I suffer from chronic fatigue, have been for the better part of the last decade or so. It's not that I don't sleep enough (I average 8-9hrs in bed), but I don't seem to get restful sleep. I often wake up feeling like I've been run over by a truck, not seldom head-achy. I wake up a lot during the night, but never have trouble falling back asleep.
A sleep study earlier this year didn't shed any real light on this. I don't have sleep apnea. They found slight restless leg, but otherwise no significantly increased arousal or change to my sleep phases.
I don't suffer from frequent nightmares, but I did see an increase in early-night hallucinations that make me jerk out of bed over the last year or so, and I do have occasional night terrors (every several months). I think most of my PTSD symptoms are night-time related. Like increased hypervigilance.
Recently, I've been hurting quite a bit at night with lower back pain and pain in other areas/joints. (not sure if we need a new mattress, this one isn't THAT old yet). Wakes me up often, in addition.
So, bottom-line, I sleep like crap. Lately I've been toying with the idea of getting a weighted blanket and just give it a try. Since it's supposed to help with stress, anxiety etc. What are your experiences? I'm a little worried that it might get too hot (sleeping with the window open is not an option, no A/C available). I also prefer to actually kind of wrap myself, I don't like open ends.
I've also been thinking what else I could change/still try that I haven't tried, yet. My PsyDoc mentioned I could use ear plugs as to not wake up at every slightest sound, but the sheer thought of NOT being able to hear sounds drives my hypervigilance/anxiety through the roof. Not sure if white noise would help... I know we tried it a couple of times, but hubby slept considerably worse when we had it on.
