Insomnia and night sweats. How having cancer has cured my sleep problems.

When sleep becomes a battle ground

There is a reason why sleep deprivation is used as torture. It’s brutal. The world is very bleak at 2 o clock in the morning, night after sweat soaked night.

I suffered years of insomnia and sleep deprivation. I was desperate and felt on the edge of going insane. Now, I sleep so much better. Here’s how I’ve got on top of insomnia and night sweats.

Pre cancer, I was a mess. The twins were toddlers. We’d just moved house. Money was tight. I just wasn’t sleeping. Night after night, I would either lie there until the small hours, stressing - mainly about how little sleep I was going to get. Wide awake with anxiety about how long I had until one of the kids called out for me.

Or I’d fall straight into an exhausted coma and then wake up at 1am, drenched in sweat. And just lie there until it was time to get up.

Every single night, I would sweat my way through entire pillows and the duvet. It was wild. Disgusting. Exhausting. I constantly smelt like a wet dog.

At the time, I thought it was all peri-menopause related, and actually sought HRT from my gynaecologist. Looking back, I now think the night sweats were a cancer symptom. But we will never know!

Post mastectomy and full lymph node clearance, one of the first things I noticed was that my night sweats improved. Even in a hospital bed with horrible plastic sheets, I slept 10 hours solid and woke up with dry sheets. Probably due to the good drugs but even so …

I do still get night sweats sometimes, but they’ve never gone back to my pre cancer levels.

Now I sleep SOOOO much better.

So what have I done to actively solve my sleep and night sweat problems?

Pyjamas. I used to sleep naked. Or just in underwear. But switching to special menopause pyjamas has helped loads. Yes old lady, wicking pyjamas are a thing. They definitely help. I was waking because I was cold and sweaty. Now my funky PJ’s absorb the sweat and dry so fast that I don’t wake up, even if I do sweat.

Changing the bed clothes. Layers are my saviour. I swapped an all-or-nothing duvet for a sheet and layers of wool blankets. I seem to be able to throw them on and off in the night without waking myself up. Game changer. I’m no longer limited to roasting hot or freezing cold, there’s a middle ground of perfectly warm.

Ambient room temperature. I like my bedroom to be cold. Snuggling under warm covers with a cold little nose sticking out. I had read that a cool room promotes good sleep. But as it turned out, as with many things in my life, I was taking it to an extreme (!)The bedroom was bloody freezing. Which meant that I would wake up sweaty and shivering under a wet duvet. Now, I have the room a little warmer and I’m less likely to wake up because I’m cold.

No booze. I have massively cut down on the amount I drink. For the last 2 years, since cancer diagnosis, I drink occasionally. It varies a bit but on average, I drink a glass of wine, or maybe two, a week. Nowadays, the nights I do drink, I really feel it. It’s very clear that I don’t sleep as well and I sweat more. I used to kid myself that a little bit of booze was helping me relax and sleep better. It’s just not true.

Not eating late. I made a decision to stop snacking in the evenings. Mainly because I’d done some research around fasting and wanted to experiment with it. I don’t fast for long periods but I do make sure I give my digestive system at least 12 hours rest. Maybe there’s something in it, maybe it’s just a fad. But either way, I think not snacking at night has helped me sleep better.

Less stress. This is a big one for me. In the 5 years pre cancer, I had a LOT of stress in my life. A disproportionate amount of major life shit, not just little stuff. It’s impossible to measure, but for me I feel it was a contributing factor to why I got cancer. We will never know. But we do know that stress is bad for our bodies. So I am doing whatever I can to reduce day-to-day stress. And most importantly, learning how to respond better to things that would have previously wound me up and spiralled me into a cycle of insomnia. It’s a learning curve. But there’s nothing like a life threatening illness to teach you what’s important and what’s -literally - worth getting in sweat over. As a result, funnily enough, I fall asleep more easily and sleep better. No surprises there!

Nighttime routine. I used to be a party girl. Now I am literally like a granny. I just turned down tickets to see an amazing DJ because it starts at 10pm and finishes a 1am. I mean, seriously? Nowadays, I put the kids to bed, do a few chores and then start my go to bed routine. I have stopped working in the evenings. I wind my brain down. I don’t look at admin or bank accounts or the news. I turn the lights low. My bed is ridiculously comfortable and inviting. I go to bed early and at the same time every day. It is extremely dull. But the trade off is good sleep. I’ll take that any day! I still have sleep PTSD.

Melatonin. I’m not here to promote supplements. But I feel it works for me. Probably it’s psychosomatic. But whatever. I believe it helps me fall asleep and stay asleep.

Sleeping pills. It’s a total placebo. I have sleeping pills on prescription, which I was given by my doctor when I was first diagnosed with cancer and really couldn’t sleep. I’ve taken one, ever! Just the reassurance of knowing they’re in the drawer helps. Knowing it’s an option outweighs the stress of thinking I’m never going to sleep again. They’re probably out of date by now but anyway … they’re staying in the drawer!

Late night screen time. I know it should be on the list but I can’t give it up! I’m a terrible bedtime scroller. It’s my me time. Its the only time I get to mindlessly stare at a screen. The best I can say is that I have night-time mode on my phone which apparently reduces blue light … if I go through another bout of bad sleep, it’s next on the list to give up.

What have your sleep hacks been? I’d love to know what’s worked for you.