Thursday, January 06, 2011

in·som·ni·a 

in·som·ni·a   
[in-som-nee-uh]
–noun
inability to obtain sufficient sleep, esp. when chronic; difficulty in falling or staying asleep; sleeplessness.

I used to think that this insomnia that some older people suffered with could be a great thing because it would allow you the chance to accomplish so much more while you were awake in the night. I am now ready to renounce that childish opinion.

Last night I started bed preparations so that I would be in bed and have no excuses by shortly after eleven pm. By eleven thirty my lights were off and I was looking for sleep. Sometime after that Lauralea put her scrabble game away and within minutes was gone off to sleep. I stubbornly stayed in my fetal position looking for sleep.

Somewhere after 12:30 am I did drift off to sleep and I know I did because right about 1:30 I awoke with a jump and reached over and set my morning alarm clock that I had forgotten to set and lay back to rejoin herself who was back from her washroom break and already fast asleep. Except that I couldn't sleep, again.

So I got up and wandered the house, finally settling on the couch and with The Andy Griffith show on the TV, I did a bunch of catch up work on our holiday pictures on Flickr. That was a bit after 2am. Then came three am, and four, and by nearly five am I felt tired enough to give sleep a chance, so off I went. Then there was good sleep, and I ended up sleeping in.


I remember when we were younger and had young kids, it was a great difficulty to even stay up till midnight. In those years I never saw what one am looked like, ever. Now I can't remember the last time I was able to fall into a good sleep before 1 or 1:30 am.

I realize it's probably a part of my sleep training and my sleep history, but it isn't fun being up all night, especially when there are appointments and meetings scheduled for the next day and you need to be in good, non-yawning shape. I need to find some other options for helping to fall asleep because it's true that you just get more and more frustrated the longer and harder you try to find it.

Maybe reading? Perhaps some meditation prayer, or maybe things will improve when Lauralea is healthy and not coughing etc. etc.

I just have to get this figured out, and soon. These kinds of nights are just crazy for a 47 year old. Still twenty some years of work before I can retire and stay up all night and sleep all day.

9 comments:

  1. Seriously. Have you tried that ipod app yet?

    Maybe it won't work for you, but after using it for 3 weeks straight I can even fall asleep without it playing - something I hadn't been able to manage since I sucked my thumb.

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  2. Johanna's thumb-sucking comment made me smile...

    I think the exhaustion of kids and seminary has made me sleep better here in the past year than my whole life. Still get the occasional series of nights being jolted awake at exactly 12:30am, but other than that sleep is good.

    Madeline, on the other hand, often has trouble falling asleep and then will call us in the night saying she "hasn't slept at all". It's tough seeing her struggle with that. Plus it makes us tired too! Still trying to figure her out with this.

    Hope you get some sleep tonight...

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  3. I have found that the computer is really bad to be using just before bed, and where thought has been required it stimulates something in the brain that simply won't shut down. Having said that, most of my non-sleep issues relate to aching muscles and joints these days, with the discomfort waking me after a few hours.

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  4. I have no easy solutions, only sympathy.

    I find that sleep is more elusive if I have not gotten some good physical exercise during the day. That might help but I suspect it is, as you say, something to do with sleep patterns. Also, reding a good thick text book seems to almost always do the trick for me.

    Hope sleep came for you last night.

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  5. Slept about 7 hours last night.

    Not bad at all.

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  6. I agree with Linea, a good bit of exercise will help the insomnia problem. I notice it with my kids the most. When they are less active they have a harder time getting to sleep.

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  7. How about a half dozen Coors with vodka chasers??? Others have said that works:)

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  8. Ooo I have another suggestion!
    Read through a list of baby names trying to find one you like! That always puts me out after about 5 minutes.

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  9. So many good ideas, a couple I like better than others.

    I should keep this list handy.


    :)

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