We are obviously less distracted during night time. We don’t work and we don’t talk to anyone.

There isn’t any type of distraction that can help us forget the pain or discomfort.

Neuropathy can have a negative affect on your sleep in several ways.

For some people,  abnormal sensations or hypersensitivity to touch, particularly in the feet and legs, may make it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep.

They may have trouble falling asleep or they may wake up in the middle of the night from pain or discomfort.

Actual sleep deprivation caused by insomnia can aggravate your peripheral neuropathy symptoms. It can lower your pain threshold and make the neuropathic pain feel worse even though it is the same pain that you felt during lunch.

Neuropathy may also become more noticeable as temperatures change.

When we sleep at night our body temperature usually fluctuates and may go down a bit which can affect the damaged nerves as they can interpret the temperature change as pain or tingling.

This can also lead to poor sleep quality. Not having a quality sleep to begin with, may lead to increased pain perception.

Also remember that the anxiety and the stress we experience as we deal with neuropathy on a daily basis can increase pain signaling and sensation. Our physical and mental health can be directly affected by how we feel.

So if you want to improve the quality of your sleep then you must change sleeping habits and routine by doing at least some of the following suggestions:

Taking warm baths about 30 minutes before you go to bed can relax the body and mind.

Don’t fall asleep as you watch TV in bed. Better to read a book which can get you in that perfect sleeping mode.

Stop drinking caffeinated drinks altogether. If this is too difficult for you then have your last coffee at noon.

No heavy meals before bed time. Have a very light dinner if possible about 5 hours before going to sleep.

Try meditation about an hour before sleep. Just close your eyes for about 10 minutes and think of all of the good things in your life.

Deep breathing exercise can calm the nerves.  Listen to the following video preferably with headphones on :

Your bedroom has to remain dark and quiet with no TV screens, no Iphones or laptops. The darker the environment the better your sleep will become.

It would be wise to go to sleep no later than 22:00 PM. People who sleep very late at night tend to feel much more tired when they wake up and this can obviously have a direct effect on your nerve health.

Need guidance on how to control and manage your neuropathy? Check out my Neuropathy Revolution program 

The post Why does neuropathy get worse at night? first appeared on Mark Fellers' Neuropathy And Nerve Pain Blog.