Navigating Sleep Challenges During Cancer, Alopecia, and Life’s Stresses

Empowering Sleep Strategies & Top Tips:

• Develop a regular sleep routine: Our bodies love routine. To help your body clock get into a rhythm, try to get up at the same time and go to bed at the same time as much as possible. This can really help with cancer and alopecia sleep challenges. Working back from when you need to rise and factoring in 8 hours is a good way to define your bedtime. Mine is 11!

• Get Natural Morning Light: Getting outside during the day to get light exposure, preferably early in the day, also helps us sleep better at night. The light stimulates chemicals that let the body know its daytime, awake time. 20 minutes of sunlight also helps our body to create Vitamin D, something we need and is important for cancer prevention.

• Exercise: as we now know is good for absolutely everything, including sleep. If you can combine natural morning light with a walk or run, you are off to a great start and by default end to your day. Don’t do vigorous exercise before bed though, as it wakes us up.

• Cut Down: Try to avoid or cut down on things that keep you awake and affect sleep quality. Set a cut-off point for stimulants such as caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol as stimulants disrupt sleep and are best kept to the earlier part of the day. 
  • Nicotine: Smoking is a common habit, but its impact on sleep is often underestimated. Nicotine is a stimulant, meaning it can interfere with your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. People who smoke tend to take longer to drift into slumber, wake up more frequently during the night, and experience more disrupted sleep patterns. I understand how challenging it can be to quit smoking. I faced the same struggle following my cancer diagnosis in 1998. If you’re feeling motivated to quit, the HSE offers an excellent free resource to help you kick the habit. Additionally, the Irish Cancer Society provides valuable support through their helpline at 1800 201 203.
  • Alcohol: While a nightcap may seem like a relaxing way to unwind, it’s essential to understand its impact on sleep. While alcohol may help you fall asleep initially, it disrupts the quality of your sleep and can lead to frequent awakenings during the night. Now, I’m not suggesting morning drinking, but if you’re experiencing disrupted sleep, it’s wise to avoid alcohol in the evenings. As an alternative, why not consider joining me for Dry January? If you’re seeking more support, websites like OneYearNoBeer can be valuable resource.
  • Caffeine can make it difficult to fall asleep and it can prevent deep sleep. Drinks with caffeine in them include tea, coffee, energy drinks or soft drinks. Foods can also contain caffeine, such as chocolate and some protein bars. If you have trouble sleeping, avoid caffeine 4 to 6 hours before bed and replace it with calming herbal teas or decaf. Some herbal teas promote sleep like camomile and valerian root.

• Eating: Eating large meals before bed can make it harder to stay asleep. It also prevents your body from doing vital repairs and your brain from filing and processing, as it busy digesting food. Try to have your last meal 3-4 hours before you go to bed. This is also great for weight loss (as is sleep) and for overall brain and immune function. And let’s face it we need our brain and our immune system to be working well, and I’d choose sleep over the gym to help with weight loss!

• Screen Time: We are all hooked on devices these days whether it’s the phone, the television or the tablet! Unfortunately, this blue light tricks our brain into thinking it’s still daytime and prevents our body from producing melatonin, the hormone that puts us to sleep. It’s suggested no devices 1-3 hours before sleep.

• Create a sleep-friendly bedroom environment: Try to have a relaxing space for sleeping. Your sleeping environment can have a huge impact on your sleep. A cool room and warm clothing are better than a hot room for sleeping. Natural fabrics also keep you cool, so be aware of bedclothes and nightwear. If you have lost your hair, the bamboo sleep caps are your ideal sleep companion. Keep the room as dark as possible to let the body know its night time. Use an eye mask if necessary and earplugs if you need to block out noise, like snoring spouses!

• Sleep Routine: Develop a wind-down sleep ritual an hour before bedtime. Just like light signals to the body that it is awake time, darkness signals to the body that it is time for sleep. If we put away the screens and start to dim the lights, our body produces melatonin which supports sleep. You can buy melatonin supplements in the pharmacy or get them for free by giving your brain/body some darkness. Set a time about an hour before you want to go to sleep and start the unwinding process. relax, slow down, turn off the devices, dim the lights and you might like to add a few of the following

• Relaxation: Take a relaxing bath or shower and take the time after to moisturise your skin and your scalp with natural skincare. Natural skincare such as Jennifer Young’s products are full of nutrients and some have essential oils which help the mind and body to relax.

• Yoga: Do some gentle stretches to relax your muscles, such as gentle yoga. Check out Collette from Harte & Soul Wellness, and Jessica Kennedy from Soul Work Holistic.

• Listen: listen to relaxing sounds, for example, guided relaxation or calming music. This option is great as we can often lack motivation when daily stress, cancer and alopecia effect our lives, listening is easy and relaxing, making it perfect to aid your cancer or alopecia sleep challenges. There are lots of resources on Spotify, Headspace, Calm & I particularly like this Soothing Relaxation from YouTube. You could also try doing some deep breathing exercises or meditation to this relaxing music.

• Nourish your senses: To finish off, spritz some calming Lavender Spray on your pillow which will send you off into a deep dreamy slumber – Jennifer Young Products.