March is Sleep Awareness Month — a great time to remind ourselves why sleep is so important. Quality, restful sleep can be especially challenging for those battling chronic conditions like MS and RA causing your symptoms to flare and overall well-being to crash.
How Sleep Affects Your Physical and Mental Health
Sleep Affects Brain Health
If you’ve ever had a few late nights in a row, you know what happens. You start to feel sluggish. You have trouble remembering things. Your reactions are slower. Tasks that are normally a cinch seem difficult.
That’s because sleep is the time when your brain prepares for the next day by committing short-term memory to long-term memory. Sleep also helps our problem-solving skills by forging pathways in the brain that can help us make new connections.
If we skip rest, we miss these benefits. On top of that, we suffer a range of other symptoms: difficulty making decisions, trouble controlling our emotions, lowered impulse control and our brains might be unable to control pain responders — especially important to someone on Remicade treating their RA. If your RA symptoms are disrupting your nightly zzz’s, consider speaking to your doctor about adjusting the timing of your pain medicine doses.
Sleep Affects Our Bodies
On top of our mental health, sleep also plays an important role in how our bodies function. Sleep is involved in regulation of hormones that control appetite, fat storage, growth, the immune system and more. If you’re skimping on sleep, you’re likely not feeling as well as you could.
For our bodies, rest is involved with in healing and repair, but for those dealing with MS symptoms like restless body or legs syndrome and narcolepsy, restful sleep may seem out of their grasp. Developing a consistent bedtime routine might result in better quality sleep each night. Try to go sleep and wake up each day around the same time (even on the weekends!), limit your caffeine intake and make sure your daily exercise is complete 4-6 hours before bedtime.
Chronic Condition Treatment at IVX Health
If your treatment regimen includes biologic infusion or injection therapies such as Remicade or Ocrevus, consider IVX Health for your care. We offer appointments that fit your schedule (days, evenings and weekends) in comfortable private suites so you can enjoy your time while receiving treatment. If you’re ready to experience how we are redefining care for patients with chronic conditions, contact us to schedule an appointment at one of our many convenient locations.
Treatment at IVX Health
If biologics like Remicade, Actemra or Orencia are a part of your chronic illness treatment plan, then consider choosing IVX Health for your ongoing care needs. IVX Health makes it possible to receive your therapy in a comfortable, convenient, and private environment.
With a private suite for every patient, you can watch your favorite Netflix show or movie on the big screen TV in each room, use a laptop or other mobile device to surf the web, or simply hang out with family and friends. We always have chairs for guests, and each center has a family room that is spacious and private if you need to bring your kids to your treatment. We also offer flexible appointment scheduling – including evenings and Saturdays – at any of our convenient locations.
At IVX Health, we truly are invested in helping you live your best life. If you’re ready to experience a new kind of infusion clinic, click here to learn how to move your infusion or injection therapy to IVX Health.