Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Mini brain dump....

In my youth, I had alot of sleep issues.  As a tween, I had to take medication to help me stay asleep.  Basically...I just couldn't shut my brain off at night.  I was constantly thinking of something....

As an adult, I have mostly been blessed to NOT have this issue.  I get tired...I go to sleep.  I read somewhere it takes the average person 7 minutes to fall asleep....I am more like 7 seconds.  I rollover, and I am out.  I can also sleep just about anywhere....I once fell asleep in a bar (no, I wasn't drunk!) with the band playing.  I was tired...I leaned onto my hand....and zzzzz.

But my disrupted sleep has come back, and I am more than happy to see it go away again.  I am guessing it is a product of anxiety over so much change in the wind, and while I have enjoyed confiscating the entire Queen size bed at times....I do miss having G-man there.

This morning I was awake at 4:51am.  Went to the bathroom.  Came back to bed and for the next 1 hr and 9 minutes thought about the following (in no particular order here...just as I am remembering it):

  • Listening to Bossy breath and feeling bad that he sounds so nice and asleep, yet the alarm is about to go off
  • Did I hear the cat puke earlier?  If so, I wonder where it is....and I hope I don't step in it
  • Need to run by the school in the morning, go to the bank, go to AAA, go to dr appt...what time should I leave
  • I don't like my haircut....she didn't really listen to me, and I think she messed up and it ended up shorter because she was trying to even it out
  • What company should we use for our new home owners insurance
  • I hope we don't overextend ourselves with the move....
  • Did Bro make the phone calls he was supposed to....and need to fight the urge to take over
  • My back still hurts in that spot...is it time to call the chiropractor....no time for chiropractor....but probably should find time....
  • When will I have a "full" paycheck again....too much time off because of holidays....and having to schedule appointments for kids....
  • What else do I need to be able to do the taxes?
  • Rollover...feet hit a cat....I want to cuddle with my cat....if I call him up to the head of the bed, he will expect me to get out of bed, and he will start meowing.....leave him at the foot of the bed....
  • Need to go to grocery store to get food...but need to get XYZ today...
  • Need a small box to mail stuff...where is there a small enough box....
  • Need to get an oil change for car...need to find coupon...
This was just some of what I thought about.  It was a busy hour.

If this keeps up, I will need to do something about it.  Start using my guided meditation app again....get out of bed and bundle up and go for a walk....something.  I can't lay in bed and ruminate.  Most of what was in today's list of thought was minor....some days it is much more intense.

What do you do when you can't shut your brain off????

13 comments:

  1. Lol...I lied in bed thinking "did one of the dogs just barf? I should get up and check. No it was my imagination.....but what if????"

    My husband has been off work sick since June and hospitalized for the last two weeks(he isn't dying just going through a major med change). Needless to say, some nights I lie in bed just thinking about my line of credit getting higher and higher. Other nights I am too tired to care :)

    Take care of yourself.

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    1. I think pet owners get the pet mess thing. It is just part of owning a pet. But I think we all have stepped in it!

      I hope your hubby is able to come home soon...as healthy as can be expected!

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    2. Oh yes I have stepped in a few things my pets have left lying around.....in the middle of the night. Makes me wonder why I bother with pets at all :).

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    3. Because in general they provide more positives than negatives. But cleaning up cat puke after stepping in it is not on my list of favorite things!

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  2. Unfortunately, I live with it. Most days I don't sleep and I know it isaffecting my health. I never have made a list of my thoughts at night though. I think it wakes me up a little too much.

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    1. For me....sometimes I need to just list it all out just to clear my head. I will actually type it all out then reorganize it. I find they then tend to lend themselves to subcategories....kid to do, house to do, stuff I need to research, etc. For me...it helps.

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  3. I think insomnia is the worst! I really have suffered from it for years, but I take a prescription when I get really bad.

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    1. I don't think I am at the point of needing meds. But I can just feel the tension and anxiety.

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  4. I pretty much almost never have insomnia; I fall asleep when my head hits the pillow and I get up too early, so there's no time to be awake in bed. That said, a few nights ago I woke up around 5:30AM and started thinking about everything and never went back to sleep. Also, this morning I woke up at 3:30 with nightmares (or bad dreams... where is the line drawn? It was more the latter than the former, but pretty close - but I did go right back to sleep after calming down for a few minutes) and otherwise have been having vivid "stress dreams" all the time lately.

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  5. Oh, as for what to do: For anxiety or just plain insomnia keeping you awake: Get up and do stuff on computer or, for real anxiety, drudge work like cleaning up the kitchen and folding laundry. You will soon be so tired that it's like a gift to get in bed and fall asleep immediately.

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  6. I have a couple of free apps for hypnosis. I don't know if I get hypnotized, or if the voice is just soothing. I have 2 different ones and I think they help.

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  7. You're so lucky. I've had sleeping problems probably for the past 3-4 years, and it takes me FOR.E.VER to fall asleep (45~1:00hr). And staying asleep is out of the question--I'll be up either at 2:15 or by 4:10. If I wake up in the former, I can go back to sleep. The later? I'll be up until just 10min before my alarm goes off. Even though my thoughts are nowhere near as important or relevant as yours (mine are mostly pouting or sulking over something), those times when I know I have to sleep (hello, double/triple shift next time I wake up!), I try to watch a movie in my mind, something calming. Recently, it's been Fly Away Home. I get sleep somewhere in the middle.

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  8. I've had sleep issues for years. I have a Fitbit now that tracks my sleep .... so I know how much I'm (not) getting each night. I used to have trouble falling asleep & staying asleep. I was diagnosed with anxiety & now that I'm on meds I don't have as much trouble getting to sleep. Less than 1/2 hour. I do get up once or twice to pee ... but my sleep is still not good. Very restless .... I dream a lot so I don't think I ever get into the deep sleep stage that is the restful sleep. I've tried a sleep study ... couldn't fall asleep. My doctor says it could be peri-menopausal .... but seriously, how many years can we blame that? It's been about 10 :(

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