My Wife Has Lupus » insomnia http://lupusfamily.com Support for individuals whose family or friends have lupus Mon, 29 Aug 2011 01:32:24 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Insomnia Continues http://lupusfamily.com/2007/09/insomnia-continues/ http://lupusfamily.com/2007/09/insomnia-continues/#comments Thu, 06 Sep 2007 06:30:00 +0000 Jeff http://lupusfamily.com/?p=13 Continue reading →]]> Insomnia continues to be an issue here. Nothing seems to work and my wife has gotten into a cycle of very little sleep for a few days followed by a severe crash, accompanied by a massive mood swing. We will be visiting her rheumatologist at UCLA in a couple of weeks, so we are putting together a list of questions.

My own mood has been pretty bad lately, and I’m having a hard time keeping my dysthymia under control. It seems like everything always happens at once.

However, I do find encouragement from the slow accumulation of registered users on here on lupusfamily.com. It would be really great to create a community of friends that understand how lupus can effect your life. Sometimes it’s difficult to talk to people who don’t live with it everyday. If you have a topic you would like to write about, let me know. I am going to upgrade all registered users to contributors, so write a post on something related to lupus and submit it for publishing. If you are interested, register as a user and get writing.

]]> http://lupusfamily.com/2007/09/insomnia-continues/feed/ 1464 Insomnia http://lupusfamily.com/2007/07/insomnia/ http://lupusfamily.com/2007/07/insomnia/#comments Tue, 10 Jul 2007 02:10:00 +0000 Jeff http://lupusfamily.com/?p=7 Continue reading →]]> My wife often has trouble sleeping. It seems like she either can’t stay awake or she can’t go to sleep, and this cycles back and forth every few weeks. Once she goes to sleep, she can stay asleep, but it’s the getting to sleep part that’s often difficult. I suspect that the insomnia is related to certain medications, but it may also be related to the illness itself. Like many lupus sufferers, my wife has tried a variety of sleep aids, including Lunesta and Ambien; however, they tend to work well for a couple of weeks and then lose their effectiveness.

This has had an effect on my own sleep patterns, and I’m feeling exhausted both physically and mentally. I get up at 5:30 AM so that I can get to work, and when you don’t get to sleep until 1:00 or 2:00 AM, this quickly becomes a problem. We need to find a solution or we’re going to have to take turns on the couch, and that just makes both of us sad. We have young children, and that time between 8:00 PM and bedtime is really the only time we have alone together.

The Better Sleep Council has an extensive website dedicated to helping people get the sleep they need. They have listed Ten Tips for Better Sleep:

  1. Maintain a regular bed and wake time schedule, including weekends.
  2. Establish a regular, relaxing bedtime routine such as soaking in a hot bath or hot tub and then reading a book or listening to soothing music.
  3. Create a sleep-conducive environment that is dark, quiet, comfortable and cool.
  4. Sleep on a comfortable mattress and pillows.
  5. Use your bedroom only for sleep and sex. It is best to take work materials, computers and televisions out of the sleeping environment.
  6. Finish eating at least two to three hours before your regular bedtime.
  7. Exercise regularly. It is best to complete your workout at least a few hours before bedtime.
  8. Avoid nicotine (e.g., cigarettes, tobacco products). Used close to bedtime, it can lead to poor sleep.
  9. Avoid caffeine (e.g., coffee, tea, soft drinks, chocolate) close to bedtime. It can keep you awake.
  10. Avoid alcohol close to bedtime. It can lead to disrupted sleep later in the night.

Unfortunately, we have followed almost all of these suggestions and my wife still can’t get to sleep regularly. Has anyone had similar problems? If so, what has helped?

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