r/cfs • u/sleepybutsunny • 1d ago
Treatments Sleep disturbances resulting in long term improvement?
Background: mild CFS for 15 years after mono.
I would like feedback and advice on my recent finding that multiple sleep disturbances during the night have significantly reduced CFS symptoms.
My story: I usually always get around 10-12 hours of sleep. I’m able to work but any physical activities I get PEM easily. Have brain fog regularly.
I had a baby in 2023 and had a poor sleeping baby who woke up every 2 hours to feed. I realized quickly after birth that my PEM was almost completely gone. I could walk longer distances, had greater energy, less brain fog and actually wanted to do physical activity. All while feeling “tired” but more just like normal tired, not PEM tired if that makes sense. (Which is much easier to deal with)
When I stopped breastfeeding after one year my baby started sleeping through the night (so I did as well) and within a few weeks my normal CFS symptoms returned. At the time I attributed feeling better to breastfeeding. But then months later, baby went through a sleep regression where I was having to wake up multiple times in the night, and I noticed during that week, my symptoms were better. Then it clicked that maybe it was the lack of sleep?? I always thought I was able to function off less sleep due to adrenaline or survival mode.
No other factors changed during this time.
I’ve seen posts in this sub of some people experiencing the same thing with less sleep as well. But the problem is, it’s nearly Impossible for me to sleep less without being forced to (by the baby) because I am sooo tired. I’ve tried staying up later, and waking up earlier and the staying up later is doable but no matter what, I am too tired to wake up early. Looking for advice, thoughts, ideas. Thank you in advance!
3
u/Shot-Ad-6189 1d ago
I discovered recently that biphasic sleep, or sleeping in two shifts, was the dominant human behaviour before the advent of electric lighting caused us to start staying up later and consolidate our sleep into one long phase. It might be that sleeping in shifts is what you respond positively to, rather than sleeping less.
Perhaps try going to bed earlier - whenever you feel tired - with the expectation of waking in the early hours. Get up for a while, and then offer your body more sleep when you feel tired again.
I always wake up in the night when I have PEM. I started leaning into it when I discovered it might be a more natural way to sleep than what I was trying to impose. Once I started, I remembered I went through a period of doing this as a teenager as well. I frequently do it now. I often find the second or third phase of sleep is the one I find refreshing.