EPISODE 10: How Sleep Fuels Your Autoimmune Journey
- autoimmunesisterho
- Oct 22, 2024
- 17 min read
ALYSIA: Welcome back to autoimmune adventures. Last week, we talked about the importance of moving our bodies, and this week, we're going to talk about the importance of resting our bodies. Prioritizing good sleep is number five of our big six. So, let's talk about it.
Whether it's insomnia, restless sleep, waking up with pain, or just waking up, not feeling refreshed, we have all been there. In this episode, we're going to discuss the importance of sleep. We're going to share some tips for creating a sleep conducive environment, and some strategies for overcoming common sleep disturbances. Let's dive in and talk about my favorite activity.
STACY: So there is a definite sleep autoimmunity connection, and that is why quality sleep is so crucial. It helps with so many things, including our memory acquisition, our emotional regulation, and of course, healing and maintaining our immune system. Sleep allows the body to repair itself, and it helps us to manage that inflammation. And guys, when we don't get enough sleep, and we don't manage that inflammation, we have problems, like I'm having today, which is memory acquisition.
I can't remember all the words, and so forgive me today, if I'm a little bit of a mess, but that's how it is some days. If I, I did not get quality sleep last night, so it makes things a little bit tricky, and some days it's more obvious than others. But I'm going to tell you right now, sleep is a key player in autoimmune disease.
BECKY: It is, and there's actually a really ironic twist, because even though sleep is essential to managing our autoimmune diseases, the very things that sleep can help us overcome with autoimmune diseases are the same things that keep us from getting good sleep. Pain, fatigue, and anxiety can always make it very difficult to fall asleep, making difficult to stay asleep, and so we're going to give you some tips and tricks here that will hopefully help you with that.
ALYSIA: Right. If you have an autoimmune disease, chances are you have had some of these sleep issues yourself. Um, I have a personal problem with nighttime pain. That's probably my number one, um, issue with sleep personally.
I think my fibromyalgia makes it difficult for me. And so if you have, um, an issue with pain, talk to your doctor about pain management so that you can improve your sleep so that you can be comfortable enough to sleep. You got to stay on top of the pain because if, I mean, sometimes you're so exhausted, you just want to sleep and you think that's going to make everything better, but if you're like me, even if you can get some sleep, you're going to wake up the next morning and you're going to be hurting. So, there's nothing worse than starting your day In, in pain, right? So stay on top of that pain. I have to take - whatever it is. Talk to your doctor. I have to take a muscle relaxant every single night.
If I do not, I really am not super functional the next morning. You know, there's a lot of different ways to do that. Stretching, like we mentioned in our last episode, uh, muscle relaxants, obviously pain medications, but we want to be really careful when we are living with autoimmune disease, those kinds of pain medications that, that are often recommended, um, if you take them long term can be damaging to your gut health, which is also extremely, um, connected to our autoimmunity. So that's another little bit of an ironic twist, right? I personally would recommend CBD oil. It is an anti inflammatory and it does not cause damage to your gut. So I'll have a link for that. The, the brand that I really love, uh, we'll put that in the show notes for you.
But as I mentioned, please talk to your doctor about pain management, so that you can get good sleep.
STACY: Another problem that we can often have experience with is restless leg syndrome, and there are a lot of treatment options, but you are going to have to go to a doctor to do that.
What you need to realize is why it's happening. I wish that I could tell you there's a way to fix it, but honestly, without medical intervention. There are only a few things you can do to really help. One of them is to not do anything that stresses you out right before bed. And we're going to talk about that a little bit later.
Um, the other thing that you need to do is just make sure that you are laying in a way where you are not in pain, the more pain you're in, the more it affects your nervous system, and your nervous system is what causes restless leg syndrome. Your nerves get upset. They get inflamed and they flare and then your legs start to kick. So if you're having an inflammatory problem, you're going to have restless leg syndrome sometimes. So start thinking in terms of what can I do right before bed. Maybe I can drink a really warm comforting tea. Maybe I can do something like meditate for a little while. Anything that calms the body will help with it. Stretching can help as well. Because stretching allows your body to, um, produce those hormones that will let your nervous system relax.
BECKY: It's true. One of the other ones that we often deal with with autoimmune issues is anxiety related sleeplessness. Anxiety is a symptom of a lot of autoimmune diseases, and unfortunately it is often worse at night, because it's, a lot of times we're really busy during the day and maybe we can't think about all the things that are stressing us out or worrying us, but we get to bed and suddenly it feels like everything comes to us. And sometimes, I know for me, I have almost irrational fears and worries that are not something when I was, you know, if I was being rational or calm, I would not be thinking of, but it just seems to happen sometimes at night.
And there are some ways that you can help with that. There is cognitive behavioral therapy, CBT, which can be helpful in managing your anxiety and improving sleep quality. And there are some online resources for that. But also, if you talk to a specialist, a mental health specialist, they are really good at helping with that.
Try calming breathing techniques. Guided meditations are really good to help calm the mind, and to focus on other things. Work on managing your stress and anxiety during the day, because that will help you manage it at night as well. And as always, if you are really genuinely having trouble managing that anxiety, You need to seek a professional and get some help.
ALYSIA: Yeah, absolutely. I don't think we can, um, I don't think we can understate the importance of taking care of these things so that you can get quality sleep. I personally love guided meditations at night when I'm having anxiety. I literally just get on YouTube and I type in "guided meditations for anxiety" or "guided meditations for sleep or relaxation or stress relief", whatever it is.
And there are limitless options. I, I really love, um, the, the, uh, what is it, Stace? The Honest Guys? Is that the name of that?
STACY: Honest guys.
ALYSIA: The Honest Guys. They're one of my favorites on YouTube. They have just really good guided meditations and just such beautiful calming voices.
So, another thing that's often a problem for those with autoimmune disease and sleep, is sleep apnea. So if you have been told that you snore or that you stop breathing in your sleep, you need to get to a doctor. Consult with your doctor ASAP, because not only is the sleep apnea affecting your quality of sleep, but there can be long-term effects from that. It can be very dangerous. It can cause heart issues.
BECKY: And I know for me, it was really interesting, because I was having some of the nighttime leg pain, a little bit of restless leg syndrome, but mostly like really almost like neuropathy, sharp shooting pains up my legs, and I had gone to a neurologist for it. And I had never considered sleep apnea being something that would cause that, but he actually, um, after doing a series of tests, recommended that I do a sleep study, and when they found out I had sleep apnea, you know, he said, "I want you to try using a machine for your sleep apnea, and we'll see how that goes" and, and guys, honestly, it did, it surprisingly helped the neurological issue I was having and the pain that I was having in my legs.
ALYSIA: So you really never know, right? You really never know. If you have been told you snore, it is worth looking into.
STACY: I would agree. It completely changed my life getting a CPAP machine. I didn't even realize that I was having problems, but here's the thing I was told by my rheumatologist. People with autoimmune disease are significantly more likely to have sleep apnea, and it's because of our inflammatory responses in our body. So, um, it's just one of those side effects. And so it's never a bad idea to go and get it checked out. The worst they can say is, you need a CPAP machine. And you might be surprised. They might say, no, you're doing good, it's great. And that's great, but then that's one thing you can check off your list of concerns that you might have.
So, one of the things that you want to make sure you do is create a sleep supportive routine. And we talk a lot about routine, but with sleep, it really is important. A regular sleep schedule. And I know this isn't going to be something that some of you want to hear. And I know cause I'm one of those people. I'm a night owl having a regular sleep routine for what my work week is like versus what I want to do on the weekend is very difficult. I find that when I go to bed and wake up at consistent times, there's a couple of things that does for me.
It regulates my circadian rhythm so that I am not thrown off as much, but it also has the added benefit of me taking my medication at the right time every day. And the more consistent I am with that, the better I sleep at night. So, it's kind of one of those things where they are not mutually exclusive, meaning they're completely separate and have nothing to do with one another.
Taking your meds at the right time every day, sleeping at the same time every day, that helps to regulate and calm your body, and it also has that very added benefit of making you sleep better at night.
BECKY: Another thing you can do, um, is make a relaxing bedtime routine for yourself, whether that's taking a warm bath or shower, reading a book, uh, practicing light stretches to wind down. Maybe you're going to listen to a podcast. May I recommend not listening to things like your true crime podcast right before bed because that will probably increase your anxiety.
ALYSIA: This is a better time for a guided meditation.
BECKY: Even if it's something you love, but pick things that relax. I think Stacy mentioned earlier, you know, if you like to drink tea or hot cocoa or whatever it is, um, obviously you probably want to avoid like coffee with caffeine, but something that is nice and relaxing for you, and kind of make it part of your bedtime ritual.
ALYSIA: Yeah, and I think stretching is a great thing to do right before bed, especially if you have any kind of arthritis or fibromyalgia, um, or any, any of the autoimmune diseases that are going to affect your, your muscles or your joints, but you do want to avoid heavy exercise right before bed. That can, um, I mean, heavy exercise, as we mentioned last week is really important and it will help you get more restful sleep, but doing heavy exercise right before bed can actually make it difficult for you to sleep. So if you want to do exercises before bed, make it something light, make it something relaxing, yoga or stretching. Um, and save the, save the weightlifting and the cardio for earlier in the day.
STACY: The other thing that I find helps a lot for me is optimizing my sleep environment. What do I mean by that? I don't sleep well when it's warm, so I make sure that at night my bedroom is cool. I make sure that it's nice and dark and that it's quiet. And sometimes, right now, I'm living in a townhome, and I've got neighbors that are close by and sometimes they're a little crazy, so I started wearing earplugs and it changed my life. Earplugs and a sleep mask. Holy cow. The world is a better place now. And I sleep a lot better.
ALYSIA: Yeah. And that's an inexpensive thing to do that can have a huge impact. Right.
BECKY: Exactly. I know for me, um, because I don't do well if it's not more dark as well. Like having, um, we have computers and things in our bedroom that have lights that don't ever go off on them. We have like a server and stuff in there. So it's, um, the lights that don't ever go off and getting the sleep mask for me, so that it's actually dark and I don't have that, that was a game changer for me too. That was extremely helpful.
One of the other things we can do is limit our screen time before bed. And a lot of times that's another one that we don't like to hear because some of us are reading or, you know, watching the TV right before we go to sleep or reading on our phone or whatever, right up until the moment we go to bed. But they've actually shown, they've done studies that show the blue light that's emitted from electronic devices can actually disrupt your sleep cycles, and it's a good idea to give yourself at least like an hour, if you can, or a little bit more, away from your electronic devices before you go to sleep. And this is again, where if, if like me, you have blue light potentially coming from electronic devices, eye masks and blackout curtains are awesome for helping out with that.
ALYSIA: Yeah, I know I have an app on my phone. I'll, we'll put a link to that in the notes as well. It's called twilight and it naturally, um, changes the light from my phone screen to Amber as the sun sets every day. And it keeps track of my location in the world. And when the sun is rising and setting and the season changes and all of that.
So I do even, you know, in the winter it's still five o'clock and it's, it's dark now and you know, it'll be, uh, my phone will be, Amber instead of blue light. And sometimes it's a little weird, but I get used to it and I find it makes a difference.
Going back really quick. I just realized, um, as we were talking about sleep masks and ear plugs, I thought of a couple other things that are, we can't, we can't not discuss. Let's talk about what you're sleeping on. You've got to have a decent mattress, you, um, you've got to have a decent pillow. These things can be expensive. I understand that. And that can be really a difficult problem for some of us that maybe don't have the money to invest in a good mattress, but I will tell you, even spending the money on a two or three inch, um, mattress topper that you can put on top of a crappy mattress will make a huge difference. Having a good ergonomic pillow will make a huge difference. If you have a chiropractor or a physical therapist that you happen to see, um, ask them what their recommendations would be. They are, I mean, guys, we spend about a third of our life in bed sleeping. We've got to prioritize our comfort when we do that. We've got to make it a priority.
STACY: So some other things that we can do. that help quite a bit is to limit our caffeine and alcohol. And I know, I know some people like a nightcap and I understand that, but alcohol disrupts your sleep quality, so please be aware of that.
Caffeine very obviously disrupts your ability to sleep. Well, so even if the alcohol makes you drowsy, it's still going to disrupt your sleep quality, so keep that in mind. I'm not going to tell you what you should do. I'm just telling you that this is what science has proven. So please consider that for your benefit, you should take those ideas and keep them in mind.
BECKY: Also, you should consider not eating two to three hours before bed, because again, science has shown that your body gets better rest when you have an empty stomach. And, um, this can also, if you, a lot of people with autoimmune diseases have, um, heartburn or GERD and, um, any of those things, acid reflux, that, that helps if you don't eat that two to three hours before bed as well. Um, and so those are some good ideas. Again, sometimes that's hard, especially if we're out on a night with friends or whatever, and, and we're, you know, snacking and eating right up until right before we crash, but keep in mind if you can, and do that two to three hours before bed. That will actually help you rest better.
ALYSIA: For sure. Um, and speaking of foods, eat foods that are going to support your, your own natural melatonin. Um, supplements can be okay short term, but you don't want to rely on supplements. So the science says that they stop working if we use them too often, right? So things you can do to, to, um, create your own natural melatonin are going to be eating foods like eggs, oats, bananas, nuts, especially walnuts and almonds and pine nuts, even milk, if you can tolerate it, dairy products. Um, but search out those good, healthy foods that are going to help your body naturally create melatonin and get a good sleep.
STACY: One of my favorite things to drink before I go to bed is what is called golden milk, but I can't drink actual dairy milk. So I make it with coconut milk and it has turmeric in it, which is anti inflammatory, but it also helps your body to calm itself and kind of...drowsy, makes you a little bit drowsy when it is in combination with milk and, um, a little bit of local honey is what I use. So if you want a really good, um, something to drink to soothe you before you go to sleep, I'll provide a recipe for that at the, in our notes.
ALYSIA: Yeah, I think also if you work with a dietician or nutritionist or a functional medicine doctor, they're going to have some great tips for that stuff as well.
BECKY: One of the things we really want to do is we want to avoid the pattern of "I can survive on X number of hours of sleep," because I think unfortunately in today's world, society often wears our lack of sleep as almost like a badge of honor. You hear people talk about work, "Well, I only got three hours of sleep last night, and I'm doing this," you know, or, and it's almost like people are bragging about how much sleep they didn't get and the fact that they're still up and functioning or somewhat functioning for the day. Um, that is not a pattern that really anyone should get in, but especially people with autoimmunity. Our goal is to thrive not just survive, and don't fall for that, you know, don't fall for the idea of, "Oh I can survive with this many hours," get the sleep that you need.
ALYSIA: While we're talking about things to remember, I think it's important to remember that we should avoid comparing ourselves to others and comparing ourselves to who we were and how we slept before autoimmune disease, because I have a friend who he, he sleeps five hours a night. I'm not kidding. That is all he has ever needed and he is a ball of energy all the time, and I don't know how he does it. I have no idea how he does it. I can't do that, and I'm not going to compare myself to that, and I'm not going to compare myself to how I used to sleep either, because that's just going to make me sad. So as Becky said, it's not a badge of honor to get a lack of sleep. Like it has long term effects. I mean, it'll have effects on you, how you function during the day. It'll has cognitive effects, um, during the daytime after you've had a bad sleep, but there's also sleep deficit.
You guys have probably heard of sleep deficit. Um, there's gotta be, I think there's a, um, documentary about it that discusses that, and kind of what Stacy mentioned in the beginning, how are, when we're sleeping, our body creates these neural pathways. So we, as autoimmune warriors really have to avoid the comparisons to others that are getting different kinds of sleep or better sleep than we are. We just have to focus on us, our bodies, and what we can do for them.
STACY: And I also think it's okay to wear it as a badge of honor. I love nothing more than to go up to someone and say, "I had 10 marvelous hours of sleep last night, and I feel amazing!," because when I get 10 hours of sleep, guys, I do feel as amazing as I ever do, which, we all know there's still the pain. There's still the problems, but I feel pretty dang good after 10 hours of sleep as a general rule. So, instead of comparing yourself to the people who can do five hours, instead, make it fun. It'll make people giggle. Cause you can just be like, "I got 10 hours of sleep last night. I feel amazing!" So just keep that in mind.
It's common to need more sleep. When you are flaring, you've got to be kind to your body and allow yourself that extra rest sometimes. And depending on who you are, you might feel pretty dang good after seven or eight hours of sleep, but when you're flaring, you might need 10, or 11, or even 12, depending on how bad your flare is. So just know that it's not uncommon for that to happen. So don't let it bother you when it does, and just give your body what it needs.
ALYSIA: Yeah. Listen to your body.
BECKY: Yeah. And remember that small changes can make a big difference. We we've given a lot of tips and tricks today, but don't feel like you have to do them all at once. Pick one or two and try that, and remember that even minor adjustments to your routine can help improve your sleep quality.
ALYSIA: And I think it's important to make sure that we're not just talking about sleep here. We're also talking about rest, right? Obviously, even if we get the sleep we need, during the day, sometimes you just need to rest, especially if you are in a career, um, or if you, even if you're a stay at home mom, things that you were doing that are going to be high movement, high energy, um, schedule in time to rest your body.
If you can take a nap, great. If you're one of those amazing people who can do a power nap, even better. I can't do power naps. I wish I could, but it takes me 20 minutes just to fall asleep. So I don't, you know, if I set a timer for a 20 minute power nap, I probably haven't even fallen asleep yet when my timer goes off, but if you can nap, great, if not just rest, um, finding a quiet place, closing your eyes, sitting still for a while.
If you notice that you are struggling to stay awake during the afternoon, between the hours of one and four. And, uh, if you notice that you are also struggling to sleep in the middle of the night, during the hours of one and four, it is likely that you have some adrenal issues. Um, you probably need to be looking for some help from your doctor. If that, if those times are times that your body is flip flopped, and you're tired during the day during those hours and you're awake during the night in those hours, get some professional help.
STACY: There are a lot of things. Adrenals are obviously one of them, but there are a lot of things that happen to us guys that are sleep related, that the three of us obviously are not going to be able to give you the information you need. So, as we often say, please seek professional help. If you're having sleep disruptions, A doctor is going to be help able to help you with that. And if your problems with sleep are persisting, that's definitely a time to go talk to a doctor so they can talk to you about possible underlying issues. They can explore some treatment options with you, and help you. So we encourage you to seek professional help as always.
As for next week, stress doesn't have to win. What am I talking about? Well, on Autoimmune Adventures next week, we're going to deep dive into the final six of our big six, which is stress management. We're going to discuss how stress can fuel our inflammation, and we're going to explore practical strategies to reclaim control from that problem. We'll talk about a little bit about mindfulness, some healthy habits that will equip you with the tools to find some inner peace. So if you're feeling overwhelmed, please let us know. As always, feel free to leave us comments, like and subscribe and look for us at autoimmuneadventures.com.
HELPFUL LINKS:
Full Spectrum CBD Tincture from Lazarus Naturals (over-the-counter) for Pain:
Overview of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy:
Guided Meditation (There are many options, but this is our personal favorite):
Twilight App for Android (blue light filter):
Blue Light Filter App for iPhone:
*The following Amazon links are affiliate links. Using these links will not cost you anything extra, but as an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Orthopedic pillows:
Eye Masks:
Blackout Curtains (come in several colors and sizes):
Documentary "The Quest for Sleep":
Recipe for Golden Milk:
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