I have never struggled with insomnia... until recently. I've been sleeping more fitfully in general since moving here, but for the last few days it's been really bad. Ross falls asleep almost immediately, and I lie there thinking about, oh, everything. Money. Marriage. Religion. What I'm going to put on my Rally To Restore Sanity sign (I'm thinking "Grad Students for a Hermeneutics of Reasonable Discourse," although I think that might be redundant...). Stuff I didn't get done that day. Stuff I have to get done the next day. But it gets worse. For the past few days, at least, I've been having incredibly vivid and anxiety-producing dreams. Last night I was failing grad school. And then I wake up at 4:30 or 5:00 (although thankfully I'm able to go back to sleep). The sum total of all of this is that I wake up feeling like I've been thinking the same stressful thoughts all night long. The irony is that I usually have time for at least a quick nap during the day, so I'm not physically tired. But mentally I'm exhausted. Maybe I'll take up classy, Netflix-style yoga again.ANYway, I don't mean to bum you out. Happy Friday!
I also struggle with insomnia in fits and bursts. Here's what's helped me: absolutely no computers/TVs/iPods/etc allowed in the bedroom ever. Blackout curtains on the windows. Keeping the bedroom cooler than the rest of the house. Before I go to bed (before I actually climb under the covers), I write down a list of everything I need to do tomorrow, stuff I didn't get done today, things that are stressing me out, etc. Put it on the list, look at it, think about each one for exactly two thoughts, and move on to thinking about puppies and cupcakes and my darling husband. Also--sleeping pills on an as-needed basis. NOT Tylenol PM or anything that's designed to help you fall asleep and dull pain, but Unisom, or something that's specifically designed to help you sleep only. (P.S. The active ingredient in Unisom (and most sleeping pills) is diphenhydramine, which is also the active ingredient in Benadryl. So you could just take Benadryl if you have some lying around.)
ReplyDeleteAlso, you are dearly missed.
I used to have terrible issues with sleeping. Insomnia and blood filled nightmares. I tried everything and the only thing that worked to at least help me sleep was the homeopathic remedy coffea cruda. It actually gets your brain to stop thinking. I got it in those tiny blue tubes you can find at New Seasons but I bet it comes in other forms.
ReplyDelete