SLEEP - The most important supplement; as... - Cure Parkinson's
SLEEP - The most important supplement; as per Healthline. (Several good articles.)
WHATS SLEEP?
Interesting reading, Marc!
I use the 4-7-8 breathing technique, but I go longer than 8 on the exhale letting my breath out between my lips so that they barely open and the air just flows out smoothly with just a little resistance from light lip pressure on the air passing outward. It generally puts me in a state where sleep can come more easily.
Art
I gotta figure something out. I sleep only between 4 and 5 hours per night. How much do you get?
Marc,
I prefer to sleep 7 hours and feel overall better, but sometimes 8 hours is where I end up. Sometimes the eighth hour is just laying there thinking about different ideas that might pop into my head. Anything less than 7 hours and I feel suboptimal.
Art
I rely on a fantasy. Used to be playing rugby for England. More recently commanding an abandoned starship and rescuing astronauts from a space station resupply with an explosion on their craft. The sillier the better. The key is to have a sequence of events to be followed and to go back to the start every time you are interrupted. I sleep 8 hours a night. I get back to sleep really quickly. I may wake 3 or 4 times during the night including toilet visits, but I get straight back to sleep. Don't allow yourself to think about real things by focusing on the fantasy
Marc
A short walk after dinner will help getting to sleep quicker. abdominal breathing and a few minutes of meditation before bed even better.
Sleep is definitely disrupted in PwPs. A no caffeine rule after 1pm helped me as does having a hot bath at night (with epsom salts!) followed by a cool bedroom - I leave the bedroom window open and turn the heating off. Its an odd fact that your core body temperature needs to drop around 1C to get to sleep. Saw a recent study that suggested a small (1/3 of a unit) glass of red wine also helps :-). PD often means broken sleep so it helps to create habits for dealing with that. I expect to wake up around 2-4am and just turn over feeling confident I will drop off sooner or later - I monitor my sleep with a fitbit and it turns out I always do. Muscle pain does not help so I take an 400mg ibuprofen most nights (just one a day max) and use a foam roller to self massage the muscle knots.
When I was working (before diagnosis but when first symptoms appeared) I would get 6 to 7 hours and feel in a fog until lunchtime and constantly tired. Now, on a good night I will sleep 9 to 10 hours and feel refreshed. Anyone's guess whether it is cause or effect but I feel that getting a good nights sleep is key to overall well being.