No More Sleepless Nights

After dealing with chronic insomnia for nearly 6 years, I finally went to see a neurologist who specializes in sleep disorders who gave me the following instructions.  After following his plan religiously for a week, I was completely off ambien and sleeping WELL!  I'm happy to say that 3 months in to this routine, I am still sleeping.  So... I thought I would share those steps that worked for me with anyone who stumbles across this blog.  Sleep well...

Insomnia Patient instructions
Titrate off ambien 10mg (1/2 tab) for 2 weeks – then discontinue completely 
Read Peter Hauri's Book: No More Sleepless Nights 


SLEEP HYGIENE INSTRUCTIONS 
Recommended Bedtime 11:30pm 
Recommended Wake Time 6:30am 
Recommended Hot Shower Time 9:30pm 
After Shower: Keep room cool afterwards 
Wear Sunglasses till go to bed 
Scheduled worry (i.e. Keep a diary with the following:): (11pm) 
Write down all your concerns/stressors/anxieties After writing them down, write down several good things about yourself
Remove TV and any computers from bedroom 
Remove ALL clocks from your bedroom (if need alarm keep it underneath your bed) 
Wear earplugs each night If not sleeping: get out up of bed and read with as little as light as possible (don't work, watch TV, etc.). 
Go back to sleep when you can't remember the last line you read. 
Does not matter how long you've been reading: get up at 6:30 am and go to sleep at designated bedtime not earlier. 


Homeostatic Drive for Sleep 
• Avoid naps. If you need to nap keep it short: 10 to 15 minute nap only and not close to bedtime. 
• Restrict sleep period to the average number of hours you have actually slept per night in the preceding week. For example, if you feel that you are only sleeping 6 hours at night, make sure you are laying down in bed for just over 6 hours. 
Quality of sleep is important. Too much time in the bed can decrease quality on subsequent nights. 
• Get regular exercise each day, preferably 40 minutes each day of an activity that causes sweating. Stop all exercise after 6 pm. Circadian Factors 
• Keep a regular time out of bed 7 days a week. 
• Do not expose yourself to light if you have to get up at night and at least 1-2 hours before going to bed (i.e. no TV, computer). Wear orange-tinged sunglasses inhouse if necessary 
• Get at least one half hour of sunlight within 30 minutes of your out-of-bed time (do not wear sunglasses or hat at this time). 


Drug Effects 
• Avoid caffeine entirely for a four-week trial period. If you absolutely cannot go without caffeine: limit caffeine use to one to two cups no later than 10:00 AM. Arousal in Sleep Setting 
• Do not eat or drink heavily for three hours before bedtime. 
• If you have trouble with regurgitation, be especially careful to avoid heavy meals and spices in the evening. Do not retire too hungry or too full. Head of bed may need to be raised. 
• Keep your room dark, quiet, well ventilated, and at a comfortable temperature throughout the night. Earplugs and eyeshades are OK. White noise is also OK (Fan is great). 
• Use a bedtime ritual. Reading before lights-out may be helpful if it is not occupationally related. 
• List problems and one-sentence next steps for the following day. Set aside a worry time. Forgive yourself and others.
• Do not try too hard to sleep; instead, concentrate on the pleasant feeling of relaxation. 
• Avoid unfamiliar sleep environments. 
• Be sure mattress is not-too soft or too firm, pillow is right height and firmness. 
• Use bedroom only for sleep; do not work or do other activities that lead to arousal 
• If possible, make arrangements for care-giving activities at night (children, others, pets) to be assumed by someone else.

Inspiration Point

There will always be times when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it; I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate. The reason is this: In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours: They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here. In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall: When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what great ships are built for. This comes with much love and a prayer that you remember who you came from, and why you came to this beautiful, needful Earth.
—Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D

http://positivityworks.wordpress.com/2011/03/21/words-to-think-on-dealing-with-despair/

On the 4th of July my husband asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday, which is the 7th of July. I told him I was thinking about going to Hawaii. He laughed and said, "I have to work", to which I replied with a sly smile, "You weren't invited". He glanced at me through another chuckle and said I should do it. That I work hard and deserve a trip. That night as we enjoyed dinner out with our friend Dean before a fireworks show, I pulled out my iPad and booked a flight leaving on my birthday. Rich called our friends Pete and Nilda to see if their spare bedroom was available - Hotel Aiea, as we call it, had a vacancy. That night Rich and I decided I should take Amanda with me just as I had done with our older girls when they were teenagers. The on,u problem was I wasn't able to Amanda on the same flight I was on, so we wound up taking separate planes over. Not too bad when you think about it... Going on vacation with your teenager but not having to listen to her teenager complaints on the flight over. We have managed to spend every hour from about 9am to 9 pm out and about discovering the island of Oahu. Amanda has been my copilot on our adventures, which means we've made about 45 u-turns getting from a-b, but each little journey took us to another place just as beautiful as the previous. I have even managed to get in a couple runs along this twisted, steep mountains.

All in all, I would say that this has been the best birthday week ever!

I just spent the last couple of days in San Antonio, Texas with my older sister, Kim, who made the 400 mile trek from Lubbock to come see me while I was in town for a convention. I was touch that she would make that drive for me. It's funny, I am closest to my sister Kellie, but my sister Kim and I are most alike. One thing my 3 sisters and I have in common is our love of laughter. It's a gift our parents gave us. Sometimes our laughter may seem inappropriate to others, like playing an April Fools joke on your sister calling in the middle of the night to tell her our grandmother was sleeping peacefully (we chickened out of saying she died) while our grandmother lay close to death. Humor is our coping mechanism. We learned to never take ourselves so seriously that we can't find the poetic humor in just about every situation. This humor came in handy as we found ourselves walking through San Antonio trying to follow the map (which you think a chief of police would know how to read) and finding ourselves lost in sticky humid weather. Actually, to tell you the truth, one time we we were looking for this restaurant called "Howl at the Moon" and after going blocks, stopping to read our map again every 50 feet or so, we stopped to reexamine our map and after 5 minutes of debate on a street corner, I looked at Kim and said, "Wouldn't it be funny if the restaurant was right in front of us?" Then we crossed the street and what do you know, it WAS right in front of us! We were literally 15 feet away.

Having one on one time with Kim allowed us to open up about all kinds of "life" stuff. I think anyone who knows our family intimately, wonders how we all turned out as good as we have. We are each grounded in strength and have found our way through life quite well. I'm really proud of who we have become. If you would have asked me 30 years ago what I thought our lives would look like today, I would have given you a completely different prediction. Never in my wildest imagination would I have conjoured up Kellie taking care of premature babies, Kim the Chief of Police, myself vested over 20 years in the same company leading large health care programs, and Kathy doing accouting for other people. We've each experienced detours along our way as we traveled our individual roads, but I think those detours and roadblocks are Gods way of helping us discover Him and who He wanted us to be. There is still a lot of road ahead of us and I'm sure there will be sharp curves and speed bumps that knock us off balance but I feel pretty confident that we will be able to stay on course, with echoes of laughter instead of conmplaints.