For insomnia: move to the edge of the bed and you’ll soon drop off
Tess might be dreaming of divorce but I am not dreaming at all because I am not sleeping. The attached chart(s) shows a typical night’s sleep for me, as illustrated/tracked by Sleep Cycle on my iPhone. For some strange reason, since moving into our new flat, I have not been able to sleep. This has been going on for a few months now so needless to say I am getting pretty tired. A typical night I fall asleep rather quickly, only to wake-up about 90 minutes later. I will be restless for about an hour, fall asleep, and then awaken a while later for another hour of restlessness. Net effect: 4 hours and 21 minutes of sleep.
During the last few months I have cutback on coffee, since my new employer actually doesn’t provide coffee at head office. Therefore, I have a cup in the morning, finished on the way to work, a cup mid-morning from Pacific Coffee Company and maybe another cup at lunch or early afternoon. Typically I don’t drink coffee after 2 PM. (My previous employer had an awesome coffee machine and it was a real challenge staying away from it!) I have also lost about 4 – 5 kgs during the summer, started exercising again and cut out soft drinks. Since July 23rd I have had less than one can of Orange Fanta and only a few sips of Coke. I am also eating healthier – in the morning I have cut sugar out of my cereal, instead adding yoghurt. I am making a conscious effort to eat less junk, buying fresh fruit from a terrific fruit stand near work. Finally, I have cut back on lunch: I now eat half a sandwich instead of a whole sandwich, supplementing lunch with a salad of some sort and fruit. I am still not sleeping very well.
Yes, I saw a doctor and he said to me, “Anything I prescribe, you will only get addicted to.” I have talked with friends about the East/West and North/South theory. I have tried running and exercising at night. I have eaten many bananas at night (they contain melatonin, in case you didn’t know) only resulting in more hair on the back of my neck and hands: I am still very, very restless each night.
Some people say that God wakes you to pray for people. I tried praying and that helped quite a bit. But finally last night I was so fed-up that I got up at 4:45 AM and stayed awake. This is my new strategy and I will let you know how it goes. Tonight if I wake-up… I am just going to get up.
Meanwhile, any suggestions?
