... Not like you need me to tell you what it's like to not sleep all night. We have all been there. In fact, I am surprised how many people I talk to who have trouble sleeping! What does it say about our lives that we can't relax and enjoy AT LEAST six hours of uninterrupted shut eye?
Anyway, I have a lot of time to think when I'm laying in bed awake. So I thought I'd take you through what a typical restless night is like for me. (Note: Not EVERY night is this bad. And sometimes I do manage to sleep from around 9pm-3am, which at least is six hours. But a night like I am describing below happens once every week or week and a half.)
You see? The night starts out so hopeful.
8:30 - Crawl into bed. Excited to play Scrabble on my phone and fall asleep with the help of 6mg of melatonin. (I am afraid to go to bed without it.) Paul is not there. He stays up much later.
9:15-ish - I shut down my Scrabble game and fall right asleep. Or else I fall asleep with my phone open. Bliss.
11:58- At some point Paul has come to bed. I know this because now he is snoring and I am awake. I quickly grab my pillow and head out to the couch to sleep. I'm not messing around with this snoring business. Except I am really thirsty and need to pee, so I take care of all that and curl up on the couch. Dang it is uncomfortable and dang it's freezing out here!
12:20- Well, I am wide awake. Don't panic. I take another 6mg of melatonin and play Scrabble. I'm hoping to replicate how I fell asleep just 3 hours ago.
1:00- Three games of Scrabble later and I am feeling a little tired. Time to try to sleep.
1:02- HOW COME I CAN STILL HEAR PAUL SNORING????? I go shut the bedroom door. Back to the couch. Awake.
1:03-2:30- This is the "Think About All The Horrible Things That Ever Happened In My Life" portion of the night. I think about student teaching, when we had to put our cat Basic to sleep, canceling our Hawaii trip, worrying about Paul all day long, how much I am going to miss the cats when we are on vacation this summer, stupid work stuff that annoys me, the freaking lady on Jeopardy that just won't lose and has won four days in a row OHMYGOD I FREAKING HATE HER... The list goes on and on.
2:35-3:30- My mind is still racing. I've already covered all the horrible shit when I was out on the couch. Now it's time to think about all the stuff I have to get done the next day. Lesson plans, grocery shopping, piano lessons, pack my lunches for the rest of the week... This is all stuff that is already on my actual to do list, so there's no reason to go over it all in my head. But I do. Of course I do. That's what you do at three o'clock in the morning.
3:30- I convince myself that I am semi tired and even start to doze off a bit. But sleep does not come. Instead, two kitty cats barge into the bedroom crying and scratching the closet doors. It's breakfast time. I get up and feed them. We keep their food in our room. That may be our first mistake...
4:00- Okay, I am just going to freaking get up and start my day. I psych myself to get out of bed, even though I feel like a zombie and pretty much hate my life at this point. But then Kitty Paralysis happens. Kitty Paralysis is when your cats hop up on the bed and curl up on you for a post breakfast nap. Jelly goes between my legs but Christmas prefers to be right up in my face. He curls under my arm and lays his cheek on my cheek. I am stuck and can't move for shit. But I am so happy and am reminded that even though I had a crappy night, I have two kitty cats who make my life so rich!
4:45-5:30- Hey! When Christmas' purring died down, I actually managed to doze off for an hour! TAKE THAT INSOMNIA. As soon as my alarm goes off, I pour my coffee and hop on Facebook to tell the world of my sleeping woes. Because you know, if you don't post it on Facebook, it didn't happen.
And that my friends, is a typical night in which I can't sleep. Can you relate to any of this? I hope not, bad sadly, I'm sure many of you can...
Finally, a parting word from the ever inspirational Grumpy Cat.
Finally, a parting word from the ever inspirational Grumpy Cat.
I freaking love Grumpy Cat.
Tell me the crazy shit you think about when you can't sleep!
Does your partner snore, and if so, HOW DO YOU COPE?
Ever experience "Kitty Paralysis"?
That has got to be so frustrating! My sleep issue is that I wake up very early (between 3:30 am and 4 am). However, I also fall asleep no later than 8 pm so it's just a cycle. The only time I am not OK w/ waking up so early is when I want to sleep in which is about 1 day/week and on vacations or if we stay out late. Hang in there!!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. When I was on a nice cycle, I would still get up early on the weekends. Maybe not 5:30, but like 7:00 or 7:30. Now in the summer, when I have 10 weeks off, my bedtime slowly gets later and later and I sleep later and later... so by the time school starts again I am used to being up until 1pm and sleeping till 10 hahaha
DeleteUgh! So frustrating! I go through periods of insomnia followed by periods of all I want to do is sleep. Right now, I'm sleeping but I wake up every few hours in a panic that I'm either late for work or having work nightmares. But I'm thankful that I fall asleep again quickly (within 30 minutes). Hopefully you'll be like me and your insomnia will turn into 9-12 hour night sleeps!
ReplyDeleteI bet work is the biggest cause of insomnia in people! It sucks because you know it's not like worrying about work in the middle of the night will fix ANYTHING or make work the next day easier, yet we do it. Thanks for sharing, Andrea!
DeleteI have to take medicine for my insomnia.. it was starting to affect my work/relationships/etc so I finally went to the doctor about it. Life is MUCH better now and I'm not dependent on my medication, but it's nice to know it is there if I need it. Running definitely helps with making our bodies tired, but if we can't shut down our minds it is really hard to get to sleep.. I know how you feel!
ReplyDeleteLuckily my fiance doesn't snore, but we do have a 3 year old dog that loves to snuggle in between us and wakes us us multiple times each night. The things you will do for your pet's comfort...
Hope things get better for you!
I went to the doctor as well. For now, she just has be trying melatonin or 25mg of tylenol pm or similar. I know there is stronger stuff but we both agreed to try this first. Like you, I don't like being dependent on meds. I am glad you no longer need them!
DeleteIt is funny what we do for our pets. :)
Hey, I've been there. I can't even tell you what I think about when I can't sleep at night because it is literally ALL THE THINGS.
ReplyDeleteI actually sleep with ear plugs in. It's a habit I started in AmeriCorps when I was having to sleep in a large room with 10 other people, and now I still do it unless I'm somewhere that's ultra quiet at night. It really helps. My SO doesn't snore that often, but the littlest noises still keep me up at night, and the cats love to putz around and it drives me insane.
Another tip I've heard is to make yourself stay up a little later instead of getting into bed before you're tired - it might help you fall asleep faster if you wear yourself out a little more before bed.
You know, I did get the idea of staying up a little later so I tried that on Wed night. It was perfect because Survivor was on for 2 hours instead of 1 hour and wasn't over until 10:00. I still woke up at 3:30am BUT it was only my first try. I plan to try staying up a little later as a rule. It can't hurt to try.
DeleteYeah, the whole waking up at 3:30 and not being able to fall back asleep is rough. I wish I knew what to do about that. I may have trouble falling asleep but once I'm out, I'm usually out for the night, unless I have to pee, or I'm really nervous/anxious about something the next day in which case I will wake up every hour.
DeleteI struggle with this too...The Tylenol pm REALLY does help. It makes me fall back asleep faster when I wake up. I take 1 tablet before bed. The past couple weeks I have been experimenting, and I have found that no alcohol, and no food past 7pm GREATLY reduces the waking up in the middle of the night thing! (Much to my dismay--I am a glass of wine at night person, and a bowl of ice cream!)
ReplyDeleteI typically go downstairs and watch TV--something boring. Or I read.
I feel for you...It's no fun, and the struggle the next day stinks!
I would like to try the no eating thing after 7pm but I am a HUNGRY girl lol. It's hard to sleep when you're hungry, too. Last night I slept great. First night sleeping *almost* straight through in a week. WOOHOO! I have not tried the tylenol pm yet, just the melatonin. It is on my list to give a shot. Thanks for reminding me. :)
DeleteThat is really frustrating. I've found over the years that benedryl puts me RIGHT OUT. Adam says I get a little loopy and then I'm passed out for the entire night.
ReplyDeleteI definitely get those annoying insomnia nights every once in a while. I had one earlier this week where I woke up in the middle of the night so excited about something I couldn't fall back asleep. That's the worst because I had all this positive energy flowing through me but it was definitely not an appropriate hour to get up and make productive use of the energy.
Another night this week I had a nightmare that I went to LA and I brought Cecil with me... and he ran away. I was freaking out and when I woke up I couldn't fall back asleep after that either. I'm looking forward to some good sleep this weekend. I hope you get some good sleep too!
I hate kitty cat nightmares. I have been there.
DeleteWhat were you so excited about that you couldn't fall asleep?
I hope you have a relaxing weekend and get some rest. :) NO bad cat dreams!
Oh my goodness Meg, I did not realize how bad it was for you! I usually have the opposite problem and I fall asleep on the couch at night before I even make it to bed and before I even get into my PJs. I really loved your comment at exactly 1:02 AM! LOL. And I really like the term kitty paralysis! I definitely get puppy paralysis would Lolas lease between my knees as well :)
ReplyDeletePuppy paralysis!!! If you are anything like me (and i know you are), you will forfeit a comfortable sleeping position if it means Lola is comfy. :)
DeleteHaha..you were right, I can completely relate to this bitterly funny post! I do the same thing you do-play scrabble on my phone in bed. My sleep has been getting SO MUCH better over the last few weeks and I am not sure exactly why? I believe it is because I have been spending a lot more hours outside walking. Somehow the fresh air makes me feel tired at bedtime. My husband snores like crazy and it definitely impacts my sleep. I usually hit him with the pillow and it helps for about 4 minutes, then he starts again...I have tried ear plugs, but can't stand how they feel in my ears. It's strange, but I usually start thinking of sad things when I can't sleep, which only makes the insomnia worse. I don't think of these depressing things during the day at all! Also, I am never full for long, and despite eating a ton before bed and during the day, I get hungry at 3 am and can't fall back asleep without a snack. I take 5 mg of melatonin, and I do think it helps. Advil PM works amazingly, but I hate taking it daily. Plus, it becomes quite less effective after a week straight, in my opinion. I wish I had more helpful advise for you, but I don't :( Such a funny post though!
ReplyDeleteI am glad you found the humor in my post! I am sorry you suffer from your partner snoring. It just GRATES on my ears so I know how you feel. I told Paul he needs to research to see if there are things he can do to reduce his snoring but he hasn't done it yet. He's someone you need to give like a 2 month time frame to if you want something done. (I say that with love!!!)
DeleteI know I would not like earplugs either. I think they would give me bad flashbacks of being on swim team.
Not being able to sleep is the worst! I have had a few nights over the past few weeks where I got up at 2 am and couldn't fall back to sleep and ended up getting up at like 4 to start the day. I do alot of tossing and turning when I can't sleep and I can't turn off my brain!
ReplyDeleteI am sorry that happened to you this week! It is so frustrating. Here's to a weekend full of restful sleep for both of us!
DeleteI don't know if Paul has apnea but I told him I want him to research the whole snoring thing to see if there's anything he can do about it. He doesn't snore every night, but when he does, even if it is quiet, I grates on me.
ReplyDeleteMy cats do puke but not every day. But oh yah I have been woken up by a hairball on the bed once or twice in my life!
I feel your pain!! I can't even remember the last time I went to bed, fell asleep and stayed asleep all night. I didn't even know people really did that but Chris said that is what he does every night!
ReplyDeleteI have started giving myself 15 minutes to fall back asleep - if it doesn't happen I grab my Nook and read until I fall asleep. Reading keeps my brain from going to all the places I don't want it to be!!!
That's a really good idea. I need to start a book and keep it by me.
DeleteThis really did give me a good idea of what you go through at night, and I'm sorry you do. That just plain sucks. The worst is when you panic about not being able to sleep and THAT makes sleep even more impossible. I hope eventually you and your doctor figure out a plan that really works for you!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I had a couple bad nights in a row last week and it makes me think I need something stronger than just melatonin and positive thinking. I'm off to the store before work today to try the 25mg tylenol pm...
DeleteThat's what I'm afraid of... it getting worse in the coming years!
ReplyDelete