I've come to realise that I work in the wrong career to have any sort of nighttime routine, some weeks I'm working 7am-8.30pm and some weeks I'm working 8pm-7.30am. I've found it so hard to get into any type of routine, that and my B12 deficiency have meant that recently I've become feel increasingly exhausted and I struggle with getting enough sleep to make me feel rested and energised for the day ahead. It's like the lovely folks at Benenox heard my struggles and kindly sent me some of their Overnight Recharge to try out.
Sleeping is as important to our bodies as eating, drinking and breathing are, yet it's something we all take for granted and the last thing we put as a priority. Not only is sleep good for your physical health, but it's also so important for your mental health. It's crazy to think that up to 1/3 of the population suffer with their sleep, whether that be the lack of or the quality of sleep or sleep problems. Having problems with your sleep can not only affect your mood and ability to concentrate but it can also cause problems with relationships (we've all snapped at someone we love when being exhausted or when we’ve had a bad nights sleep!), it can also affect your ability to stay awake and function throughout your day.
Now you don't need to preach to me about how important sleep is, between being a nurse and working in Critical Care (where proper quality sleep is important for recovery and to prevent delirium), I am ashamed at how rubbish my sleep is and how bad my sleep routine is and I need to make some serious changes as I've noticed how awful I've felt in the morning and on my days off that I use for blogging and editing videos, I also noticed how difficult it was for me to concentrate on tasks! I've come to notice that the worse my quality of sleep is, I find that my anxiety symptoms feel worse and overall my asthma feels worse.
Over the past couple of weeks, I've been doing some testing with the Benenox Overnight Recharge. I've done a week of no changes, a week of actually trying to have a sleep routine and finally a week of a structured sleep routine and the overnight recharge liquid added in to see if it improves my sleep and the difference it makes the next day.
What It Is
The Benenox Overnight Recharge liquid is a flavoured food supplement that assists your body in having a better nights sleep and a more refreshed morning by supplementing your body's stored energy levels with glycogen. It works by helping to replenish the glycogen levels in your body whilst you sleep so that you can sleep peacefully as your body can start to wake itself up as these levels run low and you can remain restless throughout the rest of your sleep which affects the quality of your sleep and makes you feel awful in the morning.
It also contains sustamine which is two amino acids combined together that helps your liver store glycogen so it can slowly break it down over the course of the night and vitamin B6 which can help to reduced tiredness and fatigue whilst helping you feel more energised. It comes in two flavours, blackcurrant and lemon & ginger so there something for everyone's taste.
My Results
In my first week, I actually put it on paper how I've slept and it truly made me realise how bad my sleep patterns were. Some nights I spent as little as 3-4 hours asleep and most of it was spent tossing and turning and some of the nights (mainly the nights after my long day shifts) I can easily sleep up to 12, sometimes even 13 hours, although even those nights the quality of sleep I'm getting is awful so I'm left feeling like I've barely slept, a zombie and like I need to go back to bed for a couple of hours. I noticed that on my days off when I’m trying to get my blog & social media work done, I really struggle with concentration and not become distracted by silly things like my phone, notifications and social media. I also noticed how awful my bedtime routine actually was, because I struggled so much with concentration and staying on task, I ended up working late into the evening and then spending the rest of the evening watching tv or YouTube videos so I don’t spend any time actually winding myself down before bed.
In week 1, I tried to improve my bedtime routine and see if that improves my sleep quality. I made a lot more of an effort to be more consistent with what time I went to bed and get up. I’m not going to lie, I did feel a bit like a child giving myself a proper nighttime routine. Previously I could be going to bed as early 9.30am or as late as 1/2am and getting up anywhere between 8.30 and 11am. I also starting having a relaxing bath (or shower depending on the time I had before bed) and properly wound down with a book, instead of spending my time before bed either watching tv or playing on my phone. Whilst my sleep did improve slightly so I felt my sleep was becoming more consistent, although I still felt exhausted and was struggling to concentrate the next day.
On week 2, I continued with my consistent bedtime routine but added in the Benenox Overnight Recharge Liquid every night before bed. I tested out both having it straight (you have 15mls before bed) and mixing it with some hot water to make it more of a drink, I loved using the blackcurrant as a drink before bed. As with anything new, it took me a couple of days for me to start feeling it taking effect. I was surprised how little I woke up during the night since I started having the Benenox, after about day 3 of having it I noticed that the next day I was able to stay on task and I didn’t get that horrid 3pm, unable to concentrate feeling.
I’m shocked how different I felt the Monday after my trial finished and I’m definitely going to stocking up as the difference in my sleep has just been unreal. I’ve recommended it to my mum (bad sleep seems to run in the family) and all my friends at work cause it really helps me to hit the reset button whilst I’m asleep. I’d even highly recommend it to anyone that reads this that struggles with their sleep and how exhausted they feel the next day.
Have you ever tried anything like this?
Speak to you next time!
*I was gifted these products from Benenox to test out. All opinions are honest and my own.
