How I Go to Sleep

I'm not the best sleeper in the world. I never have been. Difficulty sleeping is common for someone with a brain injury. The typical sleep pattern has been disrupted, The brain does not "self-calm" as a healthy brain would, so it's much more difficult to unwind before going to bed and go back to sleep if you wake up during the middle of the night.



For several months, I was pretty consistently taking 2 tylenol pm's a night. Not my best-ever decision. It wasn't so much that I couldn't fall asleep without them but that the act of going to sleep just seemed like so much "work" and I didn't feel like going through the hassle of it.



However, after much trial and error I have found a routine that works very well for me, allows me to fall asleep on my own without a sleep aid. Here it is:

-Get some form of exercise during the day whether it's running, walking, pilates, etc.

-Run the air conditioner or fan for an hour or so before I go to bed to cool down the bedroom

-Clean up my home (hang up clothes, load the dishwasher, etc. Nothing too big. It's tempting to say I'm too tired and I'll do it in the morning but there's rarely time in the morning! Plus, I'd rather wake up to cleanliness than to clutter and it's one less thing to do when I wake up)



-Write in my journal or make a list of all the things I'm grateful for that day

-Read a book or magazine in the chair by my bed



Finally,I don't get into bed until I'm ready to go sleep. This can be a challenging one. Sometimes I think, "But I have to bed, asleep, by this time to get this much sleep or else," however until I am good and ready to fall asleep, getting into bed has proved somewhat useless for me. I just try to ignore the time and enjoy the book or magazine I'm reading.



This is not foolproof, I still have nights where I sleep less than I would like, nights when I'm wide awake in the middle of the night. I keep a few benadryl on hand for sleep emergencies. But poor nights of sleep have become much less rare since I got into a routine. Find what routine works for you! What have you tried that has been beneficial for you? I would really like to know!