Life, Cancer, Etc.

This is not your mom's support group. Dealing with hard things -- like cancer -- sucks. We use humor (and snark, let's be real) to face the bad, see the good, and find some hope along the way. You CAN do this. My conversations with friends and experts will give you tips and tricks to make the process a little easier, or at least show you that you're not alone. About me? I'm a 3-time cancer survivor (colon, cardiac sarcoma, & urothelial) who's constantly dealing with the uncertainty and monitoring that comes along with that. Maybe I'm not going through exactly what you are, but I get how being diagnosed with cancer can be a visceral punch in the gut. However, there is good that can come out of this experience and you don't have to do this by yourself. NOTE: I am not a medical professional. Everyone on the "Life, Cancer, Etc." podcast is sharing their own experiences, not giving medical advice.

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Life, Cancer, Etc.

Better Sleep after Chemo

June 27, 2022 • Heidi Bragg • Season 4 • Episode 2

Getting decent sleep can be difficult, at best, after cancer -- especially after chemo. Here are some suggestions for strategies and products that have helped me get better sleep.

Tadin Passionflower Tea: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FFQWBLA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Yogi Bedtime Tea: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YGN1KLN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Rootcha Magnesium & Zinc: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076G5LXQR?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder-t1_ypp_rep_k0_1_7&amp&crid=31DAJ16SWSKF0&amp&sprefix=rootcha

L-Tryptophan: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077TYN4G5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Citrical Petites: https://www.amazon.com/Citracal-Petites-Calcium-Citrate-Vitamin/dp/B07RCJY6WD/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1PM54U7F5ZKIC&keywords=citracal+petites&qid=1656337695&rdc=1&s=hpc&sprefix=citrical+petites%2Chpc%2C126&sr=1-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzTDIyVzFBOU1USUowJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTAwMDIzMTYzQzNWRVQ5VkUyTSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMjk1OTg2M0xPMjdQVkkyMTJMJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

Perfect Aminos: https://prz.io/pEQLRpEtO

Feather the Owl Diffuser: https://www.myyl.com/heidi.bragg

Cedarwood essential oil: https://www.myyl.com/heidi.bragg

Valor essential oil: https://www.myyl.com/heidi.bragg

*** You can also listen to this episode -- and many others -- on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. ***

NOTE: I am not a medical professional. Everyone on the "Life, Cancer, Etc." podcast is sharing their own experiences, not giving medical advice.

All content © 2022 Heidi Bragg and Life, Cancer, Etc. All rights reserved.

Keywords: chemo, sleep after chemo, chemotherapy, cancer and sleep

You can also find some episodes on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/LifeCancerEtc

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

I'm Heidi Bragg. I'm a three-time cancer survivor who's also lost a lot of loved ones to this disease. My goal is to connect you with stories and resources that will improve your life so that you can feel happier, more resilient, and less stressed, especially when you're going through hard times. Join me as we discuss life, cancer, etc.

SPEAKER_00: 0:26

Music

SPEAKER_01: 0:30

Hi everybody, I wanted to talk about a little bit about what I'm doing to help sleep. After chemo, sleeping was really, really hard, and getting more than a couple of hours in a chunk just was not working well for me. So I want to talk you through a few of the things I do, some suggestions from my neurologists, and see if maybe there's something that will work for you. The first thing my neurologist talks about is good sleep hygiene, meaning that your room is a bedroom. It's only for things you would do in bed, sleep, etc. I know some of you are listening with kids, so we'll leave it at that. But that I used to sometimes work in my room. At one point, I had my office located in my room. And once we switched to having our room being just a bedroom, that's helped a lot with setting good boundaries about this is a room for sleep, helps my brain kind of make that switch and I think it's definitely contributed to better sleep. I've got a list of notes up here so I'm going to keep looking this way. Another thing that's a big deal to me is keeping it clean so it's not cluttered and I don't have other things I'm thinking about like clothes I need to put away which happens way too often. Having a comfortable bed and bedding that isn't I have a tactile thing. So like if it's scratchy sheets, I'm not going to sleep well. So think about the things that are important to you and make sure that your room is conducive to sleep. Another thing I do is right before I go to bed. Well, I've actually got an hour before I go to bed. I turn all my devices to that true tone setting. I have it automatically set up. Oh, sorry. I guess the dog's coming in. I have it automatically set up to change that like sepia tone text so you aren't getting that blue light. I really like to read before bed. Chester. I really like to read before bed. That's something I personally do to relax. So one way I've worked around this is to have that true tone color on the text so that it's not giving the blue light that stimulates certain things in your brain. I also realize I need exercise. I have to be exercising on the days I haven't exercised. I am not tired enough, fatigued enough to sleep well, but you have to stop that exercise. At least I would say for me, like three to four hours before I go to bed, if I want to get a good night's sleep and be able to fall asleep easily. I also don't, I try really hard not to eat after like six or seven so that I have time to digest and Everything has a chance to calm down. I try not to drink a ton later in the evening so I don't have to get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I try to do the things I need to do so that my sleep is deeper and interrupted less often. Another thing is I do, and these are suggestions from various neurologists over the years, two in particular. I take a lot of supplements before bed. One is a calcium and magnesium one. I've got that here. So I take this one. It's a calcium. I'm sorry. It's a magnesium and zinc mix. I take one of my calcium doses. I take two doses of calcium a day so that I can absorb better. And I also take L-tryptophan. Tryptophan is like what makes you sleepy after a big turkey dinner at Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving. Anyway, and that combination of those helps me I think get to sleep more easily and stay asleep more deeply. So I do those probably about 30 minutes before bed. So what I do is I take those and then I go take my shower. And I also 30 minutes before I go to bed, I do a cup of tea. That's got these two teas in it, the Yogi bedtime tea and, um, this passion flower tea. And I realized these are going to be reversed. So whatever, but you can figure out what they look like. And those together have helped a lot

SPEAKER_00: 5:16

with,

SPEAKER_01: 5:17

again, getting to sleep more easily and sleeping more deeply. Now I used to have a lot of like muscle and joint aches after chemo, especially because it burns through a lot of your connective tissue. I would have a lot of aches. And neuropathy. And then I started taking this. My friend suggested these. They're called Perfect Aminos. And again, it's backwards. Sorry, whatever. But these are great. They have helped a ton. My friends... got family members with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome where they have issues with connective tissue as well. And taking those has been a big help for her and being able to continue to be active, to play sports, et cetera. I've noticed a huge difference. Before I started taking those, I could maybe do one hike a week and it would take me like we do it Saturday morning. And I would still be hurting until about Thursday afternoon. Now I can do two hikes a week, sometimes three, which is awesome and not be in pain. Let's see what else. Oh, make sure you've got a wind down routine so your brain realizes it's time for bed. And my wind down routine is the supplements, the tea, then I take a shower, and then I go get in bed, say my prayers, get in bed. Sometimes I read if I'm not super sleepy. I try to just fall asleep. But if I don't, I have a device there that I've turned into airplane mode and read my book. Let's see, what else do I do? Oh, this poor eye mask, my son Eric gave it to me and it's been through the wash and I think the little dog tried to eat it. But this eye mask, I always thought that was very like just ridiculous that people would wear an eye mask and whatever else to sleep. Now I wear it all the time. It helps a lot because I tend to wake up

SPEAKER_00: 7:10

when

SPEAKER_01: 7:11

it's, I'm a light sleeper anyway and I wake up once it's light outside. So in the summer, I wake up really early. This has been a huge help. I also use the nice soft earplugs, which makes a huge difference.

SPEAKER_00: 7:25

And I think the last thing I've done, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 7:29

And then I have a little diffuser. You put water inside it and essential oils. Anyway, I have a little diffuser I run every night with these two oils in it. One's called Valor and one's called Cedarwood. Again, yeah, sorry, it's backwards. Actually, I'm wondering with the video, will it be backwards for you guys? We'll see. I've never done anything where I've shown like print on something. So hey, live and learn. Maybe it'll be going the right direction and you won't have to be able to read like Da Vinci to see it. But these two, I put two drops of each in that diffuser with water. I started running before I take my shower so that by the time I get into my room, it's already got that scent there. And that again becomes, first of all, they're very calming. they help with sleep. And second of all, it becomes another sensory trigger for my brain that it's time to quiet down. So a couple of other things, I'm looking really quickly, a couple of other things that one of my neurologists suggested to try were melatonin and valerian, but over the long haul, the melatonin and the valerian both stopped working. But this combo has been working for quite some time now, and I'm hopeful that it will work for a while. And if it stops,

SPEAKER_00: 8:49

then

SPEAKER_01: 8:49

I'll reevaluate and see if I need to bring some of those other things back in. So anyway, if you are having trouble sleeping, particularly post chemo, it might be worth giving some of these things a try and seeing if they help. It's seriously made a huge difference for me. I'm sure it's made a difference for my family because I'm getting better sleep. And, um, probably a lot more able to do things and in a better mood when I wake up. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me on the contact form on our website. There's always a link in the video descriptions and in the podcast audio descriptions. There's going to be one from now on to our website. And I'll put links for all these different things where you can get them. Full disclosure, if you order these with the link, I think I get like points. I get points or something that then when I order them again, it gives me a discount. Also the oils, if you order them using the link I put in, I think if it works the way I think it works, it'll, because you have to create an account to order them. It will put your account on my team and it will count towards my team's total. I don't, I don't have much of a team, but anyway, just full disclosure, I will get some benefit from those two things. The other things are just things I ordered on Amazon and I'll put links to everything in the, in the show notes. So I hope that's helpful for you. I hope you have a great week and please do something nice for somebody else that lightens their burden a little bit. We could all use more of that in this world. Thanks.