Getting A Good Night's Sleep

Click the link below to the Epilepsy Action website to see Clearly outlined, practical advice on managing fatigue and how to achieve a better night’s sleep.

This resource contains more information about the following topics:

Sleep Hygiene – Optimising conditions for sleep. While sleep cannot be made perfect, even with the best optimisations, improvements can still be made. These optimisations include:

Regular sleep timing – Most people wake up earlier on weekdays than on weekends, however optimum sleep cannot be obtained using this method. Ensuring that you wake up at the same time every day can help to regulate the release of hormones like melatonin, cortisol and growth hormone.

Napping too much – Taking a nap that lasts for too long can disrupt sleep when trying to sleep at night. If you take a nap at 2pm, and wake up at 6pm, it is very likely that you will not be tired enough to sleep at midnight.

Sleep environment – This is ensuring that your surroundings do not distract you while you try to sleep, for example: the bedroom should be dark, there should be no distracting noise, you should feel comfortable in bed, and you should avoid doing stressful activities like work in bed to disconnect work from sleep.

Do not force sleep – Staying in bed for long periods of time while trying to sleep can be stressful and can therefore attribute going to sleep with feelings of anxiety and worry. Try to go to bed only when sleepy.

Avoid certain activities before bed – exercising before bed because it can stimulate energy spikes (although exercise earlier in the day can promote a good night’s sleep). Also, avoiding caffeine and alcohol should be enforced before bed because of their tendency to disrupt sleep.