Improving sleep

Sleep can help your body cope with the physical and emotional demands of cancer treatment. You may find your sleep is affected by worry, pain (e.g. after surgery), nausea, hormonal symptoms (e.g. hot flushes), and some medicines (e.g. steroids). If you aren’t as physically active during treatment, your body may not be as tired and you could find it harder to sleep. Feeling sad or depressed can also make it difficult to sleep well at night.

Listen to our podcasts on Managing Cancer Fatigue and Sleep and Cancer

Ways to improve sleep

• Go to bed and get up at the same time every day.
• Do some physical activity every day, but avoid exercising two hours before going to bed.
• Put screens (mobile phone, tablet, computer or TV) away an hour before bedtime and do something relaxing – have a bath, read, listen to music or drink a glass of warm milk.
• Avoid coffee, tea, chocolate and cola after early afternoon.
• Avoid alcohol before bed. It may seem to help you relax and fall asleep, but it can keep you in the lighter sleep stages and rob you of deep sleep.
• Don’t eat big meals late at night as indigestion can interfere with sleep.
• Try not to sleep during the day. If you can’t stay awake, limit naps to 30 minutes.
• Use relaxation practices, such as Cancer Council’s relaxation recording, before bed.
• Keep your bedroom dark, cool and quiet.
• If you can’t sleep, get up and sit on the couch until you feel sleepy again. Avoid turning on bright lights, TV or reading, as these may wake you up more.