The Importance of Sleep

 Day 64

SLEEP. Sorry that was loud. Sleep.  Not all days are created equally. 

You already know that sleep gives your body a rest and recharge but importantly it rinses your brain, your mind and your thoughts each night.  You know what a good night's sleep feels like.  You wake up feeling like it is easy to smile.  Nothing hurts.  You don't feel 20 years older than your biological age.  

There are those days, however, that you are obliged to get up after a night of broken, interrupted sleep and everything hurts.  You do feel at least 20 years older than you biological age.  These mornings are scary.  Coffee, tea, matcha, Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew don't work, sometimes they even make you more tired.  Try to avoid them to let your body rest. 

DOCTOR'S ADVICE I asked a doctor at MSK (Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital in New York) what was the one, most important piece of advice he would give me, given my diagnosis and he said "get 8 hours of sleep each night."  This post is devoted to helping improve sleep as it is essential to helping our bodies fight cancer and helping our minds support our bodies.  

SLEEP CYCLES - Each night we have about 4-5 cycles of sleep: 70-120 minutes each.  There are four stages of sleep that your body goes through each night.  Each stage can be characterized as REM or non-REM sleep.  After the first full cycle, only stages 2-4 are repeated.  

FIRST STAGE - (Non-REM) Lasts approximately 10 minutes. This when you begin to fall asleep. It is easy to be awakened in this stage. 

STAGE TWO- (Non-REM) Lasts approximately 30-60 minutes. Body and mind are transitioning into sleep by slowing down and settling into a restful state.  It is also easy to be awakened in this stage. 

STAGE THREE - (Non-REM) DEEP SLEEP stage.  Lasts approximately 20-40 minutes. Body is in 'recovery mode,'  muscles are relaxing and heart rate drops.  Cells rebuild muscle and bone in this and the 4th stage.  Your brain is 'consolidating' memories, facts and information that you have learned throughout the day. 

STAGE FOUR- (REM) DREAM STAGE. Begins about 90 minutes after you fall asleep and last about 10 minutes for the first cycle and is progressively longer with each subsequent cycle. Muscles are not moving but your mind is working.  Emotions and emotional memories are processed and stored. 

In stages 3 and 4, your body is making 'repairs' to itself and supporting your immune system.  It is crucial to get rest through these stages. 

MY ADVICE FWIW to maximize restorative value of sleep

(1) DON T DRINK - Alcohol disrupts REM sleep!  It delays it and it shortens it. Drinking might help you fall asleep, but it is very disruptive to your body's healing process.  Do not drink anything with caffeine in it within 12 hours of sleep.

(2) BEDTIME. Try to go to bed at the same time each night.  You already knew that, I know. 

(3) SLEEP MASKS.  Relax us and shut every bit of light out. 

(4) NO IPAD.  Blue light apparently suppresses production of melatonin. Blue light shifts your body's circadian rhythm, so read a book before bed, not your phone or your iPad. 

(5) GO BACK TO SLEEP.  We all wake up in the middle of the night.  Try to just go back to sleep if you are slightly awake.  

(6) EAT SOMETHING.  If you wake up starving in the middle of the night, eating something light can help you fall back asleep and stay asleep more easily. 

If  despite everything, you have a bad night's sleep and you wake up feeling awful and exhausted...

(1) EAT, TURN YOUR PHONE OFF, LISTEN TO MUSIC.  It is really important that you be patient and kind to yourself on these days.  Eat a healthy breakfast, listen to quiet music, turn your phone off for a few hours if this is possible. 

(2) MOVE. The best way to try to relax your body and prepare it for sleep is to get some exercise.  Walking outside would be ideal, but some days that is impossible.  For those days, try a 7 minute Tai-Chi workout which you can put on your phone.  "7 Minute Chi - Meditate + Move" is an app with a very simple guided workout.  

(3) NAP - If you are able to take a nap or go back to sleep, this is by far the best choice. 

(4) GET TO BED EARLY. 

(5) ASK FOR A HUG. Send the message to those close to you that your day is starting off on the wrong foot.  Best to get hugs from friends and family (as opposed to delivery people). 

(5) TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR.  If sleeplessness goes on for more than a few days, talk to your doctor about other solutions.  

Your doctor can help you learn about taking care of your body, but it is crucial that you take care of your own heart and soul.  Be kind to yourself on days when you feel extra tired. 

Remember every day is worth the effort.  The best way to receive kindness is to give it.  Good luck. 

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/blue-light-has-a-dark-side

https://www.verywellhealth.com/why-do-you-wake-up-at-the-same-time-every-night-4137952

 PLEASE PRESS THE SMALL WHITE ARROW AT THE TOP LEFT OF THE PAGE FOR THE NEXT BLOG POST. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Osteo Necrosis of the Jaw

I am a sensitive person, physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically.  I can feel a 1 degree change in indoor temperature. I don't wear clothes with tags.   No wool.  Ever.  I am allergic to virtually all animals, foods, trees, grasses, dusts, scents, etc.  Always have been. When I was younger, I would feel things in my body, Google them, make an appointment with a doctor, spend a sleepless night planning my end of life,  then learn from my doctor that I did not have any serious affliction.  Beginning in November 2021, everything changed.  Since then, most everything I fear actually warrants fear.  The pain in my back is dreadful but at least it's not cancer.   It's cancer.  The type of Myeloma I have can't be high risk.  It's high risk.  At least I'm not neutropenic.  Of course I am. Hypogammaglobulenemia? Yes. At least I don't have Osteo Necrosis of the Jaw.   You don't need to be a student of Latin...
Read more

Carpe Diem

My once strong, fun and beautiful mother sits up in her peach nightgown and declares "I think that the best years of my life were at the lake."  My parents came home one 1980 s weekend and announced that they had purchased a house on a lake near Middlebury, VT.  I grew up in a town with a beach and I did not understand the value of a lake.   This house was a wonderfully exciting way to learn.  It was an annex to an inn, so it had six bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms overlooking the biggest lake within Vermont's borders.  We each had our own rooms and when we walked into that house all of the stress generated by city life evaporated.    The centerpiece of the lake, that looks and feels very much like Lake Como to me, is Neshobe Island, the summer camp of the literati of the 1920s Algonquin Round Table.  Rumors of Dorothy Parker,  Robert Benchley, George S. Kaufman, and Edna Ferber running naked on the island made adults laugh and children...
Read more

Humility and Compassion

It is Chemo Tuesday.  I'm back at the place where I remember I have Myeloma but I am lucky to come in on my own two feet, with all of my hair intact.  This is about the many divides in this country. It causes such profound stress that it may compromise my health.  This is why I am writing about this here. If you are surprised about any of this, you will not want to read what I have to say.  Stop now. I called in to my Congressman's Town Hall last night.  He was eloquent and for an hour there was a verbal tennis match of educated Fairfield County patriots expressing wonder and frustration and the Congressman's lobbed back measured and thoughtful responses.   Of discussion was the $880 m that the richest man in the world was trying to cut from Medicaid;  money that kept poor and sick people able to go to the doctor despite the dearth of tips earned at Starbucks.   Discussion of the shocking, pathetic minor league interaction on Signal. Hon...
Read more