Judy – Interview 22
Judy had a period of sleeping very badly, whilst looking after her brother who had dementia, she is now sleeping much better. She generally sleeps about 4-5 hours a night, but has always done this so feels it is the right amount of sleep for her.
Judy found that when she was looking after her brother, who had dementia, that she barely slept at all because she was concerned he would be up and wondering about the house at night.
Judy often gets up at about 5 am, so finds that by midday she is very tired and may fall asleep for half an hour or so whilst watching TV at lunchtime, but Judy includes this in her daily total sleep time. As far as she can remember Judy has never slept for more than 4 or 5 hours a night, but feels this is okay for her. A perfect night’s sleep for Judy would be 11 pm to 9 am with only a couple of interruptions and very occasionally this may happen, but not very often.
Judy used to have terrible cramp in her calf at night, but the nurse at her doctor’s surgery advised her to drink tonic water and she finds this really works.
Judy wears hearing aids during the day, but takes them out at night, although sometimes she imagines she can hear noises and this can keep her awake. Judy has always liked to read in bed and will continue reading until she falls asleep, and this is something she has done since she was a child.