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Oh, To Be Sleeping Beauty!
- Sue Cunningham
- Sep 20, 2023
- 3 min read
Does this sound familiar? It is 11pm and you are tired. After a warm shower and putting on comfy jammies, you slip into a heavenly bed that wraps itself around you like a lover’s sleepy arms.
Ah! Bliss!
Then, bam! It is 4am and you wake up….again! Why?
Try as you might, you simply can’t get back to sleep.
Why?
So, you get up and try to read. Or do a load of laundry. Or watch tv. Or eat. But nothing works. Why? Welcome to the world of insomnia.
The medical field (www.WebMD.com) tells us that insomnia is “a sleep disorder in which you have trouble falling or staying asleep. It can last for a short time or last for a long time. It may come and go”. There are two types of insomnia: primary and secondary. Primary sleep disorders are not linked to any health conditions or problems. For example, you may simply toss and turn night after night. You may get up for no reason, you may worry about the lack of sleep.
Secondary sleep disorders are due to underlying health conditions such as asthma, depression, arthritis, cancer, heartburn, pain, meds or alcohol. That makes perfect sense. But what do we do about it? This is a serious issue. Lack of sleep brings on a whole lot of other concerns according to www.1907.Foundation, a brain research organization. Sleep deprivation can bring about mood disorders such as depression and anxiety which can cause more sleep issues. During sleep the brain rids itself of waste. When it can’t, it functions sub optimally by possibly slowing down thought processes and reaction times. Well, that’s a bummer!
So, we are told to exercise more, avoid naps, caffeine and alcohol prior to going to bed. Schedule a consistent sleep pattern, avoid devices and bright lights before bed. There is also counseling. Yep, I have heard that over and over.
Here is what I know for a fact because I have lived with this for years.
Not getting enough sleep is truly debilitating. It can wreck my scheduled plans, it effects my personality, my diet and my energy level…and not in a good way. I have tried every organic, natural and medicinal method that is supposed to ease me into slumber; milk, teas, vitamins, videos, adult bedtime stories, massages, creams, tub soaking, tapes, new sheets and pillow cases and pills. Do they work? For a while. One doctor told me my sleeping issues were my “new normal.” Really, that is a diagnosis? There must be a way to be a modern Sleeping Beauty. Maybe she had help from one of the seven dwarfs, namely, Sleepy?
Here is another thing I know for a fact: do what is best for you. I have found bedtime stories for adults work quite well, again, for a while. See below for suggestions. Then I move on to something else. Sleepy time teas, for example. Massages are fabulous but they get expensive on a regular basis. Just do whatever seems right for you. I can go for a very long time getting some wonderful snoozes and then out of nowhere I wake up for what seems to be no reason at all. Know what I mean?
Well, I guess it is time for a hot shower and my favorite pajamas as I brew my sleepy time tea.
Nighty night and Happy Aging,
Sue
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