If you are like me and struggle with sleep at home or in hospital this is the post for you. Let’s talk sleep and insomnia. Tackle sleep deprivation while in hospital. Read tips for better sleep to maintain your sanity and assist your recovery.

How To Avoid Disrupted Sleep In Hospital

Sleeping while in hospital is a challenge. As a Heart / lung transplant patient you may be ill, in pain, recovering from surgery or all of these. As a patient you are perhaps on medications which cause insomnia. If you are a family member staying with a patient then you may be anxious, grieving, exhausted, bored and uncomfortable too. Hospitals are 24/7 busy, noisy places of work. The opposite of a restful and relaxing environment suitable for a patient. 

If you are a heart / lung transplant patient staying at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney you will be in a four bed ward. Each ward does not have a door to close off noise and bright lights from the corridor. Clinical checks and observations among 4 patients in a room causes constant disruptions to sleep, rest and ultimately recovery.  

What Is The Impact Of Sleep On Recovery

Sleep is very important to recovery and healing. In fact sleep is recognised as essential during and after illness or surgery. Sleep is vital to our cognitive, respiratory, and immune function. Sleep plays a crucial role in the body’s healing process. During sleep, the body repairs tissues, boosts the immune system, and consolidates memories. It is a time for the body to rest and recharge, allowing it to recover from illness or injury more effectively. Getting an adequate amount of quality sleep is essential for overall well-being and plays a significant role in the healing journey. Importantly, after illness and surgery, sleep can even affect our ability to manage or tolerate pain. 

What Is Insomnia And Its Symptoms 

Insomnia is the opposite of sleep. It is the lack of sleep. As you know, sleep is important to our overall well-being and daily functioning. Insomnia includes all the sleep-related difficulties such as trouble falling or staying asleep, undesired early morning waking, resisting sleeping, and difficulty sleeping without a medicinal help. Sleeplessness or insomnia will also result in daytime symptoms as well.

Daytime symptoms of insomnia can include feelings of fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and memory problems due to the lack of quality sleep. This can affect one’s performance at work, school, or in social settings, potentially leading to a higher risk of accidents.

Moreover, insomnia can also have implications for mental health and behaviour. It may contribute to irritability, hyperactivity, or aggressiveness, especially in children. Recognizing and addressing the symptoms of insomnia is crucial in order to improve sleep quality and overall health. 

I have always admired those who can fall asleep anywhere, anytime on anything. I envy them!!

Tips For Better Hospital Sleep

1. Get Comfortable: Bring your own pillow, blanket, and earplugs to make your hospital bed feel more like home. Consider using an eye mask to block out any bright lights. Check out the earlier post on What You Need For An Organ Transplant which details what you might pack in your hospital bag.
2. Negotiate, Negotiate, Negotiate:  Talk to the nurses on duty and discuss the timing of medication delivery and clinical observations to maximise your rest and avoid being disturbed. For example, if you are due for an observation at 2 am in the morning you can negotiate with your nurse. Perhaps request that when you wake up naturally during the night (due to noise or needing the bathroom) that you will press the call button so they can do your observations then rather than waking you up when, you most likely have just fallen asleep. 
3. Limit Stimulants: Avoid consuming caffeine, sugary foods and drinks close to bedtime, as they can interfere with your ability to fall asleep. Instead, opt for a soothing herbal tea or warm milk (with honey) to help you relax.
4. Stay Active During the Day: Engage in light physical activity during the day to help tire your body out and promote better sleep at night. Not that you will be likely to feel like it but it is best to avoid strenuous exercise close to bedtime.
5. Practice Relaxation Techniques: Consider trying deep breathing exercises,  or meditation before bed to help calm your mind and body for sleep. See below for my favourite resources which got me through over 288 days in hospital in 2023.

Once you get home you might like to add in the following tips:

1. Establish a Routine: Try to stick to a sleep schedule by going to bed and waking up at the same time each day. This can help regulate your body’s internal clock and improve your overall sleep quality.
2. Have a Hot Bath or Shower  to relax your mind, body and soul to prepare for sleep.
3. Talk to Your Healthcare Provider: If you are experiencing severe sleep disturbances due to pain or transplant medications, talk to your healthcare provider. They may be able to adjust your medication or provide additional medicinal support to help you get better rest.

4 Tips For Better Sleeping In Hospital

Communicate With Hospital Staff

As a heart / lung transplant patient you will be on a strict medications regime/schedule. Antirejection and transplant related medications are realistically scheduled during the day so that it is manageable when you get home. With this in mind, you can request that you are not woken up for other medications. 

As an example, after my heart transplant, I had panadol scheduled 6 hourly. A nurse woke me up at 4am to administer panadol as scheduled. However, I was finally sleeping despite the pain. Once I was awake I was unable to get back to sleep. I politely requested that this not be repeated. In future, if I was awake due to pain I would ask for Panadol. The nurses were always amazingly supportive, understanding and flexible. When you communicate what your needs are respectfully to staff you begin to work together as a team.  

Listen To Music or White Noise

If you can’t sleep you may be able to listen to podcasts, music or deep dive into meditation. At the very least it is carving out some space for yourself to rest and mentally recover via the diversion. At the end of this post I have provided a few music/meditation resources I used during the 280 plus days I spent in hospital in 2023. 

Consider Taking A Sleeping Tablet

Medical staff know that sleep is important for recovery. They also acknowledge that getting adequate sleep in hospital is a challenge, if not impossible. Do not feel embarrassed or ashamed to ask for a sleeping tablet to help you sleep. 

Anti rejection medication is known to cause sleeplessness, particularly Prednisone. You may even consider asking your GP or Transplant Consultant to prescribe a sleeping tablet for when you go home after the transplant. 

Scheduled Medications In Hospital

If you need to be readmitted to hospital you will need to take a list of all your regular medication.  Be sure that you add any sleeping tablets to your list of medications before you arrive at the hospital. This way the Registrar adds the sleeping tablet to your medications to be routinely dispensed. 

Be aware, if a sleeping tablet is not scheduled upon hospital admission you will not be able to get it administered during the night on the ward. A Doctor will need to firstly review your notes or see you to prescribe a sleeping tablet.

You may have experienced the frustration of asking for a sleeping tablet. There is always a delay while it is chartered and obtained. This may mean that while you wait for the sleeping tablet to arrive, you will be awake to greet the sunrise anyway. This makes you feel as grumpy as a grizzly bear interrupted during hibernation. 

Playlists For Better Rest In Hospital

In the darkest of moments, distraction via music, white noise or guided meditation is a blessing. The following Suggested SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS helped me out during my many hospital admissions, particularly when over tired and lacking resilience. 

I particularly like the Schumann Resonance as it is linked to scientific research. A 7.83 Hz frequency is an alpha/theta brainwave frequency in the human brain. Mother Earth’s natural heartbeat rhythm is also the frequency of 7.83 Hz. This 7.83 Hz frequency is known as the “Schumann Resonance”. Alpha/Theta brainwave frequency is observed to create a relaxed, dreamy, sleepy state. Cell regeneration and healing happens while we are relaxed which is difficult to achieve while in hospital, ill, and recovering from surgery.

WHITE NOISE:

7.83Hz Schumann Earth’s electromagnetic field for healing

Binaural Beats: Brainwave Frequencies

Sleepy Rain by SPOTIFY  13 Hours

MEDITATION: 

Purely Being Guided Meditations

Guided Meditation

Sleep Resources

Whether you are a patient or not, sleep is an important factor in our overall health. If you or someone you know is experiencing persistent sleep issues, seeking guidance from a healthcare professional can be beneficial in managing insomnia effectively. 

While researching for this post, I found a few fantastic online resources: Sleep Foundation,  Sleep Health Foundation

If you have tips on how to sleep in hospital you would like to share please do so in the form below. As always our community loves to hear about your journey.

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