Eyes of the Dragon
by Bridget StuartStress, baby. That's the word. Stress. When you're about to close on a new house and embark on a series of major renovations before you can even think about moving in, while struggling with a few minor (okay, MAJOR) legal hassles, AND you have several deadlines you have no prayer of meeting, AND also have to manage to give your children enough confidence-bolstering, relationship-building, loving face time to meet their needs...stress is your bosom buddy. Stress is your puppy, dogging your every footstep. Stress is your lover, keeping you awake for loooong sheet-tossing, pillow-biting nights. Stress is your--okay, you get it already.
Continuing on the loss-of-sleep theme, I should mention that I did get a prescription from the doctor to help ease my path into dreams. I use it only occasionally--very occasionally--but, ahhh. The pills work. Sadly, in my Calvinist way, I allot myself a mere half-pill each time I simply can't lie there like a two-by-four any longer at three a.m. No siree, no taking a whole pill before turning off the light at ten for me! I grit my teeth and lose an entire five hours before debating whether it's too late to actually try my meager half-dose, wondering if I'll be able to wake up at six if I drug myself at three, etc., etc. Does anyone else do this to themselves? God, I hope not. Maybe I have some rare form of pill-phobia.
The result ain't pretty. I was volunteering in my little boy's classroom the other day, and the kids were making paper dragons, coloring in all the details with marker pens. I was particularly proud of my guy's cool, red-veined dragon eyes. "Awesome, Richard," I said. (Yes, around first-graders I admit to saying 'awesome' quite frequently.) "Where did you get the idea for the bloodshot eyes?'
"From your eyes, mommy! They look just like that!"
Must. Sleep. Must. Sleep.
Any suggestions?
posted by bridget @ 12:59 PM
9 Comments:
Drugs.
The new sleep drugs, while pricey, actually work, without leaving you drowsy the next day. They're not narcotics, so there's no hang-over.
As always, though, there are potential side-effects and interactions, so you wouldn't want to take any of them without discussing them with your doc (and I'm not a doc), but sleep is so important, even more so in times of stress.
Take care of yourself!
Thank you, gin! I take it you're thinking of 'Lunesta'? I saw ads for that and was impressed with the glitzy, dark blue butterfly smoothness of the whole enterprise. It looked like big pharma had sunk so much money into it, Lunesta might be part of a brilliant scheme to control us all while we sleep...perhaps there's a nano chip in each pill...can you tell I'm *still* not getting enough sleep? It can cause paranoid delusions.
((((Awww,)))) have you tried milk and an aspirin? There's something (?) in milk that lulls you and the aspirin will knock out any minor aches or pains do once lulled you sleep. And there's always War and Peace.
milk and aspirin, huh, Sandy? I have to admit, I haven't tried it! (Gets up from sofa, grabs handbag, slips on clogs and picks up keys from the ledge by the door) Thanks!
Bridget,
I've tried both Advil PM (Benadryl is the sleep-inducing ingredient) and Melatonin tablets (from the vitamin aisle). Both have worked for me. Not sure if they'll help you, but you might want to give it a whirl since you're doing the half-pill thing. You do have to take it a half-hour before bedtime.
Hey, kewl, Mo h. I know benadryl will work for me, because when I take Dramamine, another antihistamine, it's total k.o. blackout time. That reminds me of when I bought some generic Dramamine after the NY RWA meetings, and the dosage must have been too strong in the pills, because I almost didn't make it onto the plane, I was so drugged. I had to do laps around the terminal to keep awake. Doesn't it dry your skin, though? (Vanity, always vanity)
I don't like taking pills either, Bridget, but I say TAKE THE PILLS!!! Your body needs sleep! Period. And I'm serious when I say decide today, right now, that you are no longer going to stress over everything going on in your life...everything always works out in the end and the stress does nothing for you but make you lose sleep and look like a dragon!! Don't waste another moment. You can do this. You have to do this. Get some sleep, take the word stress out of your life starting today. Take the word tired out too. I know you're tired, how could you not be, but think "energized". You have great kids. A new house. A new guy. Take the pill! You need sleep. You are AWESOME! :)
I can sooo relate to the no sleep thing. Who needs eye shadow? Concealer is what's happening after 40. Part of it comes from being a writer, the other part is stress. Is it because we're women and we stress over the lives of the people close to us, not just our own? I think we are programed to this nasty trait. I'm not sure the opposite sex is.
As for the sleeping without drugs, I pop on my headset and listen to conference CD's as I go to sleep. It's sort of the grown up version of a bedtime story. It really does help.
I resort to drugs when my health is at risk. Sleep is important. It's the ultimate miracle drug that keeps us going. Got to have it!
Take the drugs, honey. You realized that you needed help and went so far as to get 'em. Don't stop now with the getting help. You need to sleep.
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