Hi, I have a cooling mat and cool smooth cotton sheets for hot weather, and an electric blanket and flannelette sheets and wheatpacks and gel socks for cold weather.
I took Restavit, quarter to 1/6 of a tablet in the evening if I was not sleeping well, (eg during the first week after chemo, or if I had bad indigestion or other keepyouawake symptoms) after a bath.
I also had a good range of things to do for if I woke up. First off is my kindle, with a great collection of novels by my favorite fantasy writers and murder mysteries: if I have to be awake, I want to have something to read to help me get drowsy again. Good books are a lifesaver for me. Second is my great collection of flavored black teas, including peach-scented French Earl Grey, which I got up and made myself if I was too wide awake to get to sleep.
My lovely Burmilla/Siamese cat Lily was always there for me to stroke which soothed me on the nights when it was all too much.
Also, I walked for at least 30 minutes almost every morning (missed a total of about 10 in the entire time since Feb 22 when I began Chemo, and that helps me sleep at night.
Before I got cancer, I worked as a psychologist and counsellor for 30 years. I teach people several tricks for insomnia, and found them useful myself through chemo.. One is that you cannot will yourself to sleep, and the more you try, the more wide awake you will feel. So instead, embrace the drowsiness. Let it soak into you and fill you with that feeling of being so drowlsy you can hardly keep your eyes open, and just be with that. The second is that if you relax your whole body with tensing and relaxing exercises, and relax your mind with meditation, it almost doesn't matter whether you sleep or not, you will refresh yourself through doing this. Thirdly, most people actually sleep at least a couple more hours than they think they do. Researchers found that people often thought they were still awake when in fact they were actually asleep. You can be thinking lucid thoughts yet be asleep. You can be worrying yet be asleep. Maybe you are getting quite a bit more sleep than you think. Don't let worry about lack of sleep add to the problems. Fourthly, if you have had a bad night sleepwise, choose a point in time when you will stop trying to sleep and will let yourself be wide awake, and to get going with the day in whatever way you do. Fifthly, be really gentle on yourself, have some treats put away for bad days, eg little presents of handcream, a new book, favorite music on a cd, etc. and only on bad days are you allowed one. But then let yourself really let it comfort you.
best wishes
