Table of Contents
Sleep And IBS
Tips For Better Sleep
Write It Down
Further Information And References
Sleep And IBS
Making an effort to get at least 7 hours sleep a night (1), improves energy levels, helping you to get through your day, which can reduce stress levels and help IBS symptoms.
Tips For Better Sleep
Some people struggle to get enough sleep. Here are some tips that might help you to readjust to a better sleeping pattern:
- Go to bed later and get up earlier – go to bed when you are extremely tired and set your alarm clock early. This increases your sleep appetite and helps to improve the quality of your sleep. You should be able to gradually increase the number of hours that you sleep.
- Stick to a sleep / wake routine – once you are in the habit of elongating sleep, if you stick to the same sleep and wake times (even at weekends) your body will know when it is meant to be sleeping.
- Cool bedroom temperature – temperature tends to drop at night giving the body a natural indication that it is time to sleep, so best to keep your bedroom temperature on the cool side, though not so cold that you are uncomfortable.
- Avoid caffeine after 4pm – it can take up to 6 hours for caffeine levels to drop to half after consumption, which could keep anxiety levels high, delaying when you feel sleepy.
- Avoid alcohol at bedtime – alcohol can depress the brain and central nervous system, although this can make you sleepy, the quality of your sleep will be poorer.
- Use blackout blinds or curtains – darkness increases melatonin levels which help us to sleep.
- Avoid computers and gadgets before bedtime – the blue light from these devices also impact melatonin levels. Additionally, the bedroom can be associated with stressful activity such as working on a laptop and not a relaxing place in which to sleep.
- Get exercise and at the right time – exercise is important for relaxation and tension reduction needed for sleep. However, it is important not to have a cardio workout close to bedtime. Your energy levels and body temperature will increase which goes against what your body is expecting for sleep. This effect can last hours, so evening workouts might be best kept to more relaxing exercises such as yoga or Pilates.
A military sleep hack that is meant to help you fall asleep in two minutes is as follows:
- Relax the muscles in your face, including tongue, jaw and the muscles around the eyes
- Drop your shoulders as far down as they’ll go, followed by your upper and lower arm, one side at a time
- Breathe out, relaxing your chest followed by your legs, starting from the thighs and working down
- You should then spend 10 seconds trying to clear your mind before thinking about one of the three following images:
- You’re lying in a canoe on a calm lake with nothing but a clear blue sky above you
- You’re lying in a black velvet hammock in a pitch-black room
- You say “don’t think, don’t think, don’t think” to yourself over and over for about 10 seconds.
Write It Down
It is possible to ruminate over worries, your task list or conversations that have happened and what you should have said or want to say as you are trying to get to sleep. Sometimes, we are so busy during the day, that bedtime is the only time that our brains start to process the day’s events. If you find this happening to you regularly, keep a notebook or scrap paper and a pen by your bed. Write down your ruminations, for example, what you are worried about, a task you need to complete the next day or how you want to respond to a work colleague. This stops the associated words from whirring around your head overnight, stopping you from sleeping, since you have captured them elsewhere. The result could be used as an action list, for instance, to provide a solution for or take control of a situation that you are worried about. This gives you less to be concerned about on subsequent nights, helping you get to sleep more quickly.
Many of the techniques discussed on the Stress page can be applied in the sleep situation such as the breathing exercises, aromatherapy and autogenic training.
Further Information And References
(2) SOPHIE GODDARD: 10 ways to sleep better every night, Harpers Bazaar, MAR 31, 2018
IBS Researcher 