As no one replied to your post yet I wanted to stop by and say hello, Laraine53.

Your words resonated a great deal with me - I'm also a terrible sleeper and it's exactly like you described, sleeping during the day, fine, but at night is when the trouble starts!

As you asked for suggestions, I thought of a page from our website which might help. You can click here to read about some tips on how to improve sleep.

I hope that some of these will work for you :)

All the best,

Renata, Cancer Chat Moderator

Hi, 

From my experience a lack of sleep is a bit of a vicious circle - you sleep less, so you woory more, and more worry leads to less sleep. I've always been a bit rubbish at sleeping, and certainly can't remember the last time I had a lay in - 5am is the latest I sleep to. For what it is worth I would just try and listen to your body and sleep when you can. If you can get into a 'routine' before you go to bed it helps. Try not to use electrical devices, and do the same thing every night to get you body to remember when it is sleep time. If you are able when you wake up in the night and can't get back to sleep, try and get out of bed and do something mind numbing - sorting pants and socks from the laundry, read a book etc. We have a chair in the bedroom and I sit in that and read until I feel really sleep, then slip back into bed and try and relax. You don't want your mind associating your bed with being awake - you want it to do the opposite. I also keep a notebook and en by the bed, so if my mind is whirring I write little notes so that my mind can forget the issue for the night.

More than anything, try not to get stressed about your family - they will be aware of what you are'have been going through and will hopefully be there to support you. Have you tried talking to them about it? I'm sure they would'nt want you to be stressed, and will most likely do whatever they can to make you feel better.

Hope this helps.