If you've been around here any amount of time, you know I have sleep issues. I typically never sleep longer than six hours but in stressful times, I sleep closer to four to five hours. I have always had a racing mind that seems to unload right when I hit the pillow. I'll catch up on stuff with my phone dimmed as low as possible (the Mr can't even see my screen in the light of day) but nothing has ever seemed to help. I can put the phone down and on a bad night, it's 2am and I've been laying there for an hour.
I've tried pretty much everything to help with the hamster wheel and restless nights to no avail. I read a lot about weighted blankets and didn't know if it was something that would even help me. I read stories about people having fillings busting open all over the floor and more importantly, they were expensive depending on where you looked. You go with something cheap and you're going to get what you paid for. I wasn't sure if it was time for a new mattress because I had a constant pain in my left hip (the side I sleep on.) After a particularly bad night's sleep, I began scrolling Amazon at 4am to see reviews on blankets and how much I'd have to pony up. I came across this one and the reviews were the best I saw and in a price range I was more than comfortable with under $50.
I got a 20 lb blanket since they recommend it's 10% of your bodyweight for the intended effect but also didn't want to feel like Bugs Bunny dropping an anvil on me while I tried to sleep. I read many people suggested putting it between the top sheet and comforter to help keep it in place which is what I did. I went into it expecting absolutely zero results. I will say getting under it and having it pulled up to my neck does give that feeling of 'security' that people rave about. It's supposed to activate the autonomic nervous system to help calm anxiety symptoms including a racing mind. Weighted blankets have been proven to benefit more than those with sleep issues. They've been helpful for people with autism, ADHD, anxiety, osteoarthritis, and chronic pain. (Those with sleep apnea, asthma and claustrophobia should consult their doctor first.)
The first thing I noticed was I got to sleep much faster once I turned over to sleep and my hip pain went away. I have no idea why that happened with the hip but it was a pleasant side effect. The first two weeks I did feel like while I didn't have longer sleep (like the 7-8 'gold standard'), I had better quality sleep. I got up less during the night to wee during that time as well. Now that I'm well past that initial break in period, I'm back to my old bathroom habits (2x night unless I've taken 2 magnesium pills for sodium flush and I'm up 3x night.) I still get to sleep rather quickly in comparison once I commit to turning over to go to sleep. When I wake up early in the morning before the alarm, I don't really go back to sleep the way I do at night which I was hoping would happen. The hip pain is still gone from sleeping which only comes back if I stay in one spot all night from utter exhaustion which I can count on one hand. It stays in place and I've had no issues with any leaking of the beads inside so I feel this weighted blanket has been a good purchase for me.
As far as any cons, sometimes it can be a little cumbersome as I turn over if I forget it's there. Like if we've had a particularly hard workout week and my legs are tender or sore, adding an extra 10 lbs to that area isn't a fun feeling. I will say if you sleep hot, you might not want to put a comforter on top of them. It's all snuggly when your settling in at night but for me, even at the house being 68 overnight, around 4am, it can get a little warm and I'll have to kick it to the side a bit. A lot of people in reviews say it doesn't sleep hot so it could be I also have an extra layer of blubbah insulating me and that plays more of a role than the blanket. Those are the only "cons" I can think of. I saw they also had a two pack for a great price, the price I've seen most single blankets going for so it seems like a great value.
All in all, I feel like this was a great purchase to at least help me get to sleep quicker and feel more calm going into my slumber. (I have to mention as a tooth grinder, it doesn't help with that aspect of my anxiety so while it helps with some things, it won't necessarily help with everything.)
Do you sleep with a weighted blanket? Have you ever thought of getting one?
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I have been sleeping with weighted blanket for years and it helps me a lot. But as you said, does not solve all my sleep issues. I agree, I get to sleep faster, I stay asleep better with it. I do still wake early.
ReplyDeleteI had rotator cuff surgery the end of September and my daughter had me order a Beddy which has also helped. It is like a sleeping bag sewed to a fitted sheet. It keeps everything in place. I sleep with the Beddy next to me, my weighted blanket on top of that, and a quilt on top of that. The quilt has a bath towel sewed to the bottom. The towel tucks very firmly under the mattress and holds the weighted blanket in place. (My husband and I sleep in two EX long twins, that made a huge positive difference in my sleep, he woke me constantly. Both our beds also have the heads raised on cement blocks, big difference too.)
We have all the heat registers shut in our bedroom and keep the door closed during the day. So when we go to bed, the room is nice and cold. Otherwise I have major trouble sleeping.
One of the biggest aids to my sleep is an automatic thermostat. It is set to I think 66 during the day and starts cooling the house to 64 about 6pm. By the time we go to bed, it is cooler and we leave the bedroom door open.
Both my girls sleep with weighted blankets. The college girl has one at school and one at home.
My kids who sleep upstairs keep the registers in their room closed in the winter so it is nice and cold to sleep. With the air from downstairs rising, the upstairs stays warm naturally. So they keep their doors closed and the ducts closed so their bedrooms stay cool. But the bathroom and lounge area stay warm.
One of my daughters has my sleep issues. The other two do not.
Thank you for writing regularly. I appreciate it, especially this year.
Vickie
I don't have one, the one I lifted at the store felt like it was filled with gravel. My son got one last year for Christmas. He's never mentioned how it works for him. For me 5 or 6 hours works. I wake up around 2am everyday and sometimes stay up.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day!
I've never slept with one, but I used to sleep with layers of quilts on me when I was young. We only had wood heat and the house would get cold in the winter when the fire died down. I expect a weighted blanket would create the same sensation, which has always been very comforting. But as an adult I don't seem to have an issue getting 7-9 hrs of sleep per night regularly, so it is not something that I have explored. However, I bought a 15 lb weighted blanket for my niece, at her request, for Christmas and she loves it.
ReplyDeleteI have not used a weighted blanket but have heard great things about them and am considering trying one in the 15lb weight. I do tend to get very hot at night, so I've been on the fence a bit about it. I have read that the weight of these blankets helps both with knee pain and neuropathy, both of which I have, so I may give it a go.
ReplyDelete