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I've been exhausted for the last few months, so during vacation 7/9-7/18 I will chart my mood and sleep [1], do a simple daily meditation [2], cut back on chocolate, do only moderate exercise (no MTB), and continue nightly stretching [3].
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Success: Capture mood and sleep data for psychiatrist and psychologist. Evaluate effect of meditation and chocolate on sleep. Observe body/mind changes if any. Ultimate: Sleep better and feel more refreshed. |
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Fixed time frame. After, will continue practices that seem valuable. |
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We're going to North Eastham, MA on the cape, which we are familiar with and always enjoy - beach, bay, mild biking, reading, etc. Be curious about results of experiment. Notice moments of relaxation and feeling refreshed. Laugh as much as possible. |
Tags health, mood, sleep, meditation, stretching, exercise, tracking, bipolar, anxiety
Comments & Observations
Matthew Cornell Re: sleep, I realized that my habit of playing with my iPhone while laying in bad, while relaxing, may be stimulating due to the light. I thought the dimmest setting was dim, but it's actually still pretty bright. My thinking is to use audio - a boring book or podcast - instead.
Re: napping, I've been so exhausted I literally can't stand. But it may not be serving me ("If you must nap, do it in the early afternoon, and sleep no longer than about thirty minutes." [1]) I'll try doing without.
[1] http://helpguide.org/life/sleep_tips.htm
Jul 10, 2010
Matthew Cornell The vacation went pretty well. Results:
o chart mood and sleep: The charting was straightforward. I learned to do it at night when the day was relatively fresh, rather than the next day. Surprises: my mood is off in some way every day - anxiety, irritability, depression. Good data for therapy. I clearly need to continue working on improving sleep. This is a big one.
o simple daily meditation: The impact of this was minor to zilch. We're fighting significant biochemistry here, and, like the last time I tried meditation, biochemistry wins. I'll not continue the practice.
o Cut back on chocolate: I didn't miss the daily drinking chocolate too much, but I'm not sure the impact on sleep. Surprises: A good percentage of my drinking it is out of habit, not out of desire. I'll think about cutting back, but I will allow it back into my day.
o Do only moderate exercise: I think this helped my feeling more energetic. I still feel tired, but not desperately so. I did about three hour-long rides. [Related: back pain was significant, which goes against my previous experience of its being related to mountain biking. Needs further work.] I'll add MTB back in once some repairs are done in a week or two.
o Continue nightly stretching: Again, back pain was significant, which makes me question the utility of the stretching. I'll keep at it a while longer, though. A custom routine as a result of analysis of my particular body would be useful, but expensive. A someday/maybe.
o Meds: I added an additional mood-related medication experiment: Gauge the effect on sleep by stopping my Gabapentin/Neurontin rx. Result: I'm not sure about sleep (seemed a little better, but I was on vacation and in a different environment). Re: the impact on mood, things did not get significantly worse. I am more alert, which I like. I'll continue the zero dose for a few weeks, then consider whether to add it back in and notice changes.
Lots of good work here, though I wish the results were more black and white. But that's the way of living and personal science!
Jul 19, 2010