I saw a discussion on another thread, in which "lamb" recommended some exercise in the middle of the night or right before bed as treatment for that mid-sleep stiffening that we suffer from, and that wakes us up. It is currently my worst symptom. I am so tired of being awake all night long. I do take melatonin some nights, but not every night. It makes things worse because I sleep so hard I am extra stiff in the morning, but sometimes the need for sleep wins out.
Does anyone else exercise at bedtime or get up in the middle of the night to exercise and work out the stiffness? I would love to hear more about this strategy. Thanks.
yes I do. Even tho I sleep in a recliner all of the time.. It keeps me from waking up. And if it works don't fix it.. I sure miss my hubby. Lol which sadly, is not funny. I have tried wedges, pillows under and between my knees. Doesn't work well.. Very rarely I will take a lunesta that the Dr prescribed.
I try to stretch out my lower back first and then my hips. It sure helps!!
I get up at least once a night. I have to, or the pain gets too intense and I can't sleep. I walk around the house, stretch, get a drink of water, heat up my hot pack, and then head back to bed, lay down, and put the hot pack on my back as I try to get back to sleep.
I had a bad fall yesterday and was in excruciating pain last night, so spent the night laying down for an hour, getting up and moving for 10 minutes, back to bed for an hour, up for 10 minutes, etc. etc. etc. Finally went to sleep at around 4:30AM.
Stretches are pretty personal (as to what works for who) A good session of PT for that purpose is money well spent. The three things that have made the BIGGEST difference to me though are a wedge pillow, electric mattress pad and a memory foam topper. A memory foam or air mattress is too loosey goosey not to mention the difficulty (and pain) of extra-curricular activities without the bounce (almost as bad as water-bed waves back in the 70's) but the 2 inch topper gives over a standard mattress great support. I tossed a regular pillow and opted for one of these and no pillow. (it got me out of the recliner) Its multi purpose and has some unique uses but it eliminated that neck/headache thing overnight not to mention heartburn and what I "thought" were some MTX side effects.