Insomnia

The best cure for insomnia is to

get a lot of sleep.....W.C. Fields

What the heck?  All my life my head hitting the pillow was all I needed to drift off into sleep, wonderful sleep! Julio Iglesias would sing for about two minutes and I was off to dreamland.  I kept Julio beside my bed where I kept my boom-box and for years I did not know what the rest of the songs on the cassette (yes, before CD's we listened to cassettes!) were, because I would be out instantly.

Later, I slept with George Straight, Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra. When I found a CD by Irvin Lucero, a local man I knew from Denver, Colorado, I enjoyed going to sleep with him   
singing religious songs in Spanish. Usually, I was asleep before the first song ended.

 I don't know when it happened, but one night I closed my eyes and heard every one of the eighteen songs on his CD.  This had never happened to me. I found it odd that I could not sleep and I noticed that I had one of those awake nights about every 4th or 5th night. After a sleepless night I began looking into my day to see what had gone on during the day. Did something different happen or was I worried about something. I could not find a pattern.

I looked up Insomnia in my Kaiser Healthwise Handbook and found out that I should only use my bed for sleeping. It specifically stated that I was not to work, eat, watch t.v. or read in bed.  I was to avoid mental stimulation an hour before bedtime. If I would lie awake for more than 15 minutes, I should get up, leave the bedroom and do something relaxing.

To be able to sleep like a baby
how wonderful that would be!

(This is Ariana with Pooh
dreaming sweet dreams.)

With all the suggestions, I still had nights that sleep would not come. From the hours of 11 p.m. until 3:30 a.m. I read, watched t.v., wrote my blog, ate, balanced my check book, got on the computer, worked crossword puzzles, etc. I noticed that after 3:30 in the morning I usually fell asleep soon after going to bed. Of course, I then got up later than my usual time and it messed up my day.

The odd thing was that I could be watching television in the late morning or afternoon and the next thing I knew I had missed a show because I fell asleep.  Sleep would arrive without warning and I would be out. Many times my head would give a jerk and wake me.  I remembered my Father telling me he could not sleep at night but always fell asleep watching t.v.  Maybe this was something that happened to older people. It was strange that I was unable to sleep in bed but sitting up sleep came quietly with no encouragement from me. I am happy it is not an every night occurrence but when I cannot sleep it leaves me feeling out of sorts the following day. In my youth I required around ten hours of sleep. Now, with six hours of a good night sleep, I seem to function fine.

Sometimes on those bad nights I will take an afternoon nap. Then, I  remember the advise I got when I was raising my children:  "Don't let them take too long of a nap during the day, because then they won't sleep during the night."  Regardless of whether I take a nap or not some nights I am not sleepy at all while other nights I am out like a light soon after going to bed.

O Sleep, O Gentle Sleep, Natures Soft Nurse,

How Have I Frightened Thee, That Thou No More

Wilt Weigh My Eye-Lids down and Steep My

Senses in Forgetfulness?

William Shakespeare