More Sleep Torture... Should Be Unconstitutional
by Amy Austin on November 2, 2007
So it appears that along with everything else that resembles last winter too strongly for my liking... my sleep patterns have once again deteriorated very badly. I already don't get good quality sleep due to stress and having upstairs neighbors (a situation, believe it or not, that I do not recall ever suffering through before now) -- but now, with emotionally induced insomnia and falling temperatures, I try really hard to fight falling asleep at inappropriate times (e.g., at work), come home and gratefully collapse into a 2-3 hour nap, and continue to feed the vicious cycle that keeps me up until the wee hours and dog-tired the following day. Once you fall into that rut, you've got a *hard* habit to break.
And, of course, to make matters worse... the quality of these short bursts of sleep is continually degraded further by the non-stop heart-wrenching dreams -- dreams that either embody the same pain I suffer (and try so very hard to ignore) during waking hours or else reflect the way I wish things would be... I'm not sure which ones hurt more to wake up from, honestly. But the end result is all the same... no rest.
Five Replies to More Sleep Torture... Should Be Unconstitutional
Amy Austin | November 2, 2007
Well, it doesn't do much good to "force yourself to bed" if you can't fall asleep. Case in point... the other night, I still wasn't tired when I should have been asleep -- and unpleasant thoughts were starting to invade my brain anyway... seems like a good enough time/reason to force it, right? It took me fully half an hour to fall asleep (more or less, I suppose -- it's easy to lose perspective on these things in these situations!)... only to have something loud hitting the floor upstairs (no idea what, since I'm sure it was way past *their* bedtime, too!) startle me awake and restart the process... taking even longer this time around. It was loud enough to cause CC to be startled, too -- she woke up with a single "woof"... and we were both like "wtf?" Anger certainly doesn't contribute in a positive manner to sleep, either!
Instances like this probably call for meds... but you need to be certain that you have the necessary time available to use them -- the hangovers can be bad enough when you do, let alone if you try to cram a 5/6-hour rest on an 8-hour minimum drug. And I hate using sleep aids... I already take enough medication.
Lori Lancaster | November 2, 2007
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Jackie Mason | November 4, 2007
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Amy Austin | November 8, 2007
Sorry, Jackie... I read this a whole day after you posted and hadn't gotten around to replying, but those are all very excellent suggestions -- and no, I haven't tried the couch (there isn't one that isn't buried at the moment) and yes, I am *very* bad about "hanging out" in my bed... doing all manner of things, like watching TV and being on here... very bad, I know.
However... I've recently come to discover that I am not alone in experiencing a handful of very unpleasant side effects associated with the medication I take, sleep disturbance -- particularly in the form of vivid dreams -- being among them. I am titrating back down on my dosage, as well as considering stopping altogether... which is a somewhat scary notion to me -- but then, so are the side effects!
For the longest while, I actually had a whole list of Chinese lullaby-type music CDs on my wish list at Amazon... I never have caved and bought any, but perhaps now is the time that I should. Thanks for that suggestion/reminder -- it's a great one.
Nocturnal e-Musings
Amy Austin counts down the days until... something... Read more »
Bummer, Aaron...
I just read your last blog post, and I'm really sorry. I know you said "no reply", but I hope you won't mind my addressing you here in my own blog... so far only seemingly reserved for similarly worrisome topics. Go »Just Die Already!
Okay... so it's finally time to write a second post. The main ingredient this time would be the recent passing of a friend with cancer (only 36). Go »Brutalized and Officialized...
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Apparently, a tornado hit Maysville, NC Sunday, missing "my" house (or Ed's, with a lot of my things still in it) by about a mile. Used to browse that store for good junk! Go »Must Love Dogs
Someone I know (I guess you could say "a friend") who's been trying to break into politics for the last six months or so (starting with a mayoral race, lol) recently asked me (via Facebook chat) how I was doing (hadn't seen or talked to him in months). This is pretty much how that went: Mayor McCheese: So how's it going? Me: Shitty. Go »
Scott Hardie | November 2, 2007
Sorry to hear that. :-( I've been through periods of stress and dogged by nightmares that intensify the sleeplessness. The best way to solve them is of course to relieve the stress, but catching up on sleep over a weekend and forcing yourself to bed early thereafter (telling yourself it's for the best) can work too. It's a lousy feeling when you can't sleep during the weekend either, and have to start Monday at your most exhausted instead of most refreshed.