This topic is about dealing with night-time restlessness and insomnia when living with an ostomy. The person who shared their experience talks about spending long nights watching the clock, frequently changing positions, and checking their ostomy pouch. They find it hard to calm their mind, face minor discomforts like a throbbing toe or temperature changes, and are disturbed by outside noises, leading to only brief moments of sleep.
Here are some helpful tips and insights to improve sleep:
1. Establish a consistent sleep routine by going to bed and waking up at the same time every day. This helps to strengthen your body's natural sleep-wake cycle.
2. Limit exposure to blue light before bedtime. Avoid watching TV for the last 30 minutes before sleep and set your phone to gray-scale or "night shift" mode an hour before bed.
3. Keep your bedroom dark and free from distractions. Use blackout curtains, wear a sleep mask when traveling, remove bright digital clocks, and set your phone to "Do Not Disturb," allowing only emergency calls to come through.
4. Use a pink-noise machine to mask outside noise and promote deeper sleep. Pink noise, which sounds like rivers, waterfalls, or wind, has been shown to enhance both REM and deep-sleep phases.
5. Listening to relaxation audio can help some people fall asleep. Calming music such as Native American flute, Tibetan flute, or samurai music might be soothing options.
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