Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Insomnia Bites!

I've been having trouble sleeping for the past week or so. Part of it may be because Son #2 went away to camp three days ago. Not sure what else is bugging me. I'm generally fine during the day, but as the evening progresses, I have this nagging suspicion that 1) I'm forgetting something important or 2) something dramatic is going to happen - it doesn't always have to be bad, does it?

Falling asleep has always been a problem for me, even as a baby. Normally, it takes about 45-60 minutes after lying down in bed for my mind to finally stop racing from one thing to the next.

The past week though, I've been waking up once or twice during the night. Sometimes it's a stupid dream - again not necessarily a bad one, just utterly ridiculous. Sometimes it's for no reason at all.

Son #1 is a night-owl so he keeps me company. Shame on me for letting him stay up late, but it is summer vacation and we don't have to get up early in the morning. When I finally do settle into a nice deep sleep, Dear Hubby's alarm goes off so he can wake for work. I can usually catch more zzzzz's until Son #3 wakes me. He goes to sleep early and is up earlier. Sometimes, I can coax him into playing with toys quietly on my bed while I "rest." Apparently I'm supposed to be playing too as I wake with a shirt full of Legos. He doesn't seem to mind my passive role, though.

I'll just rest until he says the magic words: "Can we get breakfast now?" then my day starts. I function fine during the day, not especially tired or fatigued. Just mildly annoyed by the vague foreboding or 'what am I forgetting?' feeling.

I frequently have bouts where I have trouble sleeping for a couple of days, but it's been a long time since it's lasted a week or more. My worst bout was when I was in college and averaged 2-4 hours a sleep a night for over a month (no, I wasn't studying or partying at the time). Boy, was I a B*&$# on Wheels!

I've deliberately avoided the computer the past several nights because time really does get away from me. If this keeps up, though, I'm going to bite the bullet and get cable TV.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

We don't have cable tv either, I thought we were the only ones in america with out it! I hate when I can't get to sleep! Usually for me it happens twice in a row. The first night I just can't sleep, and the second night I'm so worried about sleeping that I can't sleep. usually by the 3rd night I'm so tired that I'm out when i hit the pillow! I have no wonderful advice. I've heard eating a banana is supposed to help you sleep.

Elle*Bee said...

No cable AND I'm still on dialup internet. It's not that we can't afford it...it's just that I always find other things to do with our $ and time. I'll have to try the banana.

Looney Mom™ said...

I suffer from insomnia quite frequently as well. I take some diphenhydramine (benadryl) and that usually helps.

Thanks for dropping by my blog lately. It's fun meeting new people. Come by and visit anytime.

signed,
Slacker Lame-o

~d said...

I had insomnia earlier this week-as did Jules. I even kept my cell on and told her to call me whenever-but you know that whole 'proper' thing abt calling someones house late at night. She said it must be the full moon coming up on Sunday. I guess if it can affect waves on Earth, no telling what is can do to people on Earth.
**as for the cable-bite the bullet and get Direct TV. After Katrina we have satellite right away-well, with a generator.

~d said...

OH! as for the you are weird, thank you commnet over at my place: I used to wear a pin/button thing that said I'm not strange you are. And I intentionally wore it upside down. This was at 13 or 14. LOVING your kid's comment! GO!

Elle*Bee said...

LooneyBin - oddly enough, Benedryl will make me drowsy during the day - I took some last week when I was stung by a wasp - but it doesn't seem to work for me as well at night.

~d - we considered satellite too. Part of the reason I haven't done anything yet is b/c I'm too lazy to check out the packages and read the fine print.

By the way, I'm attempting to bold your names. Hope it worked.

Elle*Bee said...

I did it! I bolded. Woo Hoo! Son #1 is rather eccentric. He's pretty happy with who he is and so am I. I love that his feelings weren't hurt.