Not sure what it is with me and surgery and insomnia but there I was 3 months after my second surgery, and like clockwork I got insomnia again; even after using all my tricks from last time.
December 2016 I had tears in my rotator cuff and labrum repaired. This injury was the result of years of micro-traumas that just added up. All my years of teaching group exercise, obstacle course racing, CrossFit, & my job as a wellness teacher, finally caught up to me. I tried PT, taking time off, and finally a cortisone shot. None of it helped. As soon as I would start to be active again my shoulder would hurt. I put off having an MRI because deep down I think I knew it was bad and quite frankly, ignorance was bliss.
I had surgery in December so I could wrap my recovery into Christmas vacation once again. (I did this 2 years ago when I had my ACL repaired on December 16, 2014. Don’t play adult league soccer when you turn 40…just sayin’) My goal was that when school started up again in January that I would go back to my regular routine free from insomnia. I made sure to keep my schedule as close to normal as possible, but alas, I was unsuccessful. The night before school was supposed to start up again, I found myself staring at the ceiling completely awake with what felt like a racing heart. Awesome, not only was my insomnia back but the anxiety that goes along with it was too.
I’ve learned a lot these past 3 years dealing with on and off sleeping issues. So much so, that I now include and entire unit on sleep hygiene in my 7th grade nutrition lessons. Apparently I have a lot of company in this category and they are all kids. If you have already tried the some of the tips I gave you in my first post (which you can read here) and you are looking for some new ideas, read on.
Track your Diet
I remember coming across a Pin that had something to do with the Paleo diet & it not working any longer. Intrigued I decided to check it out. I don’t remember much of the post, but I do remember that it talked about sleep issues in women for going too low carb. I started tracking what I was eating in My FitnessPal and was shocked to see that on a day that I had some chips and a small potato (which were splurges for me) that I was at around 50-60 grams of carbohydrate total for the day! If you know anything about carbs, you’ll know that this is really low. It made me wonder how low was I really eating when I wasn’t having starchy carbs. I began to eat more carbs, specifically at night, to see if it would have an effect on my sleep. It wasn’t long before my insomnia went away. Bonus…carbs are tasty!
Ear Plugs
There used to be a rule that my husband wasn’t allowed to come to bed with me at the same time. I needed at least a 30 minute head start so he wouldn’t keep me awake with his snoring breathing. It would never fail that I would hear him come into the room and climb into bed. I knew this would happen around 10-10:30, so hearing him come in would start the negative talk in my head. “Oh great, it’s been 2 hours and I am still not asleep.” Then I would hear his breathing change LITERALLY 5 MINUTES AFTER GETTING INTO BED. What? How the hell does this man fall asleep in 5 minutes?! This would just further irritate me and make my insomnia worse. And I would curse him…hey it’s the truth, I was super jealous!
Enter ear plugs. I started with the cheap foamy kind you get at CVS and they were amazing! Squish them up and shove them into your ear canal and listen as the foam expands and places you in a cocoon of silence. The only drawback is that they would fall out of my ears. I decided to get custom ones made and they are worth every penny!
Alcohol
I’ve come to realize that when I drink wine at night I don’t sleep well. It’s that simple. I fall asleep (well because that’s the beauty of alcohol) but I don’t stay asleep and I don’t feel rested the next day. I’ve definitely cut back a ton (especially since I’ve taken up figure competition and let’s just say alcohol is not on the approved food list) and now when I do drink, I try to have it with food and earlier in the evening. My new favorite wine is called Fit Vine Wine. It has less carbs, sugar, and crappy ingredients than other wines and I don’t feel crappy the next day.
Your Routine
I hate to be a party pooper, but if you are having a hard time with your sleep you need to make sure that your routine stays consistent. Go to bed and wake up at about the same time each day…including weekends. I know, I know sucks for your social life. You have about +/- 60 minute window where there shouldn’t be too much of a disruption. There is good news though; this shouldn’t last forever. You can lighten up a little as you start to sleep better. Play around with it and see how you feel.
I am happy to report that I am still insomnia free 15 months post shoulder surgery! So what do you think? Do any of these tips or the tips in my previous post sound like something you would try? What have you done in the past and has it helped at all? Let me know in the comments. I would love to hear what you all are doing. If there is something cool I’ll add it into my curriculum!
