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Pain, Fatigue & ASMR
Feb. 11th, 2019 12:06 amAbout a month ago I went to the doctor for a nerve issue in my upper back and shoulders. I constantly felt like I was standing with my back to an open window, a cold just settling between my shoulders all the time. Having fibro makes me pretty sensitive to new weird potentially nerve related things, and in 2017 a bout of pancreatitis brought on by gallstones was preceded by about two months of shoulder pain. I ended up having my gallbladder out when that happened, so I knew that was unlikely to be the issue unless I was having another round of pancreatitis, which would've been an indicator of something far worse.
The doctor wasn't sure what to make of it but agreed it was likely a pinched nerve or something and prescribed me a z-pac of steroids to see if that would loosen things up and take care of the problem. Thankfully, after a few days and a really thorough back massage by the masseuse that comes into our office once every other week, it seemed to do the trick.
Unfortunately the side effects to a heavy dose of steroids I'm not used to has meant about a month of bad insomnia and getting my period two weeks early (and then it lasted the rest of the month). My body seems to be settling back into order but getting my sleep normal again is a hassle. It's not good in a normal month where my fibromyalgia pain and fatigue is pretty under control.
I've started to lean pretty heavily on pre-bed rituals, like writing and listening to ASMR videos instead of music to help get my head in the right space. Writing before bed can sometimes fight back in a few ways; I stay up too late with a good idea, I feel more awake once I get through the words I wanted to write, or I finish one thing and get hit with ideas for the next one. It's been worse in the past when I'm listening to music, so switching over to having ASMR videos playing in the background has been helpful. I'm strictly of the simple no talking, no roleplaying, dry sounds only kind of ASMR. I need it to sound a little like white noise without actually using white noise.
Are there any other ASMR fans out there?
I know it can be different for everyone like I absolutely can't do wet sounds or talking or anything like that. If it doesn't sound like scratching or soft tapping, I can't do it. But I have discovered that if I really need to focus on sleep that the videos with really distinct hand motions in them also help. I've also realized I'm very partial to videos where there's a single mic, not the ears or the head or whatever else the mics can be built into. ASMR Bakery on YouTube has become my go to for that kind of stuff. But I've started to build a playlist on YouTube of stuff that works for me.
The doctor wasn't sure what to make of it but agreed it was likely a pinched nerve or something and prescribed me a z-pac of steroids to see if that would loosen things up and take care of the problem. Thankfully, after a few days and a really thorough back massage by the masseuse that comes into our office once every other week, it seemed to do the trick.
Unfortunately the side effects to a heavy dose of steroids I'm not used to has meant about a month of bad insomnia and getting my period two weeks early (and then it lasted the rest of the month). My body seems to be settling back into order but getting my sleep normal again is a hassle. It's not good in a normal month where my fibromyalgia pain and fatigue is pretty under control.
I've started to lean pretty heavily on pre-bed rituals, like writing and listening to ASMR videos instead of music to help get my head in the right space. Writing before bed can sometimes fight back in a few ways; I stay up too late with a good idea, I feel more awake once I get through the words I wanted to write, or I finish one thing and get hit with ideas for the next one. It's been worse in the past when I'm listening to music, so switching over to having ASMR videos playing in the background has been helpful. I'm strictly of the simple no talking, no roleplaying, dry sounds only kind of ASMR. I need it to sound a little like white noise without actually using white noise.
Are there any other ASMR fans out there?
I know it can be different for everyone like I absolutely can't do wet sounds or talking or anything like that. If it doesn't sound like scratching or soft tapping, I can't do it. But I have discovered that if I really need to focus on sleep that the videos with really distinct hand motions in them also help. I've also realized I'm very partial to videos where there's a single mic, not the ears or the head or whatever else the mics can be built into. ASMR Bakery on YouTube has become my go to for that kind of stuff. But I've started to build a playlist on YouTube of stuff that works for me.
