Role of Sleep to Myeloma Patients

What is the role of sleep to myeloma patients?

I think sleep is one of the things that is probably the hardest to come by for myeloma patients versus other cancer patients.

And why is that? Is that we prescribe dexamethasone at very high doses, which can cause insomnia. And I think also just the anxiety. So myeloma patients have unusually high levels of depression, anxiety when compared to other cancers. And so that can affect your sleep being on steroids can exacerbate those conditions and also affect your sleep.

In general, the recommendation is that adults sleep 7 to 9 hours per night.

How do you get yourself to a place you're sleeping? Well, exercising does help you have better sleep for sure. Thinking about the time of day that you eat, trying to have a several hour window before you go to bed, not overstimulating yourself, trying to go to bed at the same time every night, minimizing the use of things like caffeine, in the afternoon and into the evening, creating a ritual, So whether that be music or, not staring at the blue light of your screen or even, taking a shower, some process that gets you ready for bed and getting up at the same time so that your body gets used to a specific rhythm.

Just because you started a dose of 20 or 40 milligrams of dexamethasone doesn't mean you need to stay at that dose, particularly if it's very disruptive to your life and your wellness, so talking with your doctor, making sure they understand the effects of the medications that you're taking so that you can get the rest that you need.

Myeloma treatment is long term and occupies regular induction regimen the majority of an entire year of your life. That's a long time, to go without sleep. So that's a very important quality of life and wellness measure.