Can't sleep....

[Gimpy]

Good morning all.

Our weather here went from mid 30's to the mid 70's in a day...and its wrecking my sleep. I have a serious heat intolerance, and my body shuts down and does not like to do anything...including eat, if the heat index gets over 77-80 degrees. I've been struggling this whole week to stay awake during the day, but as soon as the air cools down at night? Everything revs right back up! Its like a switch gets thrown and DING, I'm alert.

With MS, I need between 12 and 16 hours of sleep to function. Last night I got about 2. As a baby my nights and days were reversed, and it appears to cope with MS that's what my body wants to do again. I don't like to fight 'nature' when it comes to coping with MS, unless there is a good reason.

Should I fight it? I'm really not sure here. On 2 hours of rest, I'm a bit wacky.

 

[Nienna]

Are you able to get an air conditioner or swamp cooler? Or do they affect your asthma?

 

[RedFox]

Wrecked sleep is not good, especially after your lung problems.
Is there a possibility of getting a portable AC unit? Cool baths/showers may also help.
I use to be incredibly heat intolerant too as a kid, and the only way to get to sleep was to wait until the air outside was cool and go stand outside in the dark until my core temperature dropped a tiny bit and I started feeling sleepy. I could then just about manage to sleep in the heat of the house in summer.

Dr Kruses leptin protocol and the cryogenic therapy may well help with this too. fwiw

 

[shellycheval]

Should I fight it?

I'm not sure, but it seems logical that sleeping when you are tired is what your body is telling you that it needs. So maybe some sleep at the "wrong" time of day is better than no or too little sleep at all.

If you can afford to lower your home temp under 77 and stay indoors during the heat that may be another help to your body and sleep overall.
shellycheval

 

[mcb]

Good morning all.

Our weather here went from mid 30's to the mid 70's in a day...and its wrecking my sleep. I have a serious heat intolerance, and my body shuts down and does not like to do anything...including eat, if the heat index gets over 77-80 degrees. I've been struggling this whole week to stay awake during the day, but as soon as the air cools down at night? Everything revs right back up! Its like a switch gets thrown and DING, I'm alert.

I have a similar 77 degree threshold. I shut down mentally above that temperature, but not physically. Sleep can be a problem, though, and I have had a lot of sleep problems during this warm winter.

With MS, I need between 12 and 16 hours of sleep to function. Last night I got about 2. As a baby my nights and days were reversed, and it appears to cope with MS that's what my body wants to do again. I don't like to fight 'nature' when it comes to coping with MS, unless there is a good reason.

Should I fight it? I'm really not sure here. On 2 hours of rest, I'm a bit wacky.

Two or three times this winter I have stayed up all night and either made up the sleep the next day or not. It doesn't feel great, during or afterward, but my body seems to respond well overall to this opportunity to "reset." My body doesn't have quite the issues that yours does, however, and nowadays it recovers rather quickly from perturbed sleep patterns. It's your call.

I have found that I can manage quite well in temperatures above 77 degrees if I am able to get the sweat going -- profusely -- and keep drinking water. I remember in particular an unbearably hot Fourth of July party I went to about 7 years ago where the house's air conditioner couldn't keep up and there was nowhere cool to go. Finally I went to the shade outside and started sweating and while my clothes became soaked, after that I did fine in the heat.

 

[ginebra]

Some years ago, I underwent a series of sleeping problems, many nights in a row, it was impossible for me to sleep. The only moment of the
day I got some relief was after a short nap after lunch. It is very important to get some sleep although it is for a short time.

 

[SeekinTruth]

Yeah, that's a hard call to make. If you're really struggling with staying awake during the day, maybe try taking a nap and see what happens. You probably have to make up for the lack of sleep.

On the other hand, if you can last during the day and see if you get conked out at night, that would be really good. But it doesn't always work out that way, so you may have to catch up some during the day.

 

[cassandra]

When I'm boiling hot, I shower my feet and lower legs with really cold water, and this brings down the body heat - it feels good too and is not as much of a hassle as taking a cold shower for the whole body.
I do this with my daughter when she can't sleep in the summer, also when she has a high temperature.

 

[Gimpy]

Are you able to get an air conditioner or swamp cooler? Or do they affect your asthma?

Hubby put in the a/c unit in the bedroom right away. I've been living there since the heat went up. We have window units for the rest of the house, he said he'd be getting them set up this weekend for me. It doesn't look like the heat is going to break for a while.

I just got up from a small hour and a half nap. (The cat came in and bounced on my head. She's going to get a day in her room if that continues. )

Cold showers make my muscles spasm too hard. I have a Chillo, its a kind of pack that gets cold when shook...like an etch a sketch cooler. ;) If I get too hot, I pack my torso in bags of ice and elevate both feet, until I can think or talk again. (Provided the brain works. I can get pretty stupid.)

I've been taking up to 9mg of melatonin at night to help sleep, but that didn't do anything for me last night. The dark room, no light an hour before etc...didn't do a thing. :/

Finally I went to the shade outside and started sweating and while my clothes became soaked, after that I did fine in the heat.

I don't sweat until I'm unconscious, then its as if 'a floodgate opens'. The first time that happened, I was at my Sister-in-law's memorial service, her Hubby never fixed their central air, and the service was held outside in 85+ degree weather. I passed out trying to get inside the house. I woke up 2 hours later packed in bags of ice from the chest down. My Brother-in-law Bill was still a paramedic then, and he told me whenever I felt bad to pack my torso with ice to bring my temp down. I wasn't able to walk the rest of that day, even with the ice. And I did sweat profusely, even cooled down. I remember Bill mentioning that wasn't a good sign at the time, but I don't remember why.

My rule is to keep cool, and if I do have to go out, its in the morning. Once the heat index hits 80, I'm stuck inside. Its frustrating.

If this summer is like last summer....I don't know. I may have to vote for becoming a Night Owl just to keep from going nuts.

 

[SolarMother]

I've been taking up to 9mg of melatonin at night to help sleep, but that didn't do anything for me last night. The dark room, no light an hour before etc...didn't do a thing.

Gimpy, when I have troubles sleeping, I take a homeopathic remedy called "Ignatia Amara" (X30) by Hylands. It is for insomnia, but also labelled for 'grief and emotinal upset.'
I hope you can find it where you live or find it online. It works well, is non-addictive, does not build up, and you can experiment with how many to take. Times when my insomnia is really bad, I take two or three at once, and if I wake up again, another 2.
One or two might be enough for you.
I have found that a variation of products works best. Melatonin works for me also, but not if I take it for an extended period.
I also have found a product called "Deep Sleep" by Herbal Formula, to be effective, once or twice a week if needed, as it does build up a tolerance. It is in tincture form w/o alcohol, and has many good sleep herbs in it such as valerian, passion flower...
Hope this helps.

 

[Laura]

When I can't sleep, I usually take about 2mg of melatonin. If that doesn't do it, I take benadryl. I avoid tea after 5 pm, and basically work on winding myself down starting about now (almost 9:30 pm). I'll go take a bath, listen to some music in the tub, get my current book ready to take to bed, read awhile, and then I generally just go to sleep. (I try to read boring, non-fiction in bed otherwise, it might keep me awake!)

Ark sometimes has divided sleep. He will sleep for about 4 hours, wake up, read or write a bit, and then go back to bed for another four hours. I've done this too, but mostly I am a one-long-stretch sleeper.

I sleep with a fan for both air movement and white noise. Winter and summer. Only time I don't have it on is if one of us is sick and the moving air irritates us.

Sometimes, too much melatonin can keep you awake. Why don't you try reducing the dose?

 

[Gimpy]

When I can't sleep, I usually take about 2mg of melatonin. If that doesn't do it, I take benadryl. I avoid tea after 5 pm, and basically work on winding myself down starting about now (almost 9:30 pm). I'll go take a bath, listen to some music in the tub, get my current book ready to take to bed, read awhile, and then I generally just go to sleep. (I try to read boring, non-fiction in bed otherwise, it might keep me awake!)

On a normal night, I have to take 2 benadryl to keep from getting hives from the dog. (He may come over and nose me in the night. He's just being a sweetie, but it sets the allergies off.)
Last night was 2 benadryl, 3 melatonin, singulair and the dread nasty cymbalta. That usually has me to sleep like it or not by 10:30pm. Didn't touch me at all last night, and I didn't have any black tea after the usual morning cuppa. Hubby is convinced we're still reeling from the time change, even though we did it early this time. He's not sleeping any better than I am.

Ark sometimes has divided sleep. He will sleep for about 4 hours, wake up, read or write a bit, and then go back to bed for another four hours. I've done this too, but mostly I am a one-long-stretch sleeper.

I do both, sometimes a long sleep of 10 hrs and a couple naps, or in chunks of 6 hours. It depends totally on the weather. On bad days I sleep right through, though that isn't happening as often as it used to. Its not unheard of for me to be awake no more than 4 hours a day when its been in the 90's outside, even in air conditioning.

Sometimes, too much melatonin can keep you awake. Why don't you try reducing the dose?

I'll cut it down to 3mg and see what happens tonight. If I'm not online much, that means I've finally made it.

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Sometimes, too much melatonin can keep you awake. Why don't you try reducing the dose?

I'll cut it down to 3mg and see what happens tonight. If I'm not online much, that means I've finally made it.

Hopefully that does the trick. If I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep sometimes I'll take an extra melatonin (I take one at bed already, but spacing them out seems to work better) and/or GABA. If you are still having difficulties it may be worth while to check out GABA: http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,16644.0

 

[SeekinTruth]

I just remembered that Dr. Kruse says that having lots of sex before bedtime is the best thing for a good night's sleep. The reason being that in releases a lot of oxytocin at orgasm. So why not try to cuddle a lot with hubby and do whatever else will release oxytocin. Isn't stimulating the vagus nerve supposed to do that too? Just a thought as Kruse claims lots of oxytocin is even more effective than being in as dark a place as possible for the last couple of hours before sleep.

 

[Gimpy]

I just remembered that Dr. Kruse says that having lots of sex before bedtime is the best thing for a good night's sleep. The reason being that in releases a lot of oxytocin at orgasm. So why not try to cuddle a lot with hubby and do whatever else will release oxytocin. Isn't stimulating the vagus nerve supposed to do that too? Just a thought as Kruse claims lots of oxytocin is even more effective than being in as dark a place as possible for the last couple of hours before sleep.