Watching the Clock: How to Thrive with Depression Series (Part 12)

Welcome back to the Thriving with Depression Series! Thank you for joining me on my adventure! 

To view the full series, check out our archive! As a reminder to new readers, you can start anywhere, even here as articles do not need to be read in any particular order. 

Have you made the same mistake as I did this week? 

After writing about insomnia, I  made one of the most common mistakes around- I had caffeine at 4pm. I was trying to keep myself awake since I had somewhere to be. Well, it worked. Too well. It woke me up and kept me awake until 1am. 

Last time I discussed sunlight, water, magnesium, and calcium. This week I will be discussing caffeine use amongst other recommendations to help with insomnia. Maybe I should have discussed caffeine last week? Lol.

Before we continue on our journey, there is something I want to add regarding the use of calcium which I did not mention last time. I want to discuss vitamin D. Vitamin D is usually taken along with calcium. The body needs vitamin D to absorb calcium. Without enough vitamin D the body cannot form the hormone calcitrol. When this happens, the body takes calcium from the bones which weakens existing bones and prevents the formation of strong new bone. The RDA (recommended dietary allowance) is 600-800IU per day with a maximum of 4000IU. Doctors will sometimes recommend higher doses for people who are deficient. 

How do you get vitamin D? The first way is fun- from the sun. What a great excuse to tell your boss or
family. You need to go to the beach, the park, or for a walk. You're not goofing off, you're getting your vitamin D. Just be sure to use sunscreen. You will still get your vitamin D. You can also obtain it in food and supplements. Foods include: many types of fish, unsweetened soy* milk/beverages, almond milk, rice milk, kefir, milk, cheese, fortified orange juice, and mushrooms. Many of the same foods that have calcium in it. 

*There has been some controversy about soy milk and soy products. There are some healthy soy milk options. Please click on the following link to get some ideas. 

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program...

Here are some other ideas to help insomnia:

1. Decrease Caffeine. Now on to our discussion of caffeine. How many times have you heard someone say 'I can drink coffee at any time and it never bothers me'. But then the same person has trouble sleeping. Maybe that was true when they were in school cramming for tests. But we are all different. Some people can continue to drink coffee, tea, or soda without any problems. Others need to restrict their caffeine to lunch time or even to breakfast time only. And "trouble" sleeping can mean many things. We think of insomnia as trouble falling asleep. However, it is more than that. You might have no trouble falling asleep but then awake throughout the night or wake up too early. You may even sleep through the night but then wake up without feeling rested. 

2. Avoid Overeating before Bed. The body needs to digest any food you just eat but digestion slows down during sleep. It is almost like giving your body mixed messages. You want it to digest food for energy but then you want it to relax and help you sleep; too opposing tasks. In addition, you may experience acid reflux or heartburn. Heartburn can be an annoyance or it can be bad enough to feel like your throat is on fire. I have experienced both. One night my throat hurt badly and neither water nor any other liquids helped. I drove down the street to the 7-11; the only place open at 2am. I purchased PeptoBismol and drank part of a bottle. Finally, after a few hours, I was able to return to sleep. It is called heartburn for a reason. Something to think about is that insomnia can also lead to overeating. Lack of sleep triggers an increase ghrelin and a decrease in leptin leading to increased hunger and appetite. To make matters worse, more awake time means more time to eat. 

You don't have to remember the technical reason. Just know that not sleeping makes you hungrier!

3. Exercise. Are you tired of hearing that exercise is the answer for almost everything? Yep, me too.
But our bodies (and our minds) crave exercise. Even though exercise can increase endorphins and make us feel better afterwards, getting started is another matter. In addition, it increases energy. So, who doesn't want to feel happier with more energy? I think we all do. So why do we have such a difficult time starting and continuing an exercise program? For a very simple reason; it's not fun. We already have work, chores and a myriad of other obligations. The last thing we want is another time-consuming chore. Also, if we stop exercising in our youth, it is harder to pick it up later in life. Making it even less fun. So I recommend starting with something fun and easy. Maybe a walk around the mall, at a museum, or even the local store. Anything that will increase the steps on your pedometer!

4. Sleep Hygiene. This is a fancy way of saying good habits to help improve sleep. Some suggestions include: 

• Go to sleep the same time each night. 
• Get up the same time every day, even weekends. (Lol, I would but my work won't let me get up at 10am every Monday-Friday).
• Make sure your room is quiet, dark, relaxing, and comfortable. 
• Remove electronic devices from the room such as televisions, computers, smart phones, etc. 

5. Stress Relief. Stress can lead to insomnia or make it worse. How many times have you lay awake thinking about a stressful project at work, a large bill coming due, or an issue with a family member? It is no surprise that to improve sleep you need to work on stress. So what can you do to help prevent your thoughts from keeping you awake? You have to give them a place to go. It is better they go on to a piece of paper than stay ruminating in your brain like a hamster on a wheel. Put your thoughts on paper and add next to them either how you are going to solve them or your next step in looking for a solution.

Because you have dealt with the issue(s), your mind will be more at peace.  

So what do you do if you wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep?

The above ideas are some generally regarded principles for sleep hygiene and improvement. I have a few of my own. Everybody's situation is a little different but the idea is to make your situation as easy as possible for comfort and less interruptions. My list includes: 

• Make sure all dogs have had their water and gone to the bathroom BEFORE bedtime, If I forget this, invariably one of the dogs will be waking me up at 1am.
• Blankets. This has been a very important topic at my house. The right blanket can make a difference between sleeping and not sleeping. Yes, they may cost a little more. But sleeping is not something you can really skimp on and do well in your life. There are blankets that breath so you don't wake because you overheat or because you get too cold. We like down blankets or down alternative blankets. There are many blankets available that help to keep your temperature stable. My down blanket got dirty so I have been using a soft $20 blanket. It is super soft but I get overheated at 3am and wake up. Not fun! 
• Lights should be off. If you must use a nightlight or keep a light on for safety reasons, try to have the light face a different direction, not directly at you. 
• Noise. This can be a hard one, especially if other family members stay up later. Keep the noise at a reasonable level. You can also use ear muffs or head phones and listen to white noise or relaxing sounds/music.
• Go to bed half hour before you hope to fall asleep. This gives your mind time to wind down.
• Bed. Make sure you have a comfortable bed or mattress. If you can't afford one at this time, then get a comfortable mattress pad and put it on top of your bed. My dad used to say that there are two things you can never skimp on: your bed and your shoes.

In our 24 hour a day world, rest and sleep seems to be harder to attain. But with a little adjustment in your habits and life, you will become closer to a good night's rest! And it doesn't matter what you do as long as it works for you.