than the radio for me. If that

I don't have a remote control on my TV that will turn it off, so I tend

to avoid turning on the TV at night ... the TV is so old I can't get a

remote that works for it! Poot!

> doesn't work, I will go lay in a warm bath with only a candle for

> light. It is very soothing for me, and even if I don't fall asleep, it

> relaxes me and eases some of my pain. If I do fall asleep, I wake up

It sounds heavenly, especially with your foam in the bath! I used to

love having baths, really really love it. Unfortunately I don't even

*have* a bath in this flat I live in, so it's not an option, but if it

was an option it'd certainly be one I was taking up if I was well enough

to get in and out of the tub.

Thanks for the great idea about the foam too For people who are

seriously disabled, like me, a bath lift or even a bath stretcher

that'll lower them into the bath, support them while they're in the

bath, and lift them back is a great option too, although VASTLY more

expensive than a chunk of foam!!

Regards,

Ricky &

--

: Usual state: (e) None of the above.

: rb@... http://tertius.net.au/~rb/

: Always do what you are afraid to do. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

[Guest guest]

Just get a simple $6 timer from a home improvement or department

store. You just plug in the cord, and you set the time and on/off

times with little sliding buttons. Works great for me on my ancient

TV. I'm guilty of using it on my coffee pot actually...

I sometimes use a TV to get to sleep, but most of the time I find

it grabs my attention. What works the best is either a weather radio

with that droning voice giving the forecast, or a frequency scanner

kept low. The " searching " of the channels creates a low sound that

usually does the job. When that doesn't work, I turn to the

prescriptions as a last resort.

>

> I don't have a remote control on my TV that will turn it off, so I

tend

> to avoid turning on the TV at night ... the TV is so old I can't

get a

> remote that works for it! Poot!

>

[Guest guest]

> wrote:

> > We use a small, portable CD player. I don't bother turning it off

> when the

> > disk ends.

>

> Lyndi replies: I use a fan. " White Noise " seems to work the best for me.

Glad there was one like this here. <g>

I love to run my front loader washing machine, and listen to that hum

away at night time. Yum! :-)

(but I don't need to do it 'cos of I can't sleep, I just like it! LOL)

Oh I put a load in it!!!

Sharon. in...not telling.

[Guest guest]

Hi Ricky,

>I'm having HUGE amounts of difficulty getting to sleep.

I'm sorry to hear it ... sleep problems are one of the worst parts of chronic

pain/illness, in my opinion. Some people can get to sleep initially, but they

wake up early and can't get back to sleep; my problem is like yours -- I have a

very hard time getting there in the first place.

>

>Firstly I tend to put it off because I know it's gonna be unpleasant.

It sounds like you have a lot of anxiety going on, particularly built-up anxiety

about getting to sleep. You've gotten to a point where you're associating trying

to get to sleep with more pain and anxiety. I can totally sympathize. I have a

high level of generalized anxiety, plus severe arthritis pain that makes it hard

to get into any position that doesn't hurt. I also need near-total darkness to

get to sleep, but there is a light outside my current bedroom window that gives

me fits (I live in an apartment). I really need to get a curtain for that

window, as an aside.

>

>Then I can't manage to be in the dim light with *just* the pain (and my

>myriad other icky symptoms) for very long. Maybe 20 mins or half an

>hour at the most. This is NEVER enough time to get to sleep.

I'm no doctor, and I've really never even seen a specialist about my sleep

problems. But, I've read a LOT about anxiety and depression and relaxation, and

I've discussed my sleep problems with my pain doctor and my psychiatrist and

counselor. They've given me some meds to help. I take klonopin to get to sleep

if I am having a really bad night. It is an anti-anxiety drug with a side effect

of " zonking you out " pretty thoroughly. The main disadvantage of it for me is

that it makes me sleep too long. I usually only take it on Friday and Saturday

nights, because I'll go out like a light and sleep obliviously for a good 12

hours. You might not mind that, though, at least every so often!

Meds are not the only way to get to sleep, though. It sounds like, if you

haven't tried them already, you might be a good candidate for various therapies,

such as relaxation techniques and even hypnotherapy. You might be able to learn

to hypnotize yourself and relax yourself into sleep.

>Then I turn on the radio. Or sometimes I pick up the computer keyboard

>or phone somebody, but I know those things are *really*

>un-sleep-inducing so I try to make myself turn on the radio. I turn the

>radio just barely high enough to hear all the words, on one of the

>fairly bland and uninteresting talkback stations.

>

>I lie quietly under the covers, in the near-dark, and listen to the

>radio until exhaustion overwhelms pain and radio distractions ... and

>eventually fall asleep.

This leads me to believe that some kind of hypnosis might help you. You could

listen to relaxation tapes on headphones until you drift off. The hypnotic

messages could be designed to help you achieve restful sleep and stay asleep for

a healthy amount of time. These are just ideas. Hypnotherapy doesn't work for

everyone, but more usual relaxation exercises could help, too.

Have you ever tried progressive muscle relaxation, where you tense and relax

each muscle group by turns, staring with your toes? Please forgive me if you

have already tried methods like this ... since you didn't mention them, I

thought I would. Some people also find a warm bath before bedtime to be

soothing. You might also try falling asleep in a different room of your house,

such as on the couch in front of the TV, to take away the " pressure " of lying in

bed, alone with your demons, trying to force yourself into sleep.

>

>But I waste heaps of time berating myself for not being " brave " and

> " strong " enoungh to just lie with the pain with no distractions, because

>I think if I could do that I'd probably go to sleep faster. Because the

>sleep impulses would only have to overpower the pain, not the pain AND

>the radio.

Bless your heart.. Please don't berate yourself a moment longer for not being

" brave enough. " Relentless, chronic pain can batter down anyone's defenses. No

human being was meant to suffer debilitating pain 24 hours a day. To still be

living and functioning means you are braver and stronger than the average bear!

:-)

>Please please

>tell me its not just me!

It is, most indubitably, NOT just you.

> Ingalls Wilder, 'The Long Winter'

>

By the way, I'm a huge L.I.W. fan. I read all her books when I was younge,r and

again as I got older. The Long Winter is probably my favorite. It's much darker

than most children's/YA books -- it really has an edge to it, I think. The books

are all much grittier than the TV show was!

Take care and hang in there,

Robin

--

*********************

www.hieran.com

" If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, talks like a duck, it

probably needs a little more time in the microwave. " -- Lori Dowdy