Busy Holidays and Managing Proper Sleep

 

It is hard to believe, but the holidays are nearly upon us.  Next Thursday is Thanksgiving!

Then of course the giant of all holiday celebrations for most of us—Christmas.

 

 So with that said, it is time to think about taking care of yourself and getting the proper amount of sleep and rest.  We all know that flares for those living with fibromyalgia and chronic pain, really take hold when sleeping is poor and/or interrupted.  So, here are some tips to help over this years’ busy holiday season.

                                                               

Mechanics of Sleep

 

 

 

To understand how important sleep is to our over all well being, we must understand something about the mechanics of sleep and how they affect us.

 

We sleep and wake in cycles.  This cycle consists of approximately 16 hours of wakefulness, usually during the daytime hours, and 8 hours of sleep, usually during night time hours.  These two cycles are controlled by two internal cycles.

 

              These cycles are:

                                         Sleep Homeostasis

                                          Circadian Rhythms

 The word homeostasis means “seeking a constant state of equilibrium”.  Our bodies are always seeking to keep our internal conditions such as blood pressure, body temperature, heart and respiratory rates steady and even.

The homeostatic drive functions in a similar way during sleep.  The body recognizes the amount of sleep we need each night and keeps tract of this amount.  When the recognized amount of sleep is reached, we awaken.  This process of sleep homeostasis signals the brain, thus allowing our body to know how much sleep we need to stay healthy.  This process is also known as sleep hygiene.

Here is a brief overview of how the brain manages sleep.  The brain and the neurotransmitter of the brain appear to recognize a chemical called adenosine.  Adenosine is a sleep inducing chemical that starts to rise when we awaken in the morning and continues to rise during the day, or when we are awake.  The process usually will take about sixteen hours before levels get high enough to trigger sleepiness and the desire to sleep.  The opposite happens when we sleep, the levels of adenosine fall.  As the levels of adenosine fall, our body recognizes the need to awaken from sleep.  The lowest level of adenosine is just before we awaken.  It takes about eight hours for the levels of adenosine to be low enough for us to awaken and not want to return to sleep.  The adenosine and other sleep inducing chemicals and hormones function together.  Many of these chemicals and hormones circulate in the spinal fluid in the spinal canal and then into the brain.

Certain foods, herbs and drugs can affect the adenosine receptors in the brain.  Coffee is a good example of a food not to drink before trying to sleep.  Caffeine blocks the adenosine receptors in the brain, thus interfering with sleep.  When the receptors are blocked the adenosine is unable to get to the brain receptors to induce sleepiness and sleep.

 I will have some food tips toward the end of this blog that help the adenosine get into the brain to help induce sleep.

 

                            Circadian Rhythms

 The circadian rhythms are set early in life.  These rhythms are regulated by the brain and by the biological “clock”.  This, so called, clock is really a group of specialized cells and hormones within the brain that regulate our physiological and behavioral function.  These cells act in a way to allow our bodies to function better with the external environment and synchronize our bodies to daily life.  The strongest synchronization of hormones from the specialized cells in the brain is our reaction to light and dark.  The activity of light and dark set our biological clock and help the homeostasis process determine when we need to sleep and when we need to awaken.  The circadian clock is most useful in promoting wakefulness.

 Foods that promote sleep hygiene/homeostasis and our circadian rhythms include:

                                 Turkey

                                Chicken

                                Tuna

                                Soy Produces

                                Oats

                                Almonds

                                Walnuts

                                Brewer’s Yeast

 

All these food promote sleep due to the natural tryptophan they contain.  Tryptophan stimulates certain hormones in the brain which will likely increase sleep.

 Herbal preparations that also promote sleep include:

         

                                                                                  

 

                                Passionflower

                                Valerian

                                Hops

                                Chamomile

                                St. John’s Wort

 

All these herbs relax the central nervous system.  One word of caution however, Valerian can cause stimulation is some people.  Just be aware.  Usually the wisest choice is Passionflower.  Plus, it will not cause a morning hangover.

 

This is just a very brief overview of sleep and how complex and how important it is for our well being.  Sleep is mysterious and only in the past few years has there been a great deal of research regarding how it functions. 

 

I go into much more depth in The FibromyalgiaPain Management Kit  (now available for download as an ebook from Lulu.com, Barnes & Noble Nook, and Amazon Kindle).

 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and rest well. 

 

Till next time.

 

Maryalyce McCabe, ND, RN, HNB-BC

Naturopath