Hi All!
I am cranky. I woke up that way. Probably because I didn't sleep well. Again. You see, I have this problem sleeping. Well, not really a problem with sleeping - I can sleep with the best of them - rather, a problem with falling asleep.
Falling asleep is something I do not excel in. At all.
A normal night, a "good" night, consists of me lying in bed for a good hour and a half listening to Hubby snoring away before dropping into wonderful slumber. A bad night . . . well, it can take upwards of three hours for me to drop off. The big problem is that my brain won't stop. I am tired and yearn for sleep but my brain decides that I should spend the time pondering the great imponderables in my life.
When am I going to get another job. Will I get another job? What was the name of that song I heard the other day? How could I cook things which I normally bake without using the oven and heating up the entire house? Would Hubby eat something I "baked" without using the oven? Do I need to clean out the fabric softener dispenser of my washing machine again (thanks to Coffee Bean for that thought!)? Shouldn't washing machines be self cleaning? How does fabric softener work? I need to get fabric for some hand warmers I am knitting for Christmas. I haven't knitted in a while. I should get that out again. I wonder if I have the right needles to knit those socks Aunt Donna sent the pattern for. Wasn't the cute nose warmer pattern I saw at the store made from a sock pattern? I wonder if anyone would actually use a nose warmer if I knitted them. Speaking of knitting, I need to fix my iPod cozy. Maybe it is time to buy a new cover for my iPod. Do I really want to spend money on that? Money. What was it that I wanted Hubby to buy for our anniversary? I know it cost something like $600. Now, what WAS it? And so on and so on and so on . . . .
You can see why sleep becomes an elusive goal.
People have given me all kinds of hints for falling asleep. Stay up reading until you feel drowsy (I get so into the book I will stay up all night - even if the book is boring!). Get out of bed and do something different until you feel sleepy (this works - until I am in bed again and still can't fall asleep). Just tell yourself to fall asleep (!!!! If this worked for me sleeping wouldn't be an issue!). Drink warm milk (THAT just sounds disgusting!). Eat/don't eat right before bed (tried 'em both - nada). Take sleeping pills (okay - got some from Doc Feely and they help me fall asleep. However, I am awake again in about two hours and then can't fall back asleep. I also have a sleeping pill hangover in the morning. I use them as a last resort).
This falling asleep problem is something that I remember having for a long, long time. It is all my darn mind's fault!
My brother told me that he had similar problems but that they were solved when he started taking "happy pills." He said that he found himself having moments where he wasn't thinking of anything. Really? I have done the "happy pill" thing and have never had any moment where I wasn't thinking of SOMETHING. Huh. Are my pills not strong enough?
I have no idea what the problem is (well, I know it is my brain but why - that is the question!) or what to do to solve it. So - until I figure something out I will continue to enjoy my quiet "thinking" time at night. Listening to Hubby snore. Wishing I was snoring too (not that I snore, of course!).
Being cranky the next morning.
Trisha
P.S. What kind of spell check doesn't recognize the word iPod? Get with it Blogger!
Voice Update: Pretty good. A bit "wunky" on those unvoiced consonants. Had a real time of it last night while walking with Hubby. He has allergies and his ears are blocked. I am not talking too loudly (as usual). He only hears every fourth of fifth word I say. He tells me that he only PAYS ATTENTION to those particular words (silly, silly man!). He keeps asking me to repeat things. When I repeat them, my voice is worse. I get frustrated so I don't talk for most of the walk. Hubby wants to know if I am upset. Ah - such is life with allergies and SD. I did my inhale/exhale stuff yesterday (while grocery shopping!) but didn't do the massage. Oops!
9 comments:
I'm sorry you are having trouble sleeping that is a hard one.
My spell check doesn't recognize the word blog or internet...ridiculous don't you think?
Melatonin. OTC, no side effects (other than vivid dreams) and works nicely. I've had the same problem my whole life. Being diagnosed ADD helped, too, since I'm now on a time release amphetamine and pass out when it leaves my system. :)
Oh and TAG! You're it! Phthphbth!
I went through a period just like you ... don't know what fixed it but now I can get to sleep... but wake at about 3-4 am for an hour or so. I think you probably have something weighing on your mind that is keeping you from sleeping.. even if your mind wanders over many issues.... there will be one biggie that is troubling you I reckon.
I find sleep elusive as well. My body is restless, I toss & turn, lay awake thinking of everything I need to do. When I do fall asleep, often I wake up after midnight and can be awake for 3-4 hours. Then when it's time to get up (around 6 pm when G (my hubby) gets up), I'm pooped! I've had this issue for years. Nothing really works for me either. I try to avoid caffeine (oops - I had white chocolate gelato within the last hour). I hate to think I'm going to have a sleepless night tonight - my body is exhausted!
Oftentimes when I can't sleep, I'll get up and try to be productive. Would love to be able to control when I can sleep and when I can - this is as elusive as SD!!! Suppose there is some correlation?
Thanks all for the support on the non-sleeping thing. Sometimes it really gets me annoyed, and then sad, and then irate, and then depressed.
Chris- I have wondered if I have a big problem I am trying to work out - well, besides the whole ABSD thing and the not working thing. I am sure that the issues are keeping me awake but I do wonder about why I have had problems sleeping since I was little.
Flea- the vivid dreams sound . . . interesting! I don't know if I can take dreams which are any more vivid. I will check out the melatonin though. Thanks for the tag. I will work on it Wednesday.
Ecolo-I do wonder if there is a corrolation with SD - any other SDers out there - what do you think?
Honey, I know my cranky, and you have to DO something. I think you should ask your doctor for Ambien CR which is a slow release pill. I have no problem falling asleep, but staying asleep is awful. I swear I can hear the grass growing. Don't ask about my snoring husband. Anyway, I take Advil PM a few times a month now. I get a little hangover from it, but two coffees does the trick. Good luck!
I have trouble sleeping as well. Although, I have no problem falling asleep initially... it is staying asleep. When our daughter ran away I got to where even if I was "asleep" my mind would not shut off. I would wake up fully cognizant of all of my thoughts while I was "sleeping." It was really weird.
I went to the doctor close to two months ago... low thyroid, low iron, and no energy. We talked about my problems sleeping and my doctor prescribed a drug called pamelor. It is actually an anti-depressant but a super low dose. I choose whether I take one or two of them... and actually I don't even have to take them everynight anymore. There is no hangover (I'd resorted to taking tylenol PM which left me with a hangover... especially after I started taking more than you are supposed to) and I actually sleep through the night most of the time.
Not getting enough of the right kind of sleep can really mess you up.
So glad I cleared up the confusion... you Americans must have been wondering what I was talking about... in relation to the fanny being fixed! Derrrrr!
Menopause just adds to all this fun ;)
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