When you crawl into bed at 11.45, you know it will be a rough start in the morning. But you optimistically switch on the alarm, intent on getting a run in at 6 before the house starts waking up.
Your legs twist around your husband's, and you sleepily yawn g'night as the warmth of legs and the duvet surrounds you. You close your eyes, weary from the early start that morning.
And you lie there. Awake.
At 2.49 you finally open your eyes, knowing that forcing them to stay closed isn't doing the trick. At 3.12 you open the laptop, knowing that the morning will not only be rough, it will be downright painful.
It's my genetic birthright, this sleeplessness. As a child we would tiptoe around my grandfather napping on the couch (the very couch now residing in my living room!) and overhear discussion about how he just didn't sleep at night. As a teenager I'd meet my dad on the stairs in the morning, asking us to please be quiet as we readied ourselves for school, because mom had been up in the night.
Up til now, I can count on one hand the times I've woken in the middle of the night, unable to sleep. For me, it is always the getting to sleep that eludes. I lie still, hoping to force my body into rest. Sometimes it works. Tonight, it did not.
Am rumpled in spirit. Rumpled in spirit, and perhaps feeling the pain of the world a little too keenly.
Anyone got any tricks for setting down the weight of the world, just for a night? This Desperate Housewife could use them.
It's 3.29 a.m. Do you know where your sanity is?
11 comments:
I swear by NutraSleep.
http://www.sourcenaturals.com/products/GP1235/
I so feel ya on this when my routine a lot lately is asleep hard and fast at 12:30pm and wide awake at 4am. At least I get some sleep but I sure would like some more, please.
Watch a little Real Housewives of NJ. You'll rest easy, knowing there are people like THAT in the world.. ;)
Oh boy have I ever been there. A lot. My brain sometimes just will not let me rest. Even if I'm totally exhausted and comfortable. It's crazy-making I tell you! Sorry, lady.
I do that thing where you focus on each part of your body and relax it while breathing really deeply. Sometimes that works. Or sleepy time tea, I drink that before bed.
Or Sominex. Love me some Tylenol PM or Sominex. Sometimes even that doesn't work, that's what a big freak I am...
Oh man, I'm exactly the same way. My problem is that I can't stop my brain from making lists...or whatever else it does. The doctor actually gave me a prescription to some medicine that she said would help shut down my brain, but I'm kinda afraid to fill it. It sucks! Fortunately, for whatever reason, the last few months I've gone to bed so exhausted that I actually fall asleep right away. It's weird. Unfortunately I also wake up exhausted...so I can't say this method is foolproof. :(
sorry to hear, sweetie. isn't it crazy to think how we used to stay up all night for the fun of it? oh boy ~ times have changed! i never had any sleep problems until my car accident, then pregnancy, then nursing in the night... now i drink lots of chamomile tea during the day, and i swear by calms forte (by hyland's). it's a homeopathic sleep aid. my pediatrician recommended it since it's completely safe when nursing. it really works ~ it puts you into a real deep sleep within an hour. i hope tonight's a better night. sweet dreams!
Darn, wish this was me. My issue is too much work to complete when kids are asleep...wishing often to add a few more work hours to my day/night/day...but you are right no matter the reason keeps you from your yummy even 6 hours of sleep - you are still slightly worthless at morning's first light. That's where my husband is a lifesaver with the STRONG COFFEE...
Ive had this problem too - Once it happens once theres always that worry when you go to bed - which makes it so much worse.
Ive found some of the suggestions in Paul McKenna's "I can make you sleep" book have helped. Particularly the exercise of clearing your mind then naming whatever appears then letting it go. Then naming the next thing etc. It has taken a bit of practice but now it works about 80% of the time. Good Luck!
I used to have that problem too, until my doctor recommended, Natural Calm. Its just magnesium, but taken an hour before bed, I fall right to sleep.
http://www.vitacost.com/Peter-Gillham-Natural-Magnesium-Calm
Try writing before bed. It will empty your head. The brain is meant for processing, not storage. It's the short term "busy" memory that keeps us up.
Also, you might try taking a Melatonin pill 30 minutes before bed or Magnesium which was already mentioned.
Works for me.
I have the same problem (and so does my mom). Exercise helps. Sometimes. Writing things down helps. Sometimes. But sometimes it just doesn't seem to matter what I do.
And I'm afraid of the medications out there.
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