How do you feel about sleep? To me it’s one of life’s great luxuries. I had insomnia for years and was usually sleep-deprived. We would go to bed between 10 and 10:30 each night and would set the alarm for 7. I would have no trouble going to sleep, but would wake up sometime after midnight and stay awake for hours. That completely changed once I retired and could set my own hours. I’m now doing great — from 7 to 9 hours a sleep every day.
Andy, on the other hand, used to have no problem. But now he’s the one who has trouble sleeping — it’s so bad that tomorrow night he’s going to go to be wired up for a sleep study. We’re hoping they will find something that helps, and we’re especially curious to see if he can sleep at all in a strange bed, with a guy watching him via a video camera, and with the wires connected to him. I will let you know how it turns out. Wish him luck!
I used to think that I had insomnia but I think I was asleep when I wasn’t aware of it. Haha 😀 I’m seldom tired the next day. Now when I wake up mid–night (not 12:00 pm) I take a small nibble of melatonin if I think of it. Too much has the opposite effect. Tom listens to Old Time Radio ’til he isn’t really hearing it. The same programs keep me awake tho’ it’s fun to hear what we heard in the 40s & 50s. The commercials are hilarious.
The old time commercials weren’t suppose to be funny. They sounded like a preacher’s sermon.
The main thing is how you feel the next day. Sometimes we read that people sleep more than they think they do, but some sleep is a lot better than others.
As you know, I listen to audio books on my mp3 player, set to shut off every 8 minutes. (I just press a button to continue, easy to do in the dark.) When things are going well it takes a long time to get through a book, and I’m happy about that!
it depends!
sometimes I sleep really well, other nights ??xyz??
if I don’t wake up naturally, I am nearly always woken up around 7.45am by my elderly Asian neighbour who has a “running programme” where he clatters up and down the ROW driveway for about 10mins.
This morning though, I stayed in bed, and didn’t get up – musing on life AND then I woken up by the phone at 8.15am…
Right now I don’t have to be up at any set time…so all is good – plus if I do have a weird night, I can have a little nap somewhere during the day 🙂
Being able to take a nap in the afternoon helps a lot! It’s great to have flexibility.
I wish Andy all the best.
I do not have any problems with my sleep. I sleep best when I travel. The mode of transport is immaterial. I can sleep on bullock carts, trucks, cars, planes, boats and once fell off the pillion seat of a motorcycle because I had dozed off.
I sleep well when traveling, too. I used to say we needed a chauffeur to take me for a drive so I could sleep. I never fell off a motorcycle, though! 😀
Hope they find something useful Andy.
Do you and Jean handle anxiety differently – she preferring autonomy and you structure?
It’s not about handling anxiety, it’s more about getting things done. You’re right that his ideal schedule is a lot more structured than mine is.
Thanks for the good wishes.
I have intermittent insomnia too (like half the population, it seems). I can sleep very well for a week or so and then for the next week I’m waking up at 4 am or 5 am and all I can do after that is read a book and doze a little if I’m lucky. I’m hopeless at sleeping in and hopeless at napping so I never catch up with my sleep, but strangely enough I never feel that tired during the day. Maybe the sleep I do get is enough for my needs.
Interesting that your sleep problem vanished once you retired. And I wonder what you’ll find out from Andy’s sleep study.
That’s great that you’re not tired the next day. It’s horrible when you’re sleep-deprived and exhausted but not able to sleep. I’m grateful that I don’t have to go through that now. I have the utmost sympathy for Andy. I will let you know if he learns anything helpful.