Sleep and HIV

A lot of things can affect the CD4 count. These include the time of day it is taken, exercise, diet etc. Stress and lack of sleep can also affect your CD4 count. Let us focus on sleep here.

People with HIV should sleep the normal 7 to 9 hours a day. Our bodies need to rest and recuperate. If we deprive ourselves from sleep we are allowing ourselves to be prone to infections. We tend to be weaker when we lack sleep and we become very vulnerable to illnesses like cold and flu. 

Sleep problems and HIV are common bed fellows. At some point in time, all of us will have problems falling asleep. Be it the stress from a financial problem; the discomfort of soaking night sweats; or the effects of our HIV medications; at one time or another sleep will not come easy. For most it's a short lived problem; resolving on its own in short order. For others, it's a chronic problem that can slowly chip away at a person's sanity. People living with HIV are commonly troubled by sleep problems. From before diagnosis and throughout the stages of illness people living with HIV have sleep problems. This feature discusses the facts about sleep and how sleep problems and HIV are related. Before we can discuss sleep problems and HIV we first need to understand sleep.

Why Do We Need to Sleep?

On average we spend about one third of our life asleep; roughly 8 hours each night. Why do we need to sleep so much? The fact of the matter is sleep is an essential part of our good health. A disruption in the amount or quality of sleep we get takes a toll on mood, energy levels, concentration, and our health in general. Especially important to people with HIV, sleep plays an important role in immune system health and function. And because immune system health is of the utmost importance to those living with HIV, so is the amount and quality of sleep we get each night.

Why Do We Have Problems Sleeping?

Problems sleeping can be caused by a number of different factors some of which are a result of HIV infection. Let's look at how HIV affects your quality of sleep.

• Concern / Anxiety over Illness - having any chronic, potentially life threatening illness will cause concern and anxiety. Fear of the unknown; not knowing what your health will be like in 10 years, 5 years, or next week results in increasing anxiety and worry, both of which negatively impacts your sleep quality and quantity.

• Financial Concerns - because your health status is sometimes uncertain, your ability to work and make a living may be uncertain as well. Any uncertainty regarding where your next paycheck is coming from or if you will be able to pay your mortgage next month will result in anxiety, worry, and sleep difficulty.

• HIV Medications - the very medications that help people live longer can also make it more difficult for those same people to sleep. For instance, the HIV medication Sustiva (efavirenz) causes insomnia in a small percentage of people who take the medication.

• The Effects of HIV on the Body - HIV affects your body in many ways. The pain, numbness, and burning of peripheral neuropathy and the damp, clammy nuisance of night sweats can both interrupt your sleep. In addition to that, any opportunistic infection will make you feel lousy, making it difficult to get a good night's sleep.

Insomnia, Depression and Fatigue

Among HIV-positive people insomnia, depression, and fatigue form a very common triad of symptoms, all related to one another and all of which can impact a person's ability to get a good night sleep. Insomnia, the inability to fall asleep makes fatigue and depression worse while either depression or fatigue can make insomnia worse. Depression is commonly characterized by an inability to fall asleep or stay asleep during the night. What's more, after waking in the middle of the night, people suffering from depression find it difficult to fall back asleep. And to make matters worse, some medications that treat depression can impact your ability to get a good night sleep. A lack of quality, recuperative sleep results in fatigue during the day, making it difficult to work, go to school, or carry on your day to day activities. Simple tasks we take for granted become a huge drain on an already stressed body. Being fatigued can impact the body's ability to fight off infection and illness, making the body more at risk for HIV complications.

Many sleep problems can be improved by changing your sleep habits, reducing stress, improving your diet or exercising. If problems persist, it may be time to seek professional help.

• Consume less or no caffeine, nicotine and alcohol. Watch out for the caffeine in soft drinks and chocolate as well as in coffee. Nicotine can inhibit sleep as well. Although alcohol may initially cause sleepiness, it can interrupt your sleep later in the night because alcohol becomes a stimulant when the body metabolizes it.

• Exercise regularly, but do so in the daytime. Exercising regularly can greatly improve the quality of your sleep and increase the amount of deep sleep, but do it at least three hours before bedtime. Some people may need to exercise up to six hours before bedtime in order to allow themselves enough time to unwind. The best time to exercise to benefit sleep is in the afternoon.

• Don't stay in bed tossing and turning. If you can't go to sleep after 30 minutes, get up and involve yourself in a relaxing activity until you feel sleepy. Remember, try to clear your mind; don't use the time to solve your daily problems.

• Go to bed at the same time every night and get up the same time every morning. This is one area where the body craves consistency. Don't sleep in on the weekends to make up for lost sleep. If you do end up suffering from sleep deprivation during the week, go to bed earlier but get up at the same time on Saturday and Sunday.

• Establish a regular bedtime routine, such as walking the dog, taking a bath, and reading a book. It doesn't matter what you do. Just be consistent and your routine will signal your brain that it's time to snooze.

• Use the bedroom for sleeping or sex only. Leave TV-watching, bill-paying and other activities to another part of your home so that your brain associates the bed and bedroom with sleep.

• Try a relaxing routine before bedtime, like soaking in hot water (a hot tub or bath), reading a book, listening to relaxing music, or practicing deep breathing. You can also try drinking a glass of warm milk, which is high in L-tryptophan (a natural sedative).

• Drink less fluids before going to sleep.

• Avoid heavy meals and foods and drinks high in sugar close to bedtime.
• Use sleeping pills sparingly or not at all. Although sleeping pills are temporarily helpful for addressing sleep disorders, they should be used for the shortest possible time, and in the smallest effective dose. Sleep-promoting medications can eventually cause sleep disturbance, side effects, a sleep "hangover" during the day, and dependency on the drug.

Sleep is an important part of a healthy life especially for people living with HIV. A healthy body is a well rested body. If you have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep if it's for just a few nights, speak with your doctor and get that good nights sleep you so desperately need.




Credits:

http://aids.about.com/od/otherconditions/a/Sleep-Problems-And-Hiv.htm
www.thebody.com/content/art32801.html

                                                                   

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