Post 44
I have made the recent discovery that I hate my alarm clock. Not because it wakes me up at the preset time every morning after a good night’s sleep. No. Reliability is not the nature of my alarm clock. Instead my clock makes random noises at random times—either waking me up from a very deep sleep 2 hours before I want to get up or suddenly resounding with heart beat sounds just as I’m dropping off to sleep, and then refusing to turn off whenever I punch buttons—instead switching to FM radio when I’m too drowsy to understand how to turn the dang thing off. The other night I wanted to unplug it to put it in the other room since I couldn’t make the sounds go off, but the cord had wrapped itself around my night stand, and because of the other cords and my house shoes and who knows what else down there, I became so frustrated that I went to lay on the couch—only after having wakened my dear husband, who without complaining took over the campaign to silence the intruder
I’ve learned a few things through these experiences—first, and foremost, that alarm clock has got to go! I realize of course, that somehow I pushed the wrong button at the wrong time to make these weird things occur, but if I can’t figure out how I did it or how to turn it off then I don’t need this marvel of technology. (By the way, I do just fine with my iPhone and iPad, so it’s not that I’m technically incompetent—not a techie by any stretch of the imagination, but not incompetent either.) Secondly, I want to refute this idea of the heartbeat creating a calm sleeping atmosphere. Instead of relaxing me, it made me more anxious the longer I couldn’t get it to turn off. Eventually, I left the room because that beating noise was having the same effect on me as Edgar Allen Poe’s Tell Tale Heart. I am convinced its purpose was to drive me insane . . . even though I hadn’t killed and buried anyone.*
As you might have guessed by now, I have real problems with sleep. Usually I’m not able to fall asleep at night until between 3-4 a.m. Occasionally, it’s a little earlier or even later, but that’s my average. I’ve tried various sleeping meds and techniques, but with little success. I have learned though that if I want to get to sleep at all I need to watch only an hour (or occasionally two) of low-intensity TV, ending not much later than 9 pm. On the other hand, I can’t tell a difference in my ability to sleep whether I play games on the I-pad or not. (Maybe it’s because my games aren’t adrenaline rush games—just home design, different types of puzzles and card games.) Most importantly, I now know that I get to sleep more quickly if I wait until I’m really sleepy (not just tired). If I go to bed before I feel a strong, almost dizzying need for sleep, then I will toss and turn, my mind will think about every imaginable thing under heaven, and fibromyalgia pain will increase, especially where my weight-bearing hips touch the mattress. (Just in case you are wondering, I now weigh only 114 pounds, so it’s not that they’re bearing much weight anymore.)
Why am I giving you all these personal details about sleep? I just want you to know that you’re not the only one who deals with sleep issues. Of course, each of us have our own particular sleep problems and, hopefully, ways to cope with them. If you’re struggling as I am, you may want to look at some of the articles I’ve found related to caregivers and sleep and/or or those related to highly sensitive people and sleep. To save you time, I’m listing a few useful ones with my summaries below.
How Adult Caregiving Impacts Sleep: a Systematic Review
Eeeseung Byun, RN, PhD,1 Anners Lerdal, RN, PhD,3,4 Caryl L. Gay, PhD,2 and Kathryn A. Lee, RN, CBSM, PhD2
This article reports on a study that compares several published studies on family or “informal” caregivers who care for chronically ill adults—including, but not limited to those with dementia, cancer, heart disease . . . Several interesting findings are reported: 1) more women are affected than men; 2) anxiety and depression seems to be correlated; 3) sleep quality and disturbances —awaking several times at night—were reported as main causes of poor sleep; 4) those with poor sleep have more “daytime disfunction.” (We could have told them that, right?)
I think the main takeaway for ourselves as caregivers is the idea that we’re not alone. Lack of sleep is a common problem for caregivers. This problem will probably not go away on its own, so we need to look for ways to improve our sleep.
6 Reasons Caregivers Need More Sleep
Anne-Marie Botek
This is a more informal article that encourages us to tackle our sleep problems by explaining the advantages of having a normal night of sleep. (Normal sleep is usually defined as obtaining 7-9 hours per night of uninterrupted sleep that allows you to wake up in the morning feeling refreshed.)
The article reminds us that if we sleep well these six advantages are likely to occur:
Reduced Stress Levels Magnified Memory Diminished Depression
Curbed Food Cravings Heightened Health Decreased Anxiety
I, for one, definitely feel each of these advantages when I’ve had a good night’s sleep. Knowing this pushes me to aggressively attack this chronic problem in my life.
Sleep Duration and Sleep Quality in Caregivers of Patients With Dementia
A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Chenlu Gao, MA1; Nikita Y. Chapagain, BS1; Michael K. Scullin, PhD1
In this article, the authors use published data (as well as requesting further information from the studies’ authors) related to the sleep habits of caregivers of persons with dementia. The fact that they used information from various parts of the world creates a common thread for all of us. The information from different studies was obtained from different sleep-recording instruments and from reports by those being studied. The study indicated that people caring for dementia patients experienced 2.42 fewer hours of sleep each week than non-caregiver control groups (I’m surprised that it wasn’t more) and the caregivers' quality of sleep was poorer. When comparing participants of the same age group (caregiver vs. non caregiver) the differences were even greater.
The second part of the study offers a list of inexpensive techniques for improving sleep problems, which proved successful with study participants: “Behavioral interventions, such as sleep hygiene education, stimulus control, and light chronotherapy, were associated with better post intervention sleep quality.” Good news for those of us who may have come to believe there is no hope. . . I may even look into light chronotherapy as a new way to help me catch a few more Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzs.
Why Highly Sensitive People May Need More Sleep Than Others
Emma Scheib
This article comes from a blog written by and for people who identify as an HSP (Highly Sensitive Person). Two major takeaways from this article: 1) the reminder that because highly sensitive people are more stimulated by their environment, they become exhausted easily and, therefore, desperately need sound sleep; and 2) the probability that a sensitive person’s mind has difficulty shutting down at night. That is why many of us lay awake thinking —sometimes for hours—before we can drift off to sleep. Perhaps my own sleep adventures that I recounted earlier make more sense after considering them in the light of my HSP personality. I, for one, will be reconsidering the three recommendations given in this article for HSPs to obtain better sleep: 1) creating a bedtime routine; 2) reducing nighttime stimuli; and 3) allowing plenty of time for these sleep preparations.
I believe it’s important to remember that we are all different, so it’s advisable to begin with suggestions given by others and tweak them or recreate them into processes/habits that work for you in your particular situation and medical condition, and with your personal traits. Don’t give up! There are good reasons to make it your goal to develop a pattern of sound sleep that refreshes you for your important work.
*If you've never read the short story by Edgar Allan Poe, "A Tell-Tale Heart" (or if you want to revisit it), here's a link: https://www.poemuseum.org/the-tell-tale-heart
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