Sleep

Get to sleep (to SLEEP, don't just be in bed) by 10pm or 10:30pm, latest.

Over the years, my mother, two different trainers and a doctor have told me that every hour of sleep gotten before midnight is worth 2-3 hours after midnight. Much to the annoyance of this night-owl, they're right!

By the way, one of these people is a friend who got his chronic, life-threatening, pericarditis under control, after years of being in and out of the hospital, including one time he was rushed to Intensive Care and given 12 hours to live. Yes, this simplicity was pivotal to his health! He's now working out regularly and leading a normal life!

• Getting to sleep no later, ideally, than 10:00pm and sleeping until you wake up, preferably at least 8-10 hours is key, vital, if you want to feel markedly, noticeably better in a short period of time.
• Do this at least for one week.   
• If you find yourself incredibly sleepy at 7pm, go to bed if possible. Don't worry about then being wide awake at 2am. Sleep when you're tired, whenever you can!
• Sleep is vital, incredibly, incredibly vital, especially for you, the pericarditis patient! No joke!
• Sleep disruption spikes inflammatory markers (pubmed.gov)
• Mild sleep deprivation for a week adversely affects inflammatory response on a genetic level (technical or plain English)
• These are just the tip of the iceberg. I'll be adding to this list.  

                                                                                                    Chill >>