Sleep Pattern

 

 

 

Of all the silly, crazy things multiple sclerosis does to your body during the day, the fun doesn’t stop when the sun goes down.

Heck no!

With a shift change, the MS Night Crew clocks in & takes over for even more merry mischief.

 

 

While most MS-free folks are peacefully drooling into their pillows, those with MS experience a buffet of nightly symptom activity.

I, for one, have the usual mid-night potty run.  But also spasms, jerks, jumpiness, tossing, turning, cramping, numbness, itchiness, scratching, stretching, thinking, freting, rooting & nesting.

It’s enough to exhaust a zoomba class.

 

 

A Fitbit would overheat trying to track my sleepy-time activity!

 

It is for this reason my wife  I sleep in separate beds.

She needs her rest as she must work all day…while I do what it is I do all day (Uncertain at this point!).

Which brings me to my next dilemma.

Our spare bedroom, where I rest my ginormous head, has a lovely new pillow-top mattress.

“Pillow-top” is all the rage now.

Cozy & comfy if you sleep steady like a hybernating bear—but if you are an “active” MS sleeper like myself, a pillow-top mattress is like a quicksand deathtrap.

The more you move, the deeper you sink.

 

 

In fact, if it weren’t for the bottom sheet, I might sink all the way to the box springs!

 

A pillow-top mattress reminds me of the packing around an action-figure.  Snug everywhere.  So much so, when I get up–you’ll see the outline of my body on the bed.

 

Speaking of getting up…when you have a full bladder & spasticity, poker-straight legs, I must flail like a turtle on its back…kicking, reaching, clawing at anything to help right myself.

 

My strong, muscular, hairless legs are rendered useless by the soft, cushiness of a pillow-top mattress.

I grab at the sheets, pulling myself sideways, teetering on the mattress edge, before toppeling out of bed & onto the floor below.

It’s my nightly MS struggle from the edge of darkness to the dawn’s early light.

 

Time has taught me to watch my evening consumption of fluid.  A dose of Baclofen before bed as well as a nightly stretching routine have eased my troubles & improved my sleep.

Has MS changed your sleep pattern?  How do you cope?

Day or night, multiple sclerosis goes about its aggravating business with swift, steady detail.

It is up to you to find a sleep routine that works best for your particular situation.

Like reading this post before bedtime—that would make anyone drowsy.

Nighty night.