Chronic Pain Help and Support Sleep Deprivation

Sleep Deprivation and Chronic Pain

Sleep deprivation and CRPS go hand in hand and unfortunately even if it is not pain that wakes us it just seems to be that we lose the ability to sleep, this has a profound impact on our lives. For those of us who are still managing to work, in whatever capacity, whether it be full time, part time or voluntary it has a massive impact, it sometimes makes work a near impossibility, but we have to somehow carry on, for those that aren’t working it still has a massive impact on your life.

Sleep deprivation means that we can be awake when most of the world is sleeping and can see us sleeping, or feeling the need to sleep, when most of the world is awake! This in turn impacts on our personal lives, sometimes it is simply impossible to go out when we have planned, as we simply just don’t have the energy, this has a knock on effect on our relationships with our partners, families and friends, especially if they have planned something special, something that has been planned to benefit us/cheer us up. These can be the times when sleep deprivation hits us, and our loved ones, the hardest. We, as sufferers, are tired, grumpy, touchy and sometimes just plain old miserable, all we want to do is sleep, we get angry and frustrated at being torn between wanting to sleep and wanting to be ‘normal,’ to be able to make plans and stick to them, to be able to look forward to things without the fear that we might not be ‘well enough’ to actually be able to do what we have planned. Is this a 'normal’ reaction? As a sufferer I would like to say yes, it is very hard to function when we are exhausted and in turn is frustrating that even though we are exhausted we still cannot get a good nights sleep.

It can be just as hard for our loved ones, just in different ways, and it is important that we try to remember this, but it is equally important that they realise that when we are exhausted we cannot function normally and at times can’t even think rationally, it is a two way street, understanding is needed on both sides. For our loved ones it is frustrating when they plan things to cheer us up and we can’t go, if you don’t suffer from sleep deprivation it IS hard to understand that it is not just about being tired, it is about simply not having the energy to be able to do things, to feel like you can’t even move, to stand up can sometimes feel like an impossibility, if you haven’t suffered from sleep deprivation it is truly hard to understand, and we, the sufferers, MUST remember this.

So What Can We Do?

Recently I attended a pain management course, included on the course was a section on the psychology of sleep, in relation to chronic pain, we were told that we need to re train our brains to sleep for blocks of time, because pain wakes us periodically our brains lose the ability to sleep for ‘normal’ blocks of time, i.e. 7 hours a night, it becomes normal to our brains to wake us every few hours (as it has become accustomed to pain waking us) even if the pain levels are not really sufficient to wake us.

Before we get into methods to help improve our sleep there are some facts we should start with.

There is no ‘right’ amount of time that everyone should sleep, everyone is different in their needs, some people need 9 or 10 hours and some people only need 4 or 5 hours sleep, so if you go to bed ‘expecting’ 8 hours sleep and you only need 6 hours you are likely to spend a frustrating 2 hours trying to needlessly to get to sleep.
It is quite alright for you to lose a lot of sleep for several nights running, it is not necessary to make up for lost sleep, you can lose a lot of sleep night after night but eventually you will get a fairly good nights sleep and this is quite sufficient.
People who have serious sleeping difficulties often believe that they haven’t slept a wink all night, in fact it has been found that it is nearly always the case they get more sleep than they think they have. In other words they slip off to sleep for a few hours then wake without realising that they have been asleep.
People need less sleep as they get older. You may have needed 9 hours solid as a 20 year old, but now you’re 40 you may only need 6 or 7 hours.

Factors which can contribute to poor sleep are;

An irregular sleep pattern
Daytime inactivity
Daytime cat naps
Caffeine containing substances
Bed and Environment
Worrying/Anxiety

How do we Re-train Our Brains to Sleep?

Prepare for sleep

A set routine will help you prepare both mentally and physically for sleep

Try to wind down in the hour before you go to bed, you can try relaxation techniques, yoga etc or just generally relaxing.
Include relaxing activities such as watching TV, taking a warm bath, massage, listening to music etc.
Avoid stimulating activities, which will keep you alert, for example decision making or studying.

EXERCISE Avoid near bedtime, as this may waken you.
DIET Stick to light snacks near bedtime and keep fluid intake to a minimum.
STIMULANTS Cigarettes and caffeine containing substances (Tea, coffee, cola etc) should be avoided or reduced 4 – 6 hours before bedtime.
ALCOHOL used regularly, as a hypnotic, should be avoided, have milky drinks instead.
ENVIRONMENT It is important that your bed and bedroom become associated with sleep, rather than wakefulness, therefore try not to use your bedroom during the day and try to keep the room temperature around 18 degrees.

So now we are armed with some facts/information we get to the bit you really want to know ......

The Method to Help You Improve Your Sleep

Your sleep pattern is optimal when it is both efficient and regular, by efficient we mean the time spent asleep relative to the time spent in bed.

So how do you achieve optimal sleep?

Go to bed when you are sleepy rather than at a set time, so if you normally go to bed at 10pm but are sleepy before 10pm go to bed, the same rule applies if you are not sleepy at 10pm, wait till you feel sleepy before going to bed.
Do NOT read or watch TV in bed these are waking activities.
As SOON as you get in bed TURN OFF THE LIGHT.
If you are not asleep within 20 mins get up, go to another room and sit, relax and wait till you feel sleepy before returning to bed, remember avoid caffeine containing substances and stimulants, maybe get a milky drink and waking activities.
Repeat step 4 as often as is required and also you must repeat step 4 if you waken for long periods of time during the night.
Get up at the same time each day, set your alarm to make sure you do and NO pressing the snooze button!
No napping in the day to compensate for a previous bad nights sleep, remember you want to train your brain to sleep at night (This is a tough one, especially if you are working. Maybe think about starting sleep improvement method when you have time off work).