(personal) Yet another doctor's appointment today

[vg_ford]

Today was neurology, in preparation for a sleep study. My primary care doctor is concerned because of the fact that I keep waking up during the night. So far, I've seen the PC (who is also my OB/GYN), my nutritionist and now my neurologist. All three of them have said the same thing.

"You know what the problem is? Stress! When/how do you relax?"

Um, I don't, anymore. Somehow, along the way, I forgot how. So I turn to the Internet's wisdom.

Any suggestions on relaxing? What do you do to relax?

Comments

[lumineaux.livejournal.com]

Re-reading books that I enjoy; it's the pleasure of reading without the "OMG what happens next!" part to keep me up at night.

Never underestimate the value of a decent massage.

There is also something highly therapeutic about snuggling with a goofball dog, even if he is trying to eat your blankets.

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, the goofball dog is out, but I'm trying with the cat who is convinced he's a lab. :p

I'm contemplating springing for a good massage.

thanks!

Alphabetically

[utilitygeek.livejournal.com]

Baths. Candlelight. Heroin. Massage. Meditation. Reading. Wife.

Re: Alphabetically

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

LOL! No heroin - I have enough to do with needles, thanks. But I'll look into the rest.

[wishwords.livejournal.com]

Vyvanse and Pristiq.

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

I'm on Ambien to sleep right now, and other meds for the Crohn's. I'll keep these in mind, though, if my PC and I decide to go that route. Thanks!

[wishwords.livejournal.com]

LOL I was mostly joking. Most people wouldn't find that Vyvanse, an amphetamine, would help them sleep. Gotta have a brain that won't shut the heck up for it work like that.

physical activity

[(Anonymous)]

When I need to relax I really do go the physical exhaustion route. Running especially works for me.

Maybe it is time to shine up the épée. Hope you feel better soon.

Odin

Re: physical activity

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

yeah, I'm trying this as well, but it's more a wake up, look at the clock and groan, try and fall back asleep, do so in about 15 minutes. Dream for 2-3 hours, repeat.

I dislocated my right knee last year, so running is out, unfortunately.

[suelder.livejournal.com]

I put distance between work and home, whenever possible. I spend the commute (about 45 minutes) daydreaming about my characters. I don't get into too many accidents ;-)

Seriously, the kind of job I do can eat your life - one of my colleagues has high blood pressure and is skinny as a rail. She runs on nervous energy.

I am very conscious of boundaries.

Sue

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I need to start doing that.

[shellyinseattle.livejournal.com]

Walk in nature. Yoga. Both are documented in scientific studies to work at stress reduction as well as added benefits like flexibility, weight reduction, etc.

I find I'm pretty good at the walks, not so good at maintaining a yoga schedule. But I'll vouch for both, which I've used at various times. The walks have an additional benefit for me -- they help me tackle any problem including writer's block.

If you want something a little more hardcore, martial arts and other exercise routines work, too.

Good luck!

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

I need to start my walks again after work. And I tried yoga before - it was wonderful, but I feel awkward doing it as large as I am. I should find a class around me.

[1crowdedhour.livejournal.com]

Walking.
Listening to radio drama or (less effective but easier to find) audio books.

I wake in the night but have had less trouble with this since I began telling myself (once I was awake enough to remember to do so) "You're safe. Everything's fine. You win."

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

Hehe - I feel that! And yeah, walking is definitely on the schedule.

[llwheeler.livejournal.com]

Well, sometimes relaxing is just doing whatever I feel like at the moment -- talking a walk, spoiling myself by buying something (coffee, lunch, a book), reading, etc.

But when it's bad (I get tension headaches from muscle knots in shoulders/neck/jaw, sometimes to the point of throwing up), I find just lying on my back, on my bed or on my floor, (usually with my knees up but that might just be me), and letting my mind drift is really good. I can't visualize my muscles relaxing or unclenching, so I visualize my whole body sinking into the ground/bed instead. I think it works. I feel better afterwards, anyways.

My two cents :P

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

Cool, thanks for the suggestions!

[starlitears.livejournal.com]

Have sex/masturbate - it calms me down every time :-)

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

LOL!!!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I often wake up in the middle of the night--I did tonight, for instance. Lay down pretty early (around 10) and got up at 3. It's almost 4 now. I'll probably go back to sleep in a while.

I read on that eminent source of all true knowledge, wikipedia, that having a night that's divided by a period where you're awake is actually a not-uncommon sleep pattern.

If you're haunted by insomnia and you're exhausted during the day, that's a different matter. I know from friends that serious insomnia can be a real curse. I only mention the other stuff because waking, in and of itself, I don't think needs to necessarily be a bug--it can be a feature.

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the real problem is that I'm not hitting that second wave of sleep (deep sleep or slow wave) - I dream all night, punctuated by episodes of waking up. No healing, no real "rest." She thinks a lot of it is stress, but we need to rule out apnea first.

I'm exhausted all the time, which is partly the fibro, partly the fact that I'm always busy and partly the fact that I'm not sleeping well. It needs to change.

[mela-lyn.livejournal.com]

-hot showers/baths
-really good sex
-a good book
-warm tea/chai
-back rubs/body massage (by my hubby)
-Advil PM (terrible but I too wake-up all through the night... always have)
-on nights I work-out, I sleep better, so maybe 30-60 minutes on the treadmill
-no caffiene after like 3pm (a mug of black tea holds like 1/5 the caffeine of a decaf cup of coffee, so any teas should be fine at a minimum)
-limited liquids 3 hours before bed
-turn on white noise or low music to help distract your mind

Ok... those are all things I do. You would think I would sleep great if I followed them all, but I don't, but hopefully that helps.
Feel better!

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've switched to decaf after 4 pm (hard, so hard!) even decaf tea. And thanks for the suggestions - I'm going to try some of them!

[mela-lyn.livejournal.com]

Good luck! I know it's rough. I've got to set-up some appts with a rheumatory doctor b/c we think I may have some joint issues, etc. which are causing extra problems. Whee. ;)

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

Ugh, joint issues suck. I have fibromylagia, and that's at least part of the sleeping problems, we're sure. *hugs* Hope the rheumatory doc appt goes well!

[mela-lyn.livejournal.com]

fibromylagia - that's what they think i have :) heard there's LOTS of fun tests for that... ugh.

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

Not really, actually. They press on like 32 pressure points, and if you react to enough of them, you're diagnosed. :p That's pretty much it.

[mela-lyn.livejournal.com]

Huh. My family doctor said that they would have to test for a bunch of joint diseases and rule them all out since fibromalgia is like the 'non-disease' of the joints. We'll see. I've been too chicken to make the appointmen. I should just get it overwith.