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Thyme For Literary Healing: Just How Many ZZZZ’s Are You Catching
In today’s Thyme for Literary Healing, we’re going to discuss sleep. We love it. We need it. We want it. Or, we’re getting too damn much of it. We’re going to ask you a few Q’s regarding your sleep issues and habits in the hope that you join us for this afternoon’s discussion about thyroid and sleep.
- What is your current thyroid condition
- Are you sleeping too much?
- Are you sleeping too little?
- How do you feel about your current sleep situation?
- What have you tried, if anything, to improve your sleep?
Ready, set, wriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiite your thyhearts out.
Tags: autoimmune disorders affecting sleep, Dear Thyroid, graves disease and insomnia, hashimoto's exhaustion, hyperthyroid sleep, hypothyroid sleep, literary healings, sleep issues in thyroid patients, Thyme for literary healing, thyroid cancer sleep issues, thyroid patient writings
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13 Responses to “Thyme For Literary Healing: Just How Many ZZZZ’s Are You Catching”
Leave a Reply to cla4sam
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I have Hashi/hypo. I take spells. Some weeks I sleep wonderfully. Some weeks not at all. I just cycle. My worst sleep weeks are usually due to extremity pains, creepy crawlies in legs-feet, numbness and tingling, toes drawing up etc.
I do not like Sleep meds for myself, I usually try and keep a relaxing routine before bed. Take hot bath,have a glass of wine,read for a bit.
I have Hypo. I rarely sleep longer than 4-5 hours sleep. I tend to Some days I do have a better nights sleep but not often. Sort of got used to it. I try to relax and read a bit before I go to sleep. I always find it takes me ages to get myself going on a morning and often get frustrated cos half the morning has gone before I find the energy to get dressed for the day. Mind you, if I have to be out early, and then I force myself to get up and out, and depending on my energy levels as the day goes on, I often end up napping later on in the day cos of my early start!!
How I long to be able to sleep 8 hours continuously, if only my body would let me!!!
Anna – Sounds like you have some super bad symptoms that deeply impact your sleep. So sorry to hear it. What does your doc say about it? Have you thought of trying supplements?
PS: love your routine.
Miriam – so sorry to hear that you’re only getting 4-5 hours a night.
I’m so glad we’re having this conversation because it proves an ongoing theory we have all derived, I think, which is that there are so many crossover symptoms.
How do you manage the constant exhaustion? How do you deal with the day and not get irritable? Do you take naps?
I hope the sleep improves. Does your doctor have any ideas?
What is your current thyroid condition? – Hashimoto’s.
Are you sleeping too much? – No.
Are you sleeping too little? – Yes.
How do you feel about your current sleep situation? – It’s a constant struggle to get consistent hours of quality sleep. I also have OSA and the machine averages out hours of sleep each day for a 7-day and 30-day period. I struggle to average 5 hours and it’s usually closer to 4 hours with the CPAP on, but I often sleep a couple hours without the machine so the average would be a little longer but I’m not sure about the quality of that sleep.
What have you tried, if anything, to improve your sleep? – Meditation helps immensely. It has slowly improved since my new NDT brand was started too. I am also starting to get low on estrogen due to perimenopause and the hormone doc is monitoring those levels every few months. This is usually what accounts for awakenings every few hours after initially falling asleep without a problem. Although I’m glad the one ovary I have is still sputtering, it’s actually acting quite manic these days so I wish it would just shit the bed already and let me get on with it.
■What is your current thyroid condition
Hypo.hyper who knows Graves
■Are you sleeping too much? Not enough
■Are you sleeping too little? Yes average 3-5 hours per night every night i gave up going to bed early. sometimes I will crash and burn and have a nap in the afternoon but then that leaves me a wake even longer at night.
■How do you feel about your current sleep situation? I’ve kinda got used to it, although I don’t like it, I am constantly tired, and can’t think straight at times.
I would love to be able to get into a deep REM so I can dream again I can’t say when I last dreamed I am not asleep long enough, and it;s not a deep sleep.
■What have you tried, if anything, to improve your sleep?
Bar a sledge hammer,herbal teas, relaxtion, reading music, hypnotherapy,I won’t take medication for sleep.
Lori – I am so sorry about your sleepuation; rather your shituation with respect to sleep. I wish that you could average more hours per night.
Do you ever feel as if you’ve had restorative sleep when you wake up?
What kind of meditation? Is this the meditation CD you sent me? I love it!
Thanks for sharing more of you, lovey.
Lolly – You kill me. You’re so bold.
I am really sorry you’re not getting any restorative sleep. Your description of what you’ve tried is so you, HILARIOUS.
Why won’t you take medication, if you don’t mind me asking? When your thyroid is ‘balanced’, does it help you sleep, lovey?
xo
I have Hashi’s and this year been diagnosed with sleep apnea, which appears to be quite common with thyroid disease. I fought the sleep study for months and finally relented and allowed it to happen. What a wake up call. For a couple of years I had only gotten an hour and a half to three hours sleep a night, and I didn’t realize what a toll it had taken on me all over. The sleep deprivation was and is still having affects on me. Word retrieval issues, sometimes I cannot do simple math, no metabolism equals no energy and weight gain. Oxygen levels are ideally at 100, most often at 97 and above. When I sleep, at the 2-1/2 mark when my body is supposed to switch to REM sleep, my brain fights it and my oxygen levels dip to 70. I stop breathing at least 38 times in an hour, which ‘they’ tell me is moderate. I’ve heard of people stopping breathing 200 times in an hour. Not good for sleep! I had been waking up at that time with a night terror aka really bad anxiety. I would stay up for and hour to three hours before I could lie down again. I gave in reluctantly to having a CPAP machine with a sleep mask. I really really really did not want it. It just seemed so invasive and so not sexy. Well, I’m happy to report that after using it for a mere three weeks, I am sleeping about six hours a night, with my usual wake up at 2-1/2 hours (my air pressure probably needs adjusting, and that will happen at the end of this month),but I’m able to go back to sleep. I was told that the full effects will take 2-3 months to notice, but I already stay awake during the day, and most noticeably, have energy after I get out of work. I used to feel like I would collapse. I’m still having word retrieval issues, and I leave the hard math for my best time – the morning. I have been told that my metabolism is expected to go up and I will lose weight..bonus! All this and better sleep. Now I say, “Bring it on!”. So, the bottom line is..if a really bad endo tells you that your TSH levels are fine, and you’re just fat and you need to sleep, cry and get mad, then find a doctor who you can trust and will listen to you, and explore all the avenues including sleep with THAT person.
Katie – yes the sleep I now get is restorative and after I take my NDT in the morning, I feel awake. Quality sleep is amazing. I’m not sure I ever had quality, restorative sleep until all these things were sorted out. I can only imagine how good it will be when I get 7 or 8 hours of sleep.
Yes, the meditation CD I gave you, is what I use. I’ve tried others but always go right back to this one. I’ve been using it at least 3 years now. It really is wonderful, especially when used regularly I find the benefits are accumulative.
Katie,
You ask why I won’t take medication for sleep deprivation.
There are a few reasons, you asked.
I don’t want to become dependant on them, and feel that I have had a sleep that isn’t real.
I feel it only masks the situation rather than help it. It’s not a real sleep but a medication induced one.
I would rather do what I am doing for now.
And yes when my levels are in a better place I feel I have had a better sleep, but it has been so long I forget what it is like to sleep and have restoration. I don’t know how my body has adjusted to it but it certainly can’t be helping, we all need sleep to aid recovery and if your not getting it, your not recovering.
I’t the imbalance of thyroid Levels that is making my sleep pattern all over the place and yes I do beleive once it is balanced if that ever happens, I will sleep better.
I have got into a pattern that suits me for now, until I can get my Thyroid levels under control, if it means staying up till I am fit to drop then that is what I will do.
There is nothing worse than going to bed, to spend hours trying to fall asleep or when you actually do you wake an hour or so later only to think it is morning and time to get up, when it is still the middle of the night.
At least my way I am getting a few hours I go around 2-3am some nights and wake about 6-7am so looking at it I get even less sleep then I actually thought. I’ve always been a night owl TOOT TOOT.
How about you Katie how is your sleep pattern? what do you do to help you, has anyone got any alternative suggestions natural remedies, I am all ears.
Love
Lolly
i have graves/hypo i get very little sleep maybe 2-4 hrs at a time i have taken sleeping pills but they dont seam to work i’ve drunk warm milk, tea tried staying up as long as i could but does no good still no help
I am getting really worried i too am hypo and have graves.I am sleeping 12 to 13 hours per night i wake up feeling like i havent slept at all as the day goes on i feel awfull no energy.All my body feels week.I have been taking neomercazle for over 2 years now.My endo says my levels are with in normal.So why do i feel lke this?Even to do little things ijust dont ha the energy.Does any one feel like this?