Skin Cancer and Insomnia

It is very common for people with cancer to have problems with sleeping at night. This may be because of general anxiety, fears about treatment or worries about the future. All of these reasons are very understandable but they can lead to insomnia with either difficulty in getting off to sleep or waking up during the night and having trouble dropping off again.

If this continues and starts to affect your quality of life then you could chat to your General Practitioner about the possibility of tablets to help you sleep. Many people, however, prefer to avoid sleeping pills and there are a number of tips to offer about ways of helping to get a good night's rest which you might like to try as an alternative. These include:

• establish a regular routine of going to bed at about the same time each night and waking up about the same time each morning

• if you are able to manage some regular, gentle, exercise during the day (such as having a walk for half an hour) then this can help deepen sleep

• a warm bath just before bedtime, with the addition of soothing oils or essences (such as lavender oil or geranium oil) is very relaxing

• a warm, milky, drink just before bedtime will avoid hunger during the night, which can disturb sleep

• alcohol can make you feel sleepy but it often disrupts the sleeping pattern during the night so avoid large amounts of wine or spirits just before bedtime

• tea, coffee and cola drinks all act as stimulants and are best avoided for a few hours before going to bed as they tend to keep you awake

• some people find that a few drops of lavender oil sprinkled on their pillow helps them relax and sleep better

• if you sleep a lot during the day try seeing if you can cut back a bit on daytime naps

• work out just how much sleep you need in order to feel refreshed the next day and avoid spending too long in bed as trying to sleep too much can actually lead to disturbed and shallow sleep

• if you wake up during the night and can't get back to sleep after a few minutes and are unable to relax (just lying quietly can still be very restful if you are relaxed but not if you are tense and worrying) then try reading a book or watching television for a while or listening to tapes, like talking books, on a personal stereo or make a hot drink

Although sleep disturbance is quite normal and understandable for people who are worried about their cancer occasionally insomnia can be a sign of underlying 'clinical' depression which does need medical treatment and can be very much helped by simple medication. Key symptoms of depression include:

• a low mood for most of the time

• not feeling your usual self

• not being able to be taken out of your low mood by yourself or your friends

• loss of interest or enjoyment in your favourite activities as pastimes

If you are experiencing these problems as well as your sleeping difficulty then it would definitely be worth having a word with your doctor to check on whether or not you are developing depression..

Find more about skin cancer on our blog http://seborrheic-keratoses.com/f-a-q/
You are also invited to ask us any question that you have about skin cancer, seborrheic keratosis or other skin problems.

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