When you live with chronic or acute pain getting a good night’s sleep can be a struggle. I don’t sleep a lot and on most days I am sleeping around four to five hours. At some point, you do get used to having very little sleep and can function with only four hours of shuteye but you are human, and whether or not you can tell if someone slept poorly doesn’t make it any more or less important. Our bodies are designed to rest but when you live with pain it’s not as simple as going to bed earlier because pain doesn’t stop when it’s time to sleep and often keeps you up. I fall asleep pretty quickly but my problem is staying asleep and you won’t generally find me sleeping for more than eight hours or more unless I become so exhausted that I literally crash. I am more functional with very little sleep and most people can’t even tell I have sleep issues because I carry it well but that doesn’t make them more or less real. Chronic insomnia sometimes can be caused my anxiety or pain but whatever the reason is it has a major impact on your life whether you talk about or you don’t. In this post, I am going to talk about the major impacts of chronic insomnia and how it affects my everyday life.
Some days I struggle with motivating myself- If you ever wondered why the consistency on my blog is not always the greatest you can stop wondering because it’s likely from poor sleep that I can’t seem to make better. If I slept well I am motivated to get all kinds of things done but if I only slept four hours it’s a struggle it’s a struggle and my motivation is almost non-existent. . Sleep plays a huge role in your motivation and if you aren’t sleeping you will find it more difficult to focus because all you can think about is napping and your tiredness. If I slept at least five hours I usually can me semi productive but if I slept less than that posts aren’t happening. I have tried to write posts with very little sleep but I am not usually very successful at it because I often experience some serious brain fog and come up with nothing which is not a challenge when I am well-rested. Coffee can wake you up but if you are truly sleep deprived all the caffeine in the world won’t fix it because you can’t fix insomnia with caffeine or supplements. The only way you will be motivated and have the energy to get more done is to get better rest because you would be surprised how poor sleep affects your ability to motivate yourself.
I have more cravings- It is a good thing that I can’t make cookies every time I am craving them because I would be eating them multiple times a day and most of my diet would probably be consistent of unhealthy snacks which would be a problem. I spend a lot of time-fighting unhealthy cravings because sleep changes your appetite making you feel hungrier than you normally would be but you aren’t reaching for carrots and more often than not it’s that pack of Oreos calling your name. When I don’t sleep well I can easily inhale one-thousand calories worth of cookies without even caring until later when I get bloated and instantly regret it. . There is nothing wrong with treating yourself because it would drive you crazy eating healthy all the time but if you are sleep deprived you should be extra careful of how much chocolate you consume. Your craving may be a direct result of your poor sleep and you may not want all those donuts as much as you think you do.
My memory isn’t that great– I wouldn’t say that I have the best memory on the planet because my developmental make remembering things difficult but I wouldn’t say it’s terrible unless I didn’t sleep well. When I am sleep-deprived it is significantly harder to remember things and even the simplest things that I should remember I tend to forget. When you are sleep-deprived it is harder to process information because your body needs rest to do that optimally and you’re not going to do it as well as a well-rested person. I still can remember things with poor sleep but it takes me twice as much effort and sometimes I have to write things down so I don’t forget because I usually will forget things that are right in front of me.
It can affect your gut health– I already have gastrointestinal issues because those muscles don’t work properly which is out of my control and there is only so much you can do about it. My bowel issues are usually manageable unless I didn’t sleep well and you are rolling dice on whether or not things will work or not. There have been studies that show poor gut health and sleep are connected because sleep deprivation can raise your stress levels giving you unpleasant gastrointestinal issues. Whenever I am struggling to sleep I have more stoma and constipation issues because I often am not making the best food choices which hugely affects my habits because if my nutrition is not on point it’s problem. My body always knows when I could have slept better because I don’t feel that great when I am sleep-deprived and the bloating is horrible.
Sleep is important for your overall health because it affects more than just that tired feeling but getting good sleep with chronic is not all black and white. Poor sleep can sometimes make you more anxious or depressed and put you at greater for heart issues, high blood pressure and even a stroke. Insomnia is a big problem with chronic pain because as much as you may try to get some zzz’s your body is saying not a chance! I try not to go to bed earlier knowing that I have sleep problems and sometimes I am successful at getting more sleep but other days I am not and sleep about the same or even less. Sleep deprivation majorly affects your everyday life but it’s hard for some people and sometimes the only choice you have is to learn to cope. Medication sometimes helps chronic pain sufferers get better sleep but it doesn’t cure and only lessens it. I assure you that if you tell someone with sleep issues if they have tried melatonin or CBD oil that they have and didn’t work. Melatonin doesn’t work for everyone because I know it has zero effect on me even when I double the dose. How does chronic pain affect your sleep and what do you do to get better sleep?
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Judy Mallette
Thinking of you…💕