Question from a member of our community:
Joey, can you get PPPD and vertigo when you have broken sleep?
My simple answer would be: yes. I don’t know if it’s a direct causal link, but certainly fatigue and being tired does lead to more active symptoms and it does disregulate the nervous system a bit when it’s commonly occurring. So I guess my response is: it doesn’t really matter what came first or what’s happening, I think, it’s just really healthy to perhaps invest some time and energy into nourishing and nurturing your sleeping patterns because the more rested we are, the more the nervous system can self-regulate and we can co-regulate with our loved ones, and we can begin to use neuroplasticity to build those new maps of finding steadiness.
So my two recommendations, if you’d like them, would be to be really graceful and gentle with yourself with regards to tiredness and fatigue. There is no shame. It’s not your fault. Lots of us lose sleep from time to time. And sometimes we cannot change or avoid that, especially if it’s with mothering young children, for example. So it’s okay to be tired, be really gentle and be aware of any shame spirals that are coming in to sort of aggravate an already tender time.
And secondly, if you’re in the rock steady program, try the sleep skills, try some of those body scanning tools that are aimed to replace sleep. So if we can’t force sleep and we can’t magically make sleep happen, what can we do as a sleep replacement and begin to use some of those tools and incorporate them, live by them and see if you can help reintroduce sleep, which is what I’m seeing in so many of my rock steady clients is they’re getting back a good night’s sleep and it’s no longer a problem anymore. So I think nurturing the tiredness and having skills and tools to replace sleep, and just trust that when you are ready, your body will bring back that beautiful sleeping pattern.
