My husband has PD and he cannot sleep at night. Any suggestions for insomnia?

Sherr

I would like to respond to your question using my own experience as a guide. I have attended a multitude of seminars where health care professionals offer step by step instructions that are supposed to help you sleep. You have probably heard the same recommendations:

• Go to sleep at the same time every night
• Don’t watch TV before you go to sleep
• Don’t eat or drink anything before bedtime
• And so one and so forth …

Speaking for myself, I can not do these things before I sleep. These routines are too rigid for me. I cannot live my life that way. My life is too unstructured.

Instead I have adopted five simple strategies that do help me sleep well every night.

Ear Plugs. It may sound silly, but many people are very sensitive to sounds. Spend a few dollars, even at a dollar store. Buy some wax type ear plugs (like swimmers use). Put them in your ears before you sleep.

White Noise. We turn on an air cleaner at night when we sleep. It is a soothing way to screen out extraneous noise that can put your hormonal system on alert. Noises that come from unknown places in the dark create fear in the body which is bound to keep you awake.

Darken the bedroom. When we started closing the blinds in the bedroom at night, we discovered it is much easier to sleep. For years we looked out the windows at our beautiful view of the Puget Sound, but at the cost of sleeping at night. Darkening the room promotes sound sleep.

Holosync. This is my personal favorite strategy for sleep, though it is the one recommendation that costs a little money. If I am ever unable to sleep, I pop on my holosync ear phones. I am out in two minutes.

Turn Off the Hamster Wheel. A frequent reason for being unable to sleep is the hamster wheel of thoughts that are not in our best and highest good. Make it a practice every night when going to sleep to place these thoughts aside for the evening. Tell your subconscious mind not to worry – that you will re-visit those thoughts in the morning. You literally have to stop the hamster wheel from churning around and around. Do it with clear intention and get that deep sleep that is so essential for recovery.

Robert Rodgers, Ph.D.
Founder 2004
Parkinsons Recovery
Road to Recovery from Parkinsons Disease

© Parkinsons Recovery.