I cant say that I've had a full nights sleep since my accident..sleep is something I've struggled with all my life. I've tried for years and years to sort it without success and it still is a real problem for me I can stick to a regular bedtime with all the calming music and scents which have zero affect 🤣and I can guarantee I'm back up within the hour. I take Meds at night to help me sleep but it all depends how my head is trying to process or remember my day...some days are worse than others tho I'm drained through the evening battling with my memory. My brain does it's own thing at night it's really weird to explain
Does anyone else suffer with sleep problems due to BI??👍👍👍
Hi. I can recommend getting a blue light therapy lamp. There is a lot of research showing that blue light therapy helps with sleep by correcting our circadian rhythms. It also helps with fatigue, mood and in other areas.
I use a blue light therapy lamp every morning and at lunchtime if it is a very tiring day cognitively. I go to a Headway local group on Fridays and before I used my lamp I would have to rest at lunchtimes. Now I use the lamp on waking and take it to the group to use at lunchtime. It means that I don't need the lunchtime rest.
I still take regular 15 minute timed rests - over 20 minutes and you will ho into a sleep cycle- where I try to be somewhere quiet, I lay down or relax sitting up and cover my eyes. Then you let yourself drift. These rests are most helpful if you take them before you are really tired. This was the advice I got from the Headway helpline right after my injury over five years ago.
Try winding down sooner, as in stopping activity after dinner.
Try a program such as f.lux or twilight on any computer or tablet you have - it takes the blue out of rhe light which tells your brainit is time to sleep..
Light bulbw have ratinings to tell you where they fall onteh spectrum, a lot of led ones are cool and quite blue, the colour of light at noon - so your brain thinks it is supposed to be awake. The warmer colours tell it the sun is setting and timw to get ready for sleeping.
So you can also get warmer lights for your bedroom, or get the new colour controllable bulbs - some of them actaully have a programmed adaptive lighting that changes colour according to the time of day and your location - f.lux does it on your computer, for example. I think Nanoleaf has it, for example.
Some people find taking melatonin or typtophan for 4 to 6 weeks helps reset them. It is not for everyone so you would have to talk to your doc.
Some people find they need ro sleep in acompletely dark room - no glow from a clock oe cell phine , foe example. Some use sleep masks for this, or the windows can be darkened by heavy curtains or putting up tin foil if budget solution needed
Some find listening to rain or waves helps - lots of these recorded on youtube.
There are also homeopathic remdedirs that work for some, like B o i r o n 's sedatil or h y l a n d s night night.
If I really get off the rails I take a b e n ad r y l which is for allergies, but has the side effect of drowsiness... again check with your doc or pharmacist. Sometimrs I just need the one to get me to sleep at the right time to get me back on track.
Make sure your bed is comfy. Sounds basuc I know, but a nice mattress pad and a fluffy blanket can work wonders . The weighted blankets really work for some. Sometimes it does for me and sometimes not. Some fluffy blankets are soft without keeping the heat.
I also find I relax more in freshly washed bedding so I tend to do it more often than I might otherwise.
And make sure you like the fragrance of any soaused or go fragrance free.... and then either add (or not) some essential oil... lavendar is relazong tl some but people worh low blood pressure tend not to go for it - not if you have allergies , though, of course.
And a really comfy pillow helps a lot, too.
There is also,some research that suggests sleeping and gut health are related, with low D3 implicated. You may want your doc to check your D3 level. If your D is low you may need B 's supplemented for a month or two. There is doc on youtibe whomtalks about it and i think she is on to somethjng... again always chrxk with your own health professuonal.
They say a routine at night help train your brain to get on the sleep train.
Have tried all the Sleep Hygiene practices over the years since TBI and it's never lasted long. Was even on Zopiclone for 6 months solid in the early days with no success.
However, as with everything, you never know when your body/ brain is going to respond well to something so about to try it all again for a few months. Fingers crossed. So...
Lavender spray on pillow.
Blue light filter glasses with amber tint on order.
Try to reduce length of any day time sleep.
Sleep stories before bed. (I like Calm app).
Short daily exercise outside in fresh air.
Try to set morning wake alarm at same time daily and head to bed at same time daily.
Avoid multi tasking and stress as much as possible in day.
Don't eat anything other than light soup after 7pm.
Try to start day with a protein shake to get systems going.
For me, even though it is contrary to all above - sleep is necessary, so when day and night get twixed around, don't stress and just sleep when you can, and trust it will sort out...Some times my sleep still get disrupted and my specialist says sleeping mpre than 6 hours a day any time of day is better than no sleep at all... so sleep when you can. The sleping at the so called wrong times happenmore when I am stressed or not feeling well for other reasons...
I also have found sometimes getting up at a different time can actually help. So, being somewhat playful and curious about it may help.
Chris80 this you! Hidden my fiancé is tired all day every day and can fall asleep in under a minute once we go to bed but then he is up and down all night. Which leads to him being tired all over again the next day!
We were just speaking about this last week
in therapy and he genuinely cannot remember the last time he slept right through since his accident and that was over 10 years ago He cannot smell or taste so oils or candles or sprays to aid sleep are no use to him! The only thing that ever allowed him to sleep a little longer was “night aids” which is an over the counter sleeping pill (we are in UK) but this still didn’t give him a full nights sleep! I’m sorry we have no helpful suggestions but maybe it helps just to know ur not the only one
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I can relate so much to this I've tried alsorts to aid sleep but nowt works it's like my head comes to life about 9pm when I should be winding down. My son comes downstairs at night and finds me creating chaos at silly o'clock. The next day I dont remember any of it. I'm so glad I dont have a partner as it would be horrendous for her..my doctor gave me some sleeping pills a while back and they didnt do anything lol..its the same time every night 9pm my head comes to life in it's own way..I used to be up in the night and start work at 6 am sometimes I'd watch the sun come up having not slept. I've not done any work for 3 years now as it's too much for me to bare. Thankyou for yor comment it's much appreciated. I too I'm from the UK👍
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It’s awful. Before chris I had no concept of TBIs or knew anyone who had any sort of head injury and to be honest I didn’t ever think about them at all! Since then I’ve done every bit of research I can and was shocked at how hard it is to find help or answers and a lot of the aftermath your just left to get on with! I remember going to an appointment with Chris and the doctor asked him to put his phone away as it was rude! In actual fact he needed his phone because he can’t remember all the things he wants to talk about in an appointment and that can annoy him so he writes them all down in his phone. It’s frustrating that because the effects are so different on people after a TBI that there isn’t a “one size fits all” answer to these problems. You certainly have my sympathy and understanding because I know myself if he’s been particularly unsettled through the night he can keep me awake and I’m irritated the next day because I’m overtired sorry about that long reply there,I just get annoyed sometimes that there isn’t more help out there that would make such a huge difference to people’s life’s,both the person with the TBI and their partners and families included
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Dont ever apologise for anything on my posts gemmab84 your insight and knowledge about a problem I've suffered with since I was 11 is so appreciated. The memory recall is a massive 1 for me I am only able to recall the first 2 words and the last word of anything its same with numbers and pictures my road accident back in 1983 did more damage than i let on to friends family..37 years of living with hidden disabilities I cant verbally communicate about. I can use a touch screen hense my long comments. I'm new to all this opening up stuff but I have no choice now..I'm sending best wishes too you both..thanks for your comment👍
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It’s so hard to open up but I find this site extremely helpful to know there are others with the same or similar life’s as u and sometimes talking to a stranger is easier than a family member! We attend couples councelling and just having a place to voice concerns of every day life and laugh and cry and get rid of it allIn an hour has been so beneficial for us! Please if u ever want to chat I’m always here as are so many other lovely people. Please take care x
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Thankyou we all battle on in the same war regarding BI your doing great 👍
yes absolutely! i don’t remember having a really good sleep since my brain haemorrhage nearly 28 years ago. i know everyone says no noise or computers in the bedroom but the only way i can get to sleep is by having you tube playing a comedy show or something which will eventually get me back to sleep. if i go to stay at my mums and don’t have it I wake up in the early hours of the morning and end up going into the lounge and watching tv until I get back to sleep on the sofa.
My sleep pattern is all over the place since my TBI Stammers. It can steady up for a week or so, but if I get fatigued, the first thing to go is regular sleep.
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He cannot smell or taste so oils or candles or sprays to aid sleep are no use to him! The only thing that ever allowed him to sleep a little longer was “night aids” which is an over the counter sleeping pill (we are in UK) but this still didn’t give him a full nights sleep! I’m sorry we have no helpful suggestions but maybe it helps just to know ur not the only one 
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