Psoriasis And Bedtime

The angry, red, itchy psoriasis patches can make day to day living difficult. You may find you struggle with work, keeping up a social life or even playing a sport difficult. There isn’t some part of your life this condition may not affect.

In particular, psoriasis can make sleeping hard. The itching of your patches can make it hard to fall asleep or, when you do wake up, you may have an ‘itching outbreak’ when you incessantly itch all your patches or some of them.

Going to bed with psoriasis can be hard

I remember when my psoriasis had broken out on large swathes of my stomach, legs, and arms. Going to bed meant scratching the patches which usually caused them to bleed. This would then seep on to my clothes and bedding, and they would be covered in small blood stains. It was horrific and meant I did lots of washing.

You should think about the type of fabric on your clothing before bed too, to avoid or help an ‘itching outbreak’. Cotton I find for me is the best fabric. I try and find pajamas with cotton as others have been known to rub against the patch causing me to itch them.

Aside from clothes, there’s also the fact that it can be difficult to sleep when you have an ‘itching outbreak’. You may find your patches incessantly itchy as you lay awake trying to fall asleep. You may itch each one only to find the patch cracks or turns even itchier than before. The best remedy for this is plenty of moisturizer before bed as it will curb the itching and make the patch less angry and red.

You may also wake up to an ‘itching outbreak’ - either during the night or before you get up in the morning. Again, plenty of moisturizer will help with this.

Other tips for nighttime

Aside from this, doing general things in your bedroom will help you fall asleep. Making sure you use blackout curtains, that you avoid using your smartphone or screens before bed, and clear your head of any psoriasis thoughts, will hopefully help you settle.

If not, and your psoriasis is keeping you awake at night, you should tell your medical team at your next appointment. Let them know what remedies you’ve been using, if any at all, and say that it’s really having a big impact on your life.

You may also want to seek mental health support if worrying about your psoriasis is the overarching problem. Counsellors can help you retrain your thinking and focus on the lesions much less than you did before.

Psoriasis and bedtime can be troublesome. Not wearing the right fabrics, having the wrong mindset or not properly treating the condition can all keep you from falling asleep at night. If you apply some moisturizer, take your prescribed medicines and let your medical team, you should get better rest.

Lots of people with this condition can have sleepless nights and find falling asleep or staying asleep a problem. But getting your psoriasis under control can really help, so don’t give up and keep persevering.