Trying a Weighted Blanket for a Better Night's Sleep

One of the things I have recently been really struggling with is my sleep at night. It has been extremely fragmented, and I am waking up constantly throughout the night.

Narcolepsy and trouble sleeping

I can barely stay asleep for 2 hours nowadays. Constantly waking up can be extremely frustrating. Sometimes I will only be awake for a couple of minutes, but then there are other times when I will be awake for hours.

My nightmares have also been extremely vivid and intense recently (a symptom of narcolepsy). This has been leaving me with a lot of anxiety around sleep and sometimes feeling anxious before falling asleep. When I wake up from a nightmare, I often feel really disoriented and panicked, struggling to come back to reality.

Deciding to try a weighted blanket

I have seen a lot about weighted blankets and the benefits of them. I had been seeing them for a while and always thought I wanted to try one but never got around to it. When I first saw them, they were extremely expensive, and I could never justify paying the price for them since I didn't know if I would like them or find them to be beneficial. However, as they've increased in popularity, there are some cheaper ones on the market. I decided to ask for one for Christmas, and I was lucky enough to get one.

The benefits of a weighted blanket

There are a number of different benefits of a weighted blanket. They work by using pressure to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, which slows your heart rate and calms you down. It is said that it is the same as the experience of being held and hugged.¹

A few conditions that weighted blankets can help with include:¹

• Sleep disorders
• Anxiety
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

Falling asleep and staying asleep are easier

I was lucky enough to receive my weighted blanket for Christmas. I have been using it on and off for around 3 months, but I haven't slept with it every night. Honestly, I have been extremely impressed with it. I find that the deep pressure helps to make me feel calm and reduces my anxiety before going to sleep.

The biggest difference that I have noticed is that my ability to stay asleep has really improved. On the nights when I have slept with the blanket, I seem to have stayed asleep for 3- to 4-hour periods and only woke up once or twice throughout the night.

Typically, when I wake up throughout the night, I often end up getting out of bed because I get so frustrated with just lying in bed. However, the blanket has been keeping me in bed, and I fall back to sleep much quicker. Overall, it has been really helping the quality of my sleep and the amount of sleep that I am getting.

Trying one for yourself

Have you tried a weighted blanket before? I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences below.

Personally, I would really recommend them in general, but especially to those who really struggle with their nighttime sleep.