It's now 3:20 A.M. and I'm wide awake but very tired. I went to bed at about 11 P.M. and tossed and turned for hours before I had to accept I wouldn't fall asleep. So I got up and checked out Facebook. That done, I'm on my blog with nothing to write about except that I can't sleep. That's not entirely true but my foggy brain can't think too clearly.
I can remember having this problem starting in my 20's and it really was a problem then because I had 3 children that needed to be cared for during the day. In my thirties, the kids were old enough to care for themselves but I had a part-time job to go to and you could bet my worst sleepless nights would be those when I had to get up early in the morning for work.
When I was in my 40's I found out I had depression and that was contributing to sleeplessness. Antidepressant medication gave me my first full night's sleep in years and continued to alleviate it at least while I was taking the medication.
I took that medication on and off for about 16 years but gradually had no need for it. I'd learned to cope and my depression was gone. This doesn't happen for everyone but it did for me and I'm very grateful for that.
Without the medication, I still had the odd sleepless night but it wasn't too bad until a couple of years ago and I began having them too often for comfort. Shelley suggested I take an antihistamine before bed and that worked quite well but I've begun taking my medicine right after dinner and don't want to take the antihistamine then. I often forget to take it at all and so I suffer another sleepless night.
I guess I'll have to create another routine that includes taking the antihistamine closer to bedtime.
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