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Preparations and Things to Keep in Mind
Saturday, 26 November 2011 10:02While I'm not overly optimistic about the coming treatment it doesn't mean I'm not going to give it my best, and I started preparing about as soon as I left the doctor's office.
Behavior
I've kept a daily log since November first, noting down what I did that day, the mood I'd been in and if there was anything I noticed about my sleep; sort of a predecessor for this log.
I've noticed it takes a long time for me to fall asleep, no matter how tired I am when my head hits the pillow my mind goes chattering. I've been aware of this, but not as consciously as after keeping an eye on things. On a good day I'll fall asleep within 15-30 minutes, but most of the time it seems I fall asleep after 40-50 minutes after going to bed. Usually I start getting antsy about not sleeping after 1 hour in bed, which is the point where I start doing the get out of bed and do something else routine, rather later than usually suggested. I need to get better at that. This might be some remnant of when I tried to go to bed earlier back when I had dsps, going to bed at 23:00 when normally falling asleep around 05:00 makes for a whole lot of hours in bed waiting to fall asleep. It didn't help and it wasn't particularly fun. This is pure speculation of course, I can't say for certain. I do however have a long history of being awake long after going to bed which I probably should note down here later.
I've also realized that keeping books entirely outta the bedroom is not a good idea, most of them yes, but not always the bedtime read... which is something interesting enough to read, but not interesting enough to keep reading when I'm tired, it seems to keep the 200mph thought streams at bay a big part of the time making me fall asleep faster.
Meditation books have been dug out of hiding, and I've slowly started to meditate again as it's something I know from past experience helps me to go to sleep a bit faster, not a cure for my circadian rhythm though.
The treatment includes me having to get out of bed when I wake up and then head outside for light therapy, so I started kicking myself outta bed early as practice (without going outside). At worst it now takes me 5 minutes to get out of bed. This is not fun at all. I've never been a morning person, no matter when that morning is, and if I can I prefer being warm and snug under my duvet for an hour or two before braving the world. I'm not looking forward to go outside in the morning without having anywhere to go to though, it's cold and filled with weather.
Sleep Environment
I emptied the bedroom, no more tv or playstation... it's been outta the room for some time now and it hasn't improved the time to fall asleep one bit. In fact when I've had insomnia I've gone to sleep in my living room where I read and do all that other stuff... but I digress. All left in the bedroom right now is the bed, a lamp, my sleep log and the newly bought alarm clock which I've placed far enough from the bed that I'm gonna have to get out to turn it off. I covered the window with a bunch of black garbage bags, so now there's no more lights coming through in the evening. The door got back on it's hinges. I even cleaned the walls and ceiling, not really necessary but just to get a bit of finality to it. I do need to get a new mattress, possibly a bed as well, as my old one is worn out and have been giving me a bit of trouble the last six months, but that'll have to wait till I get someone to drive me to Ikea.
Behavior
I've kept a daily log since November first, noting down what I did that day, the mood I'd been in and if there was anything I noticed about my sleep; sort of a predecessor for this log.
I've noticed it takes a long time for me to fall asleep, no matter how tired I am when my head hits the pillow my mind goes chattering. I've been aware of this, but not as consciously as after keeping an eye on things. On a good day I'll fall asleep within 15-30 minutes, but most of the time it seems I fall asleep after 40-50 minutes after going to bed. Usually I start getting antsy about not sleeping after 1 hour in bed, which is the point where I start doing the get out of bed and do something else routine, rather later than usually suggested. I need to get better at that. This might be some remnant of when I tried to go to bed earlier back when I had dsps, going to bed at 23:00 when normally falling asleep around 05:00 makes for a whole lot of hours in bed waiting to fall asleep. It didn't help and it wasn't particularly fun. This is pure speculation of course, I can't say for certain. I do however have a long history of being awake long after going to bed which I probably should note down here later.
I've also realized that keeping books entirely outta the bedroom is not a good idea, most of them yes, but not always the bedtime read... which is something interesting enough to read, but not interesting enough to keep reading when I'm tired, it seems to keep the 200mph thought streams at bay a big part of the time making me fall asleep faster.
Meditation books have been dug out of hiding, and I've slowly started to meditate again as it's something I know from past experience helps me to go to sleep a bit faster, not a cure for my circadian rhythm though.
The treatment includes me having to get out of bed when I wake up and then head outside for light therapy, so I started kicking myself outta bed early as practice (without going outside). At worst it now takes me 5 minutes to get out of bed. This is not fun at all. I've never been a morning person, no matter when that morning is, and if I can I prefer being warm and snug under my duvet for an hour or two before braving the world. I'm not looking forward to go outside in the morning without having anywhere to go to though, it's cold and filled with weather.
Sleep Environment
I emptied the bedroom, no more tv or playstation... it's been outta the room for some time now and it hasn't improved the time to fall asleep one bit. In fact when I've had insomnia I've gone to sleep in my living room where I read and do all that other stuff... but I digress. All left in the bedroom right now is the bed, a lamp, my sleep log and the newly bought alarm clock which I've placed far enough from the bed that I'm gonna have to get out to turn it off. I covered the window with a bunch of black garbage bags, so now there's no more lights coming through in the evening. The door got back on it's hinges. I even cleaned the walls and ceiling, not really necessary but just to get a bit of finality to it. I do need to get a new mattress, possibly a bed as well, as my old one is worn out and have been giving me a bit of trouble the last six months, but that'll have to wait till I get someone to drive me to Ikea.
