Jen Jen,
You need to find what works best for you. If you could speak to your therapist about it, that would be great, she will be able to make appropriate recomendations.
Sylvie, Bilingual Health Educator
JenJen,
It's so hard to function when sleep patterns are chaotic. I know it was one of the most difficult issues to address for me related to depression.
I make it a point to go to bed at around the same time and get up at the same time, weekdays and weekends. I also listen to relaxation CDs at bedtime to help me go to sleep. I'll admit it doesn't always work. I still wake up too early, and too often, but I think it helps. I'm less tired during the day, even if I didn't have a perfect night's sleep.
JenJen,
Why don't you try to sleep about the same schedule as the kids? Do something relaxing before you lie down. For a while I had trouble sleeping and found that if I just read for about 30 minutes before I went to sleep, I slept better. Instead of lying back down after the kids are off to school do your exercise then, it is suppose to give you energy. Make yourself stay up until it is time for bed that night. Set a time and stick to it even if you have difficulty falling asleep. You may not sleep but you will be resting.
I hope this helps.
I am hoping to get my sleep pattern turned around. That seems to be my biggest down fall. The days I am able to get up and stay moving and out of bed are not too bad. The days I can't get up and over sleep or fall back to sleep in the afternoon seem to be the worst. But I can't get in a good sleep pattern. I'm taking Vistral for sleep but it helps with the anxiety but not the sleep. I'll be up till 3 or 4 am then I try to get back up at 7 for kids. When they leave I lay back down. Set the alarm for 10 I figure this is plenty late enough. But I end up sleeping through it till 12, 1 or 2 in the afternoon. Its a no win situation for me. I plan on talking to my therapist Thur about it. Maybe she will have some suggestions. I feel like if I could get that switched around it would help so much and then maybe I could start exercising. Right now I am doing good to get out of bed. Let alone exercise or all the things I need to do around the house. I don't have any abition what so ever. Tired non-stop. If I could just get a week of normal sleep I know it would get better. I keep hoping this will improve thats all I can do is keep the hope.
