Lupus and Sleep

Hey, come on in! Nice to meet you. [INTERPOSING VOICES] Let's move over here. Oh, wow, look at that. Woo! OK, lupus slumber party, girls. Get comfortable.

I'm trying. I'm moving.

OK, we have our blanket. We have our pajamas. Wait, do you have that snuggly blanket that you need?

Oh, this is mine. This is my [INAUDIBLE].

So if it is the lupus slumber party, is it daytime or nighttime? Who knows?

It's whenever you can sleep time. [LAUGHTER]

And what do you guys do about noise, or hot and cold? There's so many issues that affect my sleep.

Oh, gosh.

KIM SCHOFIELD:Well, I sleep with a fan.

So do I.

So do I.

KIM SCHOFIELD:Because, A, for the noise.

The noise.

KIM SCHOFIELD:And also because it actually cools your body temperature down.

Yeah.

And it helps with flaring.

Where have you been my whole life?

Right.

Tired. [LAUGHTER] I've also found that if I took a nice warm shower in the evening, that kind of winds me down, and it starts to set me-- that my body starts saying, OK, it's time to go to bed.

Epsom salt also helps with the pain. And a warm Epsom salt bath helps, and it'll help relax you. And that's definitely helped me. And stretching. Stretching is big.

And I start to de-stress. I start to kind of breathe a little slowly. I kind of lay down and get myself in position, start moving a little bit, to just calm me down a little bit. Because stress is so overwhelming, and it keeps you tight. So I may put on a little jazz, and some soft music.

Dim the lights.

I want to go to your house to sleep.

Dim those lights a little bit.

It sounds good over there.

Yeah.

But I know that's like Lupus Joke of the Day, though.

Yes.

Try to de-stress. So then you're going, I will not stress, I will not stress, I will not stress.

Exactly.

I must sleep. I must sleep. I must sleep.

You need to sleep right now!

That's where deep breathing does help.

OK. That's good. And I find, too--

Slow, deep breathing.

Like I, for one, I learned to hide my clock. Because that clock, it is evil.

Yes.

CHRISTINE MISERANDINO: Because you look at it, and then all of a sudden, you go, that's a half-hour of less sleep I just got.

Yep. Exactly.

I have to wake up in five hours. In four hours. In three hours. And it's the countdown to evil wake-up time.

Yeah.

So I actually learned to put my clock somewhere that I can't see it. Because I can't see it-- That's a good idea.

That's a great idea.

And I found that, too, an eye mask? It's the same idea of turning off your phone.

Yes.

CHRISTINE MISERANDINO: Because if I can't see the shadows or the dust on the fan, or all the things that are going to distract me--

That's true.

CHRISTINE MISERANDINO: If I'm forced to close my eyes, I've found-- you know, blindfold me and put me to bed. Because if I can't see it, it's not bothering me.

Yes.

That's right.

And it might sound silly, but you've got to find what works for you. But these little things help so much.

Well, for me, I have a lot of hip pain. And I have basically had to learn how to sleep on my back.

Do you use a lot of pillows to kind of prop your--

Yes, I sleep on two pillows.

I sleep on my side because of my hips. So I kind of use a lot of pillows on my side.

Right.

Yes. Even for my breathing, when I had swelling around my lungs or whatever, I've found that when I was a little more propped up and not so flat, that helped me breathe better.

Yeah.

Or putting pillows under your ankles helps, because the ankles are swelling.

Exactly.

I usually sleep with pillows under my ankles

Look at me. I didn't know that. [LAUGHTER] I'm so glad we did this. Because we're over here, going, oh, we've got to lift our ankles.

Right.

OK.

OK, girls, so I've heard that exercise is supposed to help you sleep at night.

Yes.

Yeah.

Really?

[LAUGHTER]

Yes.

We're not buying it over here, so convince us.

Yoga.

Yes.

Stretching,

calming kind of things, definitely helps. Like, I started doing the hot water class, and it's-- the water temperature's like 97 degrees and above.

Oh, wow.

And you get in there-- it feels so good. And water's just amazing for arthritis, and especially warm water. And so I get in there and stretch, or even stretching on the bed. Like I'll just-- pulling your knees up to your chest.

That's what I do. I kind of do the range of motion, move the joints back a little bit. I stretch a little bit. I bend. And do a little light stretching.

Yeah.

Do you do it in the morning? Or do you do it in--

I do it right before I go to bed.

OK.

ROBIN DANIEL: And in the morning.

KIM SCHOFIELD: And in the morning, first thing in the morning.

Probably helps you go, huh?

Before you even get out of the bed.

Definitely.

I can't-- I have no range of motion as soon as I wake up. Like, I have to stretch.

I feel like the Tin Man. Like, oil can!

I know.

I need to be oiled! So I guess these things help.

Yes, they do.

And I've heard that exercise during the daytime gets out that energy so that at night, you are thoroughly exhausted and ready for sleep.

OK.

CHRISTINE MISERANDINO: All these things are so important. So if I can do two or three of them--

You'll see a difference.

I think that's good. But I have to say, girls, just talking about all this? I'm exhausted.

Seriously.

I think we need to go back to sleep.

Let's go.

I'm with you.

Let's go.

OK.

I'm down.