Sleep Health and Management During Cancer Treatment

When you’re going through treatment for lymphoma, it’s typical to experience a change in your sleeping habits: sleeping much more or much less than usual, not being able to fall asleep or stay asleep, or feeling more tired during the day. This may be a side effect of the treatment or could be driven by feelings of stress or anxiety related to your treatment. Monitoring and managing your sleep health can be one method of combatting changes in your sleep habits and improving your overall health during this time.

What is Sleep Health?

Sleep health describes both how much sleep you’re getting and how high-quality that sleep is.  Not all sleep is alike – having good sleep is crucial to staying healthy, which can be very important during treatment for cancer.

Sleep impacts your overall health in so many ways, from regulating mood and memory function to helping your body physically recover. Prioritizing sleep health is a simple way to care for yourself and enhance your quality of life and overall feeling of wellbeing during treatment.

A good night’s sleep can be categorized by a balance between REM and deep sleep. You will wake up feeling refreshed and have had around 7-8 hours of sleep.

A poor night’s sleep will leave you still feeling tired in the morning. This can be a result of not enough sleep, or changes in sleep patterns.

How to Monitor Sleep Health

One way that many people choose to monitor their sleep health is to keep a sleep diary. Whether you keep a physical journal or just have a note on your phone, tracking your sleep makes it easy for you to monitor your habits and figure out what factors may be causing changes. Here are some things to log in in your sleep diary:

• What time do you fall asleep: Are you finding yourself taking a long time to fall asleep each night?
• If you wake up during the night: Do you find yourself waking up frequently in the night? Is it hard to get back to sleep when you do?
• When you wake up in the morning: Are you sleeping much later than expected or find yourself waking up earlier than planned?
• How do you feel when you wake up: Do you wake up feeling refreshed or still groggy?
• How many hours are you sleeping each night: 7-8 hours is the recommended amount of sleep for the average person
• Any naps you take during the day: When are you taking naps? How long are they for?
• How tired do you feel during the day: When do you feel the most tired? The most energized?
• Changes in diet: Are you eating at different times than usual? Are you consuming more caffeine? Have you introduced any new foods that you don’t usually eat?

Managing Your Sleep Health

Once you’ve gotten a picture of what your overall sleep health looks like, you can take some steps to manage it and ensure you’re getting enough restful sleep to support your body through treatment. Here’s some DOs and DON’Ts for getting a good night’s rest:

Dos:

• Ask friends and family for help – Loved ones can help you develop an effective sleep schedule and help you with things when you are feeling fatigued. You are never alone on your journey!
• Setting aside time to rest during the day – Giving yourself breaks during the day is a simple way to conserve energy
• Keep a consistent sleep schedule – Going to bed and waking up at roughly the same times each day can enhance sleep quality and help regulate your body’s circadian rhythms
• Eating a healthy diet – A healthy diet can lead to better quality of sleep

Don’ts:

• Use too much tech close to bed: spending too much time using tech devices like your phone before bed can have negative impacts on your sleep. The blue light from technology devices can disrupt your sleep-wake cycle and not allow you enough time to wind down mentally and physically before bed
• Keep your space messy – Having an organized space can make it easier to navigate when you are feeling tired
• Avoid your stress – Stress can be something that causes you to stay awake at night. If you can identify and address the issue, it may help your stress levels.

Fatigue

One of the most common side effects for cancer patients going through treatment is fatigue. This means having a lack of energy or feelings of whole-body exhaustion.  Here are some common symptoms of fatigue in cancer patients:

• Waking up tired, even after sleeping all night
• Shortness of breath
• Lack of energy
• Muscle weakness
• Moodiness
• Difficulty concentrating or performing simple tasks

You can combat fatigue by getting enough rest and sleep. Outside of the 7-8 hours of sleep each night you should be aiming for each night; you can incorporate restful practices such as naps, low-impact movement, and meditation.

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1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024). About sleep. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about/index.html
   
2. Hirshkowitz M, Whiton K, Albert SM, et al. The National Sleep Foundation’s sleep time duration recommendations: methodology and results summary. Sleep Health. 2015;1(1):40–43.
3. National Cancer Institute. (n.d.) (2021). Sleep problems in people with cancer – side effects. Side Effects – NCI. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/side-effects/sleep-problems#ways-to-manage-sleep-problems
4. Stephens, D. (2023). Understanding lymphoma and cancer-related fatigue. LRF_Understanding_Lymphoma_Cancer_Related_Fatigue_Factsheet_2023.pdf