Sweet Sleep
The only worse thing than being a mother who isn’t sleeping is being a mother who lies awake while her baby is snoozing peacefully.
I am a long-time sufferer of insomnia. It always strikes when I’m worried or upset about something: when something heavy’s on my mind I will toss and turn all night. It also hits me when good stuff is happening. I didn’t sleep for two nights after my good news last week.
With our trip coming up in April, I’m already losing sleep over the thought of the upcoming sleepless nights. I get really excited about travel and can’t sleep before or during it. Our last big trip was our honeymoon. A nurse friend hooked me up with some sleeping pills--between the pills and a bottle of champagne every night I did all right. Unfortunately, I’ve lost touch with her, and I doubt there’ll be free champagne at my friend’s where we staying (or will there be, Chris?)
Friends, please let me in on your best sleep solutions, whatever they may be: techniques, narcotics, rituals, herbs, sexual acts, teas, whatever. I'll try (almost) anything!
Labels: moi
posted by metro mama @ 4:54 PM
27 Comments:
a benedryl at night does the trick for me. otherwise, i'd be blinkity blinking all night too.
I'm up for 45 minutes to an hour before nodding off on a nightly basis (unless I take something) and recently someone told me its not normal! I always thought that the people who fell asleep quickly were the odd ones. Ooops. *lol* If I'm preoccupied, sometimes I'm awake in bed for hours.
Benadryl puts me out rather quickly, though when I take it for allergies, so I'd give that a go.
um, yeah, i wish i could help you!! i am asleep before my head hits the pillow. i guess my advice is have three kids in 5 years. :)
I suffer from insomnia for similar reasons as you mentioned. It has become so bad that I had to reluctantly accept a prescription from my doctor. I only take it half as often as he has prescribed and it has worked wonders for me.
I do a visualisation that has me slooooowwwwwlllly, deliberately relaxing every muscle from my toes, moving on up to my neck. On the days where it works, it usually takes about 20 minutes, and I'm usually asleep by the time I get to my ribs.
Or you could always just try the Big O.
gravol does wonders for me.
Talk radio, believe it or not. It makes me focus on things other than what's bugging me, and, because it can get rather repetitive, I eventually just drift off.
One glass of red wine (just one!),
One (or two depending) Bayer PMs,
A loud, but not too loud, fan for white noise.
That does it for me.
Oh, I can't help! I'm suffering from insomnia for the first time this last little while. Don't know why, but it's not fun.... Good thing I have cats to keep me company, though. :)
I use aromatherapy. works incredibly well for me.
this is the one i use:
http://www.escentsaromatherapy.com/browse.php?primary=21&secondary=26&product=76
I was insomnia-boy for about a decade, I think, or mostly forever. Anyway, I tried more things than I prefer to recall and nothing worked.
Then, in February 2001, my wife told me she was pregnant. She quite drinking the booze and, in support, so did I.
At the end of the first two dry months, I noticed that I was sleeping. Sleeping well, sleeping as soon as my head hit the pillow.
I was on the wagon for just over four years. Now I hit the booze like the average social drinker (which is not too much), and the insomnia hasn't returned.
It's drastic, but it could work.
I've suffered insomnia since the Bug flew away. (Better that than bad dreams, I suppose...)
My bestest and most fun cure...S-E-X. Nothing tires out the ole brain like a good round of booty.
If that is not an option or isn't not available...(thin walls, or what have you...) I'd go with the Benadryl or any cold medication that makes you drowsy.
Good luck and may Mr. Sandman come to see you soon.
sigh. fine . I 'll sell ya a few of my ativan for 10 bucks a pop. seriously, I'll slip you a few. for free cause I'm that kind of pseudo sistah in law. just email me.
Or try a nice homeopathic tinture called rescue remedy....
or both. wa ever.
wank.
I'm the same way right before a big event or trip-I absolutely can not sleep at all. But for "normal" insomnia, I set up my pillow and blanket on the couch and turn on any Law and Order rerun. Seriously! I've seen all of them so many times that the familiarity puts me right to sleep!
I never had trouble sleeping until my kids ruined me for life. I am taking note of all the tips.
Sex always used to work for me too. Now nothing does.
Oh yeay for you on the good news. Very very cool, lady!
Oh and as for sleep stuff? Ummm. Tylenol PM or Simply Sleep is what I use. But the downside (for me) is that I'm all out of it the next day. I need to check your comments to see what other people are offering... I need some new ideas too! :-)
A hot bath, followed immidiately by a still-damp dash into a preheated (with hot water bottles) bed normally puts me into a deep, bovine sleep.
What can I say? I'm a guy, sexual acts tops the list.
That's funny, sex just revs me up and I get all chatty. (I'm sure all guys LOVE that..)
However, my Canadian Theatre textbook does it. Every. Single. Time. Wanna borrow it?
OH! And I'm so sorry I missed your post about the good news. Congratulations! Very cool.
Naughty - Geriatric dose lorazipam, you aren't out of it the next day
Nice- Rescue Remedy stops your mind from reeling too
NYQUIL, baby.
Actually, it sounds so old fashioned....hot cocoa does it for me. A heaping teaspoon of cocoa powder and teaspoon of sugar into hot milk.
Know how you feel, I get insomnia all the time, can't make my brain slow down or stop stressing about things...hope something works for you, soon!
I am a first time reader and thought I would comment! I am a long time insomnia/night terror sufferer and finally found heaven in Rx drugs. I had a sleep study, ruled out epilepsy to turn around and take an epilepsy drug to slow down my brain at night, plus Lunesta, plus Lexapro. Pretty extreme though. But I sleep like a baby now. Best wishes. - Aimee
This may sound crazy, but when I can't sleep I need to get up and do something productive. I can't stand laying there wide awake for hours. I just think of everything I need to do and won't have energy to do the next day since I haven't had much sleep. So, I might find a closet to clean out, dishes to put away, etc. If you're interested in doing some late night organizing or just making plans on how to organize, you may want to check out a great, free resource made available by the company I work for. It's at www.organizingmyhome.com.
Well, sex does it every time... but that only buys me about a half dozen good nights of sleep a year - *snort.* I like a nice nightcap some nights, but mostly, if I can't sleep? Our couch. It's like this big red velvet squashy nest, and it gets me every time.
Hey, you'll be passing through the duty-free on your way here - feel free to bring all the champagne you can carry! - Christine
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