The Sleepless Itch

Having identified the "dehydrated itch", let's talk about rashes and itchiness arising from lack of sleep.

I have bouts of insomnia. This has been far more so as I have been taking antihistamines to make me sleep and reduce the itch I feel when in bed.

Right now I have had a 2 week spell of sleep deprivation. Although I am relaxed specific parts of my body take it in turn to feel itchy - body/leg/arm/neck. I can drink lots of water and not much seems to happen. Putting ice on the area will alleviate the symptoms temporarily but the BEST medicine here is sleep.

What Happens to the Body Physiology When it Does not Sleep?
Having looked up this question, it is well documented that within the body sleep deprivation causes:

• A decrease in core body temperature
• A decrease in immune system function as measured by white cell count and activity
• A decrease in the release of growth hormone
• Other hormone imbalances (look up sleep deprivation physiology)
• Enhanced activity on the Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. This controls reactions to stress and regulates body functions such as digestion, the immune system, mood, sex, or energy usage

So the above therefore will give some indications that sleep deprivation is associated with many chronic diseases/disorders such as weight loss, heart conditions, growth and more.

Sleep and Eczema
So now focus on the bullet point about the enhanced activity of the Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and that this decreases the immune system functions.

Sleep becomes an extremely important factor in order for the skin in eczema to repair itself and become more resilient to the rash symptoms. Studies have shown that the ability to heal is thus reduced when we are sleep starved.

It is no wonder that my skin feels so poor. Fortunately, last night I finally had a continuous sleep period of 9 hours and today my skin feels better. It is amazing how one night out of so many sleepless nights can make my body feel so much better.

Pharmcies out there - we need a cream to make our skin feel calm when we don't sleep!

Reprogramming Insomnia

The skin is looking much better and slowly beginning to look like normal skin.

The only problem now is the insomnia. An eczema sufferer can suffer long bouts of sleepless nights due to the itching and scratching. I've learnt to exist on 3-4 hours sleep a night sometimes only 1 or 2 hours during the weekdays and then try to do a catch up on the weekend.

Having done this since January, my head seems stuck in the habit. No matter what time I go to bed, I lay there restless but seem to doze off just before the alarm goes off at 07:00. Sometimes I go to bed in the early evening, tired. I doze off but then find I am awake after an hour and then the sleeplessness continues.

Sleep is so important for healing to occur so need to reprogram. Will to try to wake up at the same time every day. No more lie ins and early nights.