Regular Sleep Schedule

For everything and anything else not covered in the other RLS sections.
badnights
Moderator
Posts: 6259
Joined: Tue Mar 10, 2009 4:20 pm
Location: Northwest Territories, Canada

Re: Regular Sleep Schedule

Post by badnights »

I don't have much trouble falling asleep usually; but there are times when all I have is 20 minutes and I'm exhausted, when it would do me well to follow a technique like this. I've done similar ones, usually from the toes up, though. It can be surprisingly hard not to let your thoughts drift away from the sequence you're supposed to follow. It's usually easier for me if I'm not in bed, if I think I'm just resting for a bit, and if I completely forget about the fact that I only have 20 minutes. Then I fall asleep BAM.
Beth - Wishing you a restful sleep tonight
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I am a volunteer moderator. My posts are not medical advice. My posts do not reflect RLS Foundation opinion.

ratfancy
Posts: 18
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 5:43 pm
Location: Sarasota, FL

Re: Regular Sleep Schedule

Post by ratfancy »

My email to the RLS Foundation:
Date: 10/8/2020 12:14:57 PM
Subject: Today's webinar on comorbidities
To: RLS Foundation <info@rls.org>

Dear Staff,
I jumped into today's webinar a bit late, and realized it was on the subject of light and insomnia instead of comorbidities. The doctor spoke about sleep as relates to insomnia and depression, the subject of her research. The presentation was interesting, as would apply maybe to high school students, or people with depression or insomnia. Apparently, the doctor does not have RLS. This is the standing joke: frequent advice to an RLS sufferer to just have good sleep hygiene!

From the chat rooms I've read (and participated in) over the years with fellow RLS sufferers, this is ridiculous. It's very difficult to sleep when you are walking around - no matter what your "hygiene" is.

I know I sound cranky about this, but I don't suffer from depression or insomnia. I can sleep on a dime, most anytime. But not when I have RLS symptoms, which occur in my legs, arms, and sometimes core. If you avoid daytime naps, eventually you will not have slept for days and will just lose your mind. You have to sleep when symptoms are not present. There is no "organizing" when symptoms will prevail to the extent that you have to get up and walk around.

So this webinar seemed much off-topic to me, as an RLS patient. It was very applicable to the general sleep-deprived public.

Similarly, for sleep apnea patients, sleep hygiene would be useless. The person often wakes up with low blood oxygen, because the body wants to live!! People with significant pain issues often cannot sleep. RLS is classified as a pain syndrome, although most afflicted do not have pain.

Light therapy very much applies to depression, and that is proven. However, to say to RLS patients that light therapy will alter the onset of nighttime (dopamine?) symptoms is not proven. I live in Florida and get plenty of light, and I have severe RLS, which is a function of my age (67) and brain iron metabolism. If light therapy and sleep hygiene would fix mitochondrial function, I'd be all for it.

I caution selection of webinar topics, lest you "blame the victim". RLS causes one not to sleep, regardless of sleep hygiene, naps, time to bed, etc. In fact, most advice is NOT to lie in bed thrashing because you aren't going to sleep anyway and it's just frustrating.

Enough said. Thanks for listening!

Yankiwi
Posts: 548
Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:20 am
Location: West Coast, South Island, New Zealand

Re: Regular Sleep Schedule

Post by Yankiwi »

Rat, I totally agree. Sleep hygiene is a joke for RLS people. We'd love it if it worked.

Rustsmith
Moderator
Posts: 6476
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 9:31 pm
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado

Re: Regular Sleep Schedule

Post by Rustsmith »

I have joked with doctors on several occasions that the next one to tell me that I need to practice better sleep hygiene is in danger of being physically assaulted. lol
Steve

https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

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