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June 10, 2005
Insonmia
From Alesia, sleepy
I’ve always wondered what it is that allows some people to sleep whenever they put their heads down. Like Navy Guy, although I know that he was trained by time on submarines – sort of: Sleep or else; or Darling Son, who has an internal clock that tells him “8:30, Sleep Now.
Which he does.
Wherever we happen to be.
I’ve also gone to conferences with roommates who can just say, “Oh, it’s late. I’m going to sleep.” [Sound familiar, Lani?? LOL!]
And – how weird is this? They actually DO.
Not me.
I’ve always suffered from hideous insomnia. Usually a good twenty nights a month, I’m lucky to sleep for 4 hours. Total, not necessarily in a row. This leaves me wondering what I could have accomplished in life if I’d ever been, you know, actually RESTED.
Last night’s bout of insomnia had me thinking about the crazy nastiness that self-proclaimed literary authors have been tossing the way of chick lit authors. Also, about crazy deadlines and travel schedules. Even about how lucky I am – somehow, with the reissue of American Idle and a couple of anthologies, I have six books coming out this year!! How did THAT happen? It’s one of those “Dreams really DO come true” golly gee moments.
Maybe tonight I’ll focus on the good stuff and actually sleep . . . and if not, there’s always the joy of pharmaceuticals. QUESTION OF THE DAY: Do any of you have insomnia? If so, how do you deal with it? Any tips for a fellow sufferer??
hugs,
Alesia, off to make more coffee. Really STRONG coffee
Posted by Alesia at 5:51 PM | Comments (5)
Comments
I don't think I suffer from insomnia, but there are nights I'm awake until the early hours of the morning. My husband just rolls over and he's out.
I have to read until my eyes droop. If that doesn't happen, sometimes I close my eyes and visualize the story I'm working on. Sorry I don't have any good insight! =)
Posted by: writerwords ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.literarychicks.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at June 10, 2005 9:01 PM
I don't know if I'd call it insomnia, per se, but I do have a lot of trouble sleeping sometimes. Especially if I don't have a lot of down-time before bed (like after RWA meetings or time with my girlfriends). Also, Tylenol PM works for me. The sleep aid in it is Benadryl. That's all, nothing addictive. My mom's doctor told her it was completely safe to take every night (though not if you already take too much Tylenol). Really, not sure why straight Benadryl wouldn't do the trip. Knocks my kids on their butts. :-)
Nothing is worse than not sleeping. I'll tell you that! Good luck!
Shannon
Posted by: Shannon McKelden at June 10, 2005 9:36 PM
That should be "do the trick". [rolling eyes]
Posted by: Shannon McKelden at June 10, 2005 9:37 PM
My personal hell is bad sleep quality - I would put in the hours but wouldn't feel rested. I was regularly falling into such deep sleep that I would only wake when my limbs went numb and couldn't hear the alarm in the morning no matter how loud. My sleep study showed I had normal sleep patterns (no apnea/restless leg/etc), but it took a 4 hour nap afterward to be ready for my day. ...........
What has helped me: acupuncture and Valerian root, exercise, sleep hygiene, OTC pharms - in order of effectiveness. I had been on many pharmeceuticals, which helped for a while (one also helped me lose a lot of weight), but they all required taking more as time went on, and I would still be pretty groggy in the AM and need to take medicine to make me perky too. After about 9 months of lots of accupuncture, I was able to go off all of them, and today, I've got things mostly under control although I still prefer to be active at night. ..........
If I accidentally drink caffeine after 3pm, I use Chlor-trimeton (actually, the generic 4mg pill of chloropheniramine) to help knock me out at bedtime. These usually only last for 4 hours, so you can take one after having been laying in bed for 2 hours wondering when you'll sleep. These work more reliably than benadryl which can also cause anxiousness and wakefulness - I've had benadryl knock me out and keep me up unpredictably. But either works fine without adding painkillers, unless you have some pain. If you have pain, even low level pain, it can keep you from sleeping well, so take the tylenol too.
Good Luck!
Posted by: Erika17 at June 14, 2005 6:05 PM
yes i know all about not sleeping to good i'm sure i have insommia for the last couple of years more so the last year I don't want to sleep or should i say i only sleep an hour at a time then i'm tired most of the day and say i'm going to bed early ha ha don't work what should i do please help i have tried sleeping pills all they do is knock me out faster i still wake up
Posted by: dani at June 19, 2005 11:38 PM
