Saturday, November 15, 2008

Insomniac

It starts off with you feeling like you just can't get comfortable. You're too warm, you're too cold, the pillow's not soft enough. You're hungry but you're too lazy to go to the kitchen for a snack. You think maybe a drink of water would do you good, but if you're not getting up for food you certainly aren't about to get up for water.

You turn the days events over in your head. Then you plan for tomorrow. You think of where you're going and what you're doing. If you have obligations, you think of those. You might contemplate your outfit.

Your mind continues to drift. You start daydreaming (nightdreaming?) and scenarios pop in your head. You mull over how things in your day could have gone differently had you done something different, and you stage out these different scenarios in your head.

You look at the clock...its been an hour since you first laid down and you haven't slept. The little sleep you did get was interrupted by a poorly timed text message, and you're left wondering why your phone can wake you up on vibrate but not on the maximum setting. Now you're starting to feel slightly frantic...you want to be sleep more than anything, but your mind won't relax enough to allow it. You start nervously counting the minutes, not realizing that your increased surveillance of time has made falling asleep much more difficult.

Its time to break out the tricks.

I don't mean sleeping pills, either. I got addicted to Benadryl for a week. It was so bad I had reasoned with myself that I was taking it to prevent sinus problems in the morning. Ha!

Instead, there are three things I do to fall asleep. First, ill read or write until my eyes get sore (hence this post). If that doesn't work, I do a breathing exercise where I breathe in for 7 counts and breathe out for 7 counts continuously. It must help because I never remember falling asleep when doing it. But my favorite thing to do when I can't sleep is eat something cold, preferably a popsicle. I do this because more often than not the only reason I can't sleep is because im too warm. Eating something cold cools my body down quickly and enables me to fall asleep.

What about you? What do you do to fall asleep? Share the wealth!

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End note: I think Sidekicks must have united and decided to all be on some bull. Right after I read that Andre's sidekick wasn't letting him comment on people's posts, my sidekick started acting a fool. So Im sorry if I don't respond to your comments or comment on your blog right away...im still reading, I just can't comment right now. Blame it on the Sidekick. Makes me want a G1 even more now...

8 comments:

ßrigida ∫chmidt © Copyright said...

Whenever I go back to my hometown in the Philippines, (which is 18 hours ahead of Hawaii), I feel great and energetic! I sleep early and wake up early, and I waste no time as I get to visit my family and lovely places I love to explore.

However, (here goes my problem) I do experience sleeping problem when I come back to Hawaii after a week of vacation. I feel like I couldn't sleep at a normal time anymore. Gosh, it is so abnormal... Here I am, it's 2:08 SATURDAY morning Hawaii Time, reading your INSOMIAC post. I've been in Hawaii for over two weeks now and I still couldn't adjust. I normally sleep now at 3-4 am, and wakes up very late in the morning. (Good thing my classes start at 4pm and I've got less job.) Otherwise, my life would be a mess... lazy egg.

Sigh, I need advice too. Reading doesn't seem to work for me. I don't take any sleeping pills at all because I'm alergic to all kinds of pills.

I can't share any ways to fight INSOMNIA! I'M a VICTIM TOO!

BongFlo said...

hi! was an imsoniac way back then when i was a student of architecture. i'll work on my plates until the wee hours of the morning and even if theres no work to be done, i can't sleep that easy because my systems gotten used to sleeping at that ungodly hour. here's the routine that cured my insomnia... first, i take a cold shower. i make it a point to lie down immediately as any activity right after shower heats me up and i lose that cool feeling, second, while lying down, i try to free my mind from all the day's activities and try to relax, slow my breathing down. and lastly, i'd get a book thats within reach so as not to stand up anymore and read, read until the eyes loses its focus on what i'm reading. by this time, i'd just just fall asleep and drop the book over. and as a last recourse if i still cannot sleep, i pray... try this. hope this works for you.

PhlyyGirl said...

Honestly,
the only thing that works for me is the breathing exercise. Everything else I've tried still has me wideee awake in my bed.
But my biggest problem isn't falling asleep, it's staying asleep.I'm not a light sleeper at all, but something will happen and I'll be dreaming and it will wake me up and I'll be wide awake and have to start all over again.

As for the sidekick thing, I'm sooooo glad it's not me. I thought I was losing my mind or had broken my shit or something. I was kinda pissed cause I wrote some well thought out long ass, essay type, provocative responses and now I can't remember them shits!!!
I wonder if its a blogger issue or a sidekick issue....dunno, but I hope they fix it soon!

Samson said...

I.... well I've suffered from it before being in the navy, but I just did the norm stuff like warm milk, or playing video games till my eyes got tired, or turning that digital red led clock around!

queenbee said...

uh honey DO NOT get the G1! trust me, i jus got it and ive had everything frm the sk3 to the dash to the blackberry, and now g1, u can make posts off the g1 and SOMETIMEs u can comment but not all the time...

to sleep, i read till my eyes r bout to fall out lol

Raft3r said...

i used to have trouble sleeping
but since i started travelling everywhere
and probably because of all the time differences,
i can now sleep whenever i like
hehe

Mz. Common Sense said...

Whooo so many comments to respond to!

@ Bridge - Sounds like a bad case of jet lag to me. I can't imagine the toll traveling from the Philippines to Hawaii and back is taking on your body! I hope you can find something to help you though!

@ bongflo - I have taken a warm shower before bed and it felt amazing but I still couldn't sleep =P. But the reading does help!

@ phlyygirl - I've been waking up constantly during the night from a sleep lately as well. It SUCKS. And these sidekicks need to get their acts together. I say you me and dre make a coalition and boycott TMobile, Danger, and Blogger for keeping us from commenting!

@ andre - I can't drink warmed milk. Bleechh. When I was younger, though, I would have to drink a glass of cold milk every night before bed or else I wouldn't sleep. Maybe I should start that again...

@ queenbee - No G1? But...but... *lip quiver* I've been raving about it for months! Don't tell me it's not any good! I'll be devastated!

@ raft3r - You lucky one. I wish I could just sleep whenever I wanted. Then Id have fewer worries!

Toni said...

this was written so well...i feel like this every night.
i get up...watch some tv...check out some blogs, drink some cold water...and if i still cant sleep....i start studying for one of my classes...that'll put me right to sleep!!!