dear sleep,
Hi.
How are you?
I assume you’re well because you’re… sleeping.
However? I AM NOT.
Sure, I just moved into a new place in a different neighbourhood, and sure, I’m far away from my “person” and sure, I’ve never really been one for rockin’ out the ZZZs in an appropriate fashion, but in the past few months, I’d developed kind of a 5 - 6 hour a night understanding with you.
Now?
2 at BEST.
I’ve stopped drinking coffee.
I’ve eliminated all light sources.
I’ve started eating earlier in the day.
I drink “sleepy” teas of various varieties.
I don’t bring my laptop into my bedroom.
You name it.
NADA.
Seriously, it makes me a bit buggy to hop into bed at 9:10 pm (my friends are now looking at this page in abject horror: “YOU? YOU DID?”) and not fall asleep until 1:30 am.
I do the whole, “Get out of bed and read and do something quiet, and then return and try again” thing.
NADA.
I took a hot bath. I inhaled lavender. I adjusted my covers.
Is it that my mattress is kind of dubious, and my upper layer of pillows (I have four) need replacing? Is it that I am a giant stressball? Is it that some of us are just not destined to sleep?
WHAT IS IT?
SLEEP. I NEED YOU. COME BACK.
Love,
Meg
May 13th, 2009 at 10:36 am
When sleep doesn’t happen here, I apply (don’t laugh, just try it) Kiehl’s hand and body lotion in lavender to the soles of my feet.
Sounds goofy, but it’s worked every time.
Hope sleep returns.
May 13th, 2009 at 11:10 am
You know, a food friend of mine struggled with insomnia like this for MONTHS. She was like a walking zombie, she was so tired, and yet sleep somehow still eluded her. She tried everything you mentioned here, everything she’d ever heard of and nothing worked. Until she tried acupuncture.
I don’t know if it would work for you too, but it might be worth a shot.
May 13th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
I had the same problem for my whole life and tried every recommended method known with no success. Finally, at the age of 45, I decided that the stress from not sleeping was causing me more problems than the not sleeping itself, so I gave up trying to sleep. I don’t bother going to bed until I’ve already fallen asleep on the sofa, so now I don’t go to bed until I am already asleep. Then, when I still lay there awake, I just closed my eyes, relaxed and repeated to myself: sleep doesn’t matter, my eyes & body are relaxed, and that’s the important thing.
I didn’t do it as a strategy to sleep, I just decided that well, I don’t sleep, so lets stop stressing about it. Now I have no problem in sleeping, I never thought it would happen!
May 13th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
STOPPED drinking COFFEE?
May 14th, 2009 at 11:33 am
I still haven’t gotten over the shock of you quitting coffee…
May 14th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Try doing some simple stretching, in bed, right when you get to bed. I find it amazingly effective, when all else fails. Even 5 minutes of it. Fingers crossed for you.
May 15th, 2009 at 3:12 am
You’ve probably already been there - but 2mg of Melatonin before bed has radically changed my sleep patterns (for the better)…..
May 16th, 2009 at 7:33 am
Melatonin tablets help me sleep but also make me have wild dreams. So there is a trade-off.
Turning on a fan or the radio to static really makes me sleep better.
My sympathies. I know your pain. I only truly sleep well in my car. Weird but true. Something about the warmth and the way the seat fits. But I can only do that for about 15 minutes at a time.