My Bedtime Routine

Sleep is the devil. I wear a fitbit for two reasons, to monitor my sleep and to make sure I don’t go overboard with activity.

Up until a year ago, I was pretty excited if I managed to hit even close to 8 hours of sleep in a night without the help of Ambien.

To get just six hours of sleep in a night I’d often have to be in bed (trying to sleep) for at least nine hours, if not twelve. It was frustrating.

That lack of sleep contributed to increased fatigue and increased pain. It has always seemed to me that sleep is at the root of fibromyalgia issues.

Over the years I’ve tried just about everything to help improve my sleep and it seemed like some things would help a bit, or would help for a while, it just never lasted or helped enough to be worthwhile. It took a lot of effort to get a good night’s sleep.

• Exercise

I know we are all tired of hearing about the importance of exercise, but I do sleep better on the days that I get a reasonable amount of exercise.

For me that doesn’t mean walking all day or being super active. It just means that I walk a mile in the morning and get some steps in throughout the day (usually a total of 4000-5000 steps).

• Turn down the lights

When the sun goes down I don’t typically turn on lights in the house. I try to keep light at a minimum. The truth is I’m not really a fan of unnatural light. And, any light in the bedroom when I’m trying to sleep can be detrimental to my ability to fall asleep.

• Take melatonin

I found that a really small dose of melatonin helps me fall asleep easier. I learned the hard way that a) too much is a bad thing and b) you really do need to take it at least 2 hours prior to bedtime to give it time to get in your system properly.

• Take a bath before bed

Taking a bath helps me relax and prepare my mind for bedtime (by getting out from in front of the tv).

Check out  my tips to a perfect pain/stress relieving bath.

• Drink a cup of Serenitea

Drinking a cup of tea is part of my bathtime ritual. But, even if for some reason I can’t take a bath I still drink my tea. I prefer Serenitea because I’ve found that it really does help me relax better.

Read my full review of Serenitea.

• Take FibroSleep

FibroSleep is one of those meds that I found helped for a while. It actually helped me fall asleep and stay asleep for about two months. I was only able to take a half dose due to one of the ingridients, and eventually I stopped taking it altogether as it stopped working.

Read my full review of FibroSleep.

• Use Qi of Calm lotion from Resonant Botanicals

Qi of Calm lotion is specifically designed to help reduce stress and anxiety. However, what I found it most helpful for was decreasing the burning nerve pain that often seems to strike me right at bedtime.

It’s hard to fall asleep when you’re uncomfortable, and burning pain is definitely not comfortable. Using this before bed, means I can relax more instead of trying to tune out pain.

• Liberty Lixir 1000 CBD Tincture 

I’d tried a lot of products and when I tried CBD oil I really didn’t expect anything. I hoped that maybe I’d experience some pain relief or maybe some sleep improvement, but I got far more than I hoped for.

Within just a few nights of taking CBD before bed I was sleeping soundly. Instead of laying awake reading for hours, I was falling asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Instead of reading half a book a night, I did good to finish a chapter.

Even better, I stayed asleep throughout the night and woke up refreshed.

The best part, though, was that this has continued. After a year and a half taking CBD oil before bed I continue to sleep well. Ambient light bothers me less and noise is less likely to wake me up. Plus, I wake up feeling refreshed.

And, I’m doing it in a lot less time. I no longer need to spend 12 hours in bed just to get 8 hours of sleep.

Read my full review of Liberty Lixir CBD Oil

Needless to say, my bedtime routine has changed a lot in the last year.

I’m no longer spending an hour in the bath reading, while drinking my tea, followed by supplements to help me sleep, then another hour or more reading in bed.

Instead, I take my bedtime meds, followed by a dropper of CBD oil and then I go to bed. I read for 10-15 minutes (if I make it that long) and then I’m asleep.

Sometimes I take a bath, but it’s out of choice instead of necessity.

That’s my bedtime routine. What’s yours?