Luckys
Insomnia is my constant night time companion. I always ask myself if I should just get up, or stay in bed. If I stay in bed, I won't sleep, but I won't disturb the other occupants of the bed. I will be miserable and want to toss and turn ....
On the other hand, if I try to slip quietly out of the bed, the dogs will know I am not there. Toni Louise and Mr. BoJangles will follow me. The doxies will sit at the end of the bed and cry for me eventually. Toni will ascertain that no treats are forthcoming and find her way back to her master's bed to take over my side of the bed. I will have to get up from the couch to let Cujo and Eddie down to follow me and Bo will run to and fro, trying to decide whether to sleep in the bed or on the couch. The dogs will sleep as long as I am present and accounted for.
Most nights I will finally succumb around 3 or 4 am and fall into a fitful sleep, only to be awakened by 7:30 by Bo, the keeper of time here. Oh, I can let the dogs out and they will follow me back to bed if I choose to try for more sleep, but it usually makes me feel foggy all day. I usually just go ahead with the day at 7:30.
After about two weeks of this, I notice that I begin to be crabby with those around me, ie: HeWho treads lightly when he senses my mood. Then I will crash for a couple of days and sleep. That happened this week. I could not get to sleep Wednesday night. I took Melatonin and Tylenol sleep aid (Benadryl, it is just Benadryl and Tylenol). I finally went to bed at 5am. I did not go to sleep right away. My mind will not shut down, thoughts just keep coming, one on top of the other. Do I try counting sheep? No, I count dogs and chores waiting for attention.
I went back to bed Thursday and finall dozed off and slept for a couple of hours, got up, ate a little and was totally useless all day long. Went to bed early and couldn't sleep ... again. Finally slept about 5 hours and still felt crappy all day yesterday.
I took TWO melatonin and I slept the sleep of a peaceful baby!! I felt so good today. WE went out for essentials and to lunch.
The menu included some tasty sounding alcoholic beverages, but that would be for another visit later in the day. I had gardening to attend to!
Skulls, they like skulls and skeletons here.
This is what I saw when I looked up. I was a little distracted from the menu, so when our tea came I wasn't ready to order. I always ask the server what their favorite is. She waxed eloquent about all of the items listed, but the fajitas were her favorite.
We were not disappointed! Shrimp, beef and chicken seasoned just right. My tongue tingled, but it did not make me gasp for breath. I have eaten in places that make the food so spicy you could be eating cardboard. This was good, though. We both got full and left with a container for later.
Home now, waiting for the temperature to drop before I go out to play in the dirt. Here's hoping I sleep tonight!!
Kathy I use melatonin also with the sound of a thunderstorm on youtube.
ReplyDeleteI guess finding the dose that works is key. We have a very loud box fan for white noise that my husband cannot sleep without and after almost 50 years, I am dependent as well.
DeleteI hope tomorrow's report is sleep tonight.
ReplyDeleteI think I have hit the right dosage. I just hate being dependent on pills.
DeleteI don't have to worry about disturbing anyone if I can't sleep, which is rare for me anyway. There are nights I go to bed tired, but can't fall asleep so I sit up in bed reading until my eyes droop, then I sleep. Most nights I go to bed, fall asleep and wake in the morning to feed Lola, then go right back to sleep. I'm glad you figured out two melatonin helps, so maybe now you can get better sleep more often.
ReplyDeleteWhen faced with this problem in my much younger days I would get up and clean house, mop floors, scrub bathrooms to make myself tired enough to fall asleep. I no longer have that much energy! My small house makes it impossible to do much without rousing all the dogs and making them think the day has begun! Husband can sleep through anything!
DeleteHope you get to snoozin' better. Your furry fan club should learn to be more enabling.
ReplyDeleteMy problem is not that I CAN'T sleep, but that I have trouble finding time for sleep. Five hours is my usual, starting around 7:00 a.m. Mexican food is not my favorite, but you can bet that I would make sure to eat at a place called "Lucky's!"
HeWho has a lengthy sleep rhythm of at least 10 hours. I don't want that much sleep!! Seven is good for me. Seven uninterrupted hours would be heaven! The food was so good, not too spicy. We have been trying new places when we venture out. My next venture will include Hole In The Wall that serves breakfast all day long. They have billboards and high ratings online. I will post the results.
DeleteI have wakeful hours. Not every night but several a week usually. Usually Wednesday nights, of course, since Thursday is my volunteer day. Usually from about 2 AM to 5 or 6 when I'll finally drift off for an hour or so. I don't worry about disturbing my husband since I moved into the extra bedroom 4 years ago. For years I hadn't been able to get a good night's sleep in out double bed with his expanding body and snoring, the dog, the cat. When I spent those 3 weeks in Portugal, I slept solid every night and when I got home was not about to give that up. He didn't especially like it at first until he realized he was sleeping better too. I have a couple of tricks when I'm sleepless and sometimes they work. If my mind is going over ancient history I'll frogmarch it back to it's closet and lock the door. Or if I'm working on a sculpture I'll visualize what I plan to do on it the next day.
ReplyDeleteMt problem with visualizing projects to try to sleep is that I will go on and on in my mind until I feel compelled to go actually do it!!
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