long term sleep issues

[bonsante]

I fall asleep in seconds but can't maintain it. I am disturbed by severe chronic pain which wakes me instantly. The anxiety then sets in and I am unable to fall asleep again despite extreme tiredness. I never nap in the day and follow good sleep hygiene rules but none of this helps. I have now given up laying there with my pain and anxiety and have taken to distracting my self with my kindle. I know that goes against the rules.

[Hidden]

I have pain that wakes me up too, mostly hip pain from my leukemia and arthritis. I go in the bathroom and slather on lidocaine cream, deep heat cream, and THC/CBD oil. Then put a heating pad or hot water bottle on the area and try to go back to sleep. If the heat doesn't work try ice for 15 minutes then the heat. All these problems make me most anxious too, along with the tension in my relationship due to my chronic illness. I take valium for my anxiety.

Read How to Be Sick by Toni Bernhard on your Kindle. She has some good suggestions for relief.

[bonsante in reply to Hidden]

I empathise PacificCLL. I am sorry to hear that you have such a difficult set of circumstances going on in your life . I think we end up in a vicious circle of physical pain and anxiety. A physio explained to me that pain sends a red alert signal to the brain just like a fire alarm going off and waking you suddenly and your fight and flight response kicks in. I find the physical pain so much harder to tolerate at night and my anxiety escalates with the long hours of wakefulness. I have violent spasms in my legs due to a degenerative neurological condition which has worn out my hips which in turn cause the pain. I have tried anti spasticity drugs to no avail, pain relief either does not work or causes side effects, topical treatment is short lived. I do sometimes take clonazepam but although it sedates me and reduces the spasms I still feel the pain breaking through and is in fact made worse by my reduced movement due to the medication. I am currently looking into botox injections and will ask my physio about TENS but think the latter might make the spasms worse. I have enrolled on a mindfulness course.

I would be a different person if I slept at night and is it any wonder our relationships are under strain.

[Hidden in reply to bonsante]

You need someone to massage your legs.. thank you for the encouragement, hang in there, it sounds very challenging.