Insomnia

I have really bad insomnia. So does my Great Aunt E. She says she just lies in bed all night when she can't sleep, but I can't do that. I watch bad TV (I'm talking Montel Williams' Living Well Healthmaster bad), go on the internet, and depending on how heavily I'm smoking cigarettes at the time I may chain smoke, just for something to do, but I know that only makes things worse. I think I'm going to light one now.

I marvel at and envy people who have a regular sleep pattern, especially if they go to bed at night and wake up in the morning. Since I work in the late afternoon and evening, my job is such that I can sleep all day, basically, and then go to work, but if you're not used to being awake during the day unless you have to be at work, getting things done and keeping appointments is a bitch.

Don't even mention sleeping pills. Been there, done that. I tried Lunesta, and  it didn't work. At first Ambien worked really well, but then it stopped working. Also, when it was still working, I wouldn't remember things that had happened or that I'd done or said about twenty minutes before I conked out. This is not an unusual side effect. I remember once I took it on a long flight, and I bought and ate a sandwich before I fell asleep and I barely remembered eating it and only remembered paying for it when I looked in my wallet and saw I had a $10 bill in there when I had boarded the plane with $20 in my wallet. That creeped me out, that I couldn't remember paying for something.

Staring at a TV or a computer monitor isn't great for insomnia, either. A lot of people say reading helps them get to sleep, but for me it just makes me sleep-y, but then when I turn off the light on my nightstand and actually try to go to sleep I'm wide awake again. My sister, my brother-in-law, my nephews and their dog are going to be arriving at my parents' house today at noon, and I really want to be there to greet them, but it may mean pulling an all-nighter. If I pull an all-nighter and stay up all day, I'll be sure of getting a good-- well, better-- night's sleep tomorrow night, which would be great because it's the night before Thanksgiving. I just hate going to work on no sleep, and I have work tomorrow night.

"Although I'm so tired, I'll have another cigarette..."--The Beatles