Day 62: The most effective cure for insomnia

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 62: The most effective cure for insomnia

For the first time in a long time I feel rested on a Monday morning. Usually, on a Monday morning I feel like death warmed up because of lack of sleep the previous night.

I sleep, sort of, okay during the week. I’m up at 6:00 a.m., work all day (sort of) and go to bed at 11:00 p.m. Tired, I’m almost asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

Sleeping on a Sunday night is a different story though. Instead of at 6:00 I get up around 8:00 or 9:00 a.m. and when I go to bed I’m not tired at all. I go to bed because, well, I have to get up early the next morning.

Over the years I’ve read numerous articles and followed all sorts of advice.

Warm milk

That doesn’t work for me because I hate milk and I’m lactose intolerant.

 

Chamomile tea

I tried that, first with one bag and then with two teabags in a cup and it did precisely nothing.

Melatonin over the counter sleeping aid

No results.

Counting sheep

I counted from 1 to 100 and from 100 to zero and I was still wide awake.

 

Lavender oil 

 

I thought a few drops on my pillow would do the trick and it did smell very nice. Unfortunately, it brought on a sneeze attack which kept me awake.

Meditation 

That didn’t work at all. The more I tried to think of nothing, the more my mind kept jumping all over the place.

Sound machine

Now there was a great idea. My son got me a sound machine for Christmas and I had high hopes. It seemed to work very well for other people, so I was confident that it would work well for me. It didn’t. As I tried out various sounds, and a number of things happened.

 Birdsong 

I have three cats sleeping with me, and I’ll bet you know what I’m going to say next. Right, the cats woke up and were on high alert. Birds ... they heard birds ... where were those birds? They got up, walked all over the bed, looked under the bed, jumped on cabinets, on the windowsill ... they were all over the place, looking at the ceiling and the walls, twisting their head from left to right, up and down.

 Babbling brook 

Ah, so relaxing, except after a while I had to go to the bathroom. Half an hour later, another bathroom visit.

 Whale call 

The first time I heard the call of a whale I nearly bolted from the room. My gosh what a spooky sound. During the day a whale call might be fine, but at night it’s like a few ghosts are having a party.

 Rain

Okay, so that was fine. Hearing rain spatter on a hard surface was rather nice to listen to. Sometimes listening to the rain worked, sometimes it didn’t.

And then I remembered something. Many years ago I followed a TV series called ‘The Joy of Painting’ with Bob Ross. Ross passed away on July 4, 1995 but his voice lives on. A bedroom voice as many used to call it. His paint instructions were educational, but listening to his voice alone was relaxing and enough to put anyone to sleep.

With this in mind I had Dieter download a couple of ‘Joy of Painting’ episodes and played them last night. I was out like a light before the first 20 minute episode even finished.

Having finally had a good night rest, for the first time on a Monday morning, I feel fresh and rested. If you have trouble sleeping, forget warm milk, chamomile tea, counting sheep, meditation, or pills. Listen to Bob Ross’ voice and you’ll be catching those zzzzz’s in no time.  

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Day 36: Does Warm Milk Help You Sleep

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 36: Does Warm Milk Help You Sleep

Last night was one of those nights again ... tossing and turning and waiting for the sandman to come. I felt perfectly tired when I went to bed and I expected to fall asleep the moment my head hit the pillow, but once under the duvet, I was wide awake.

Are you one of those lucky people who fall asleep the moment they lie down? Many people have problems falling asleep, or suffer from another form of insomnia where they wake up in the middle of the night and can’t go back to sleep again. An old remedy for sleeplessness other than counting sheep is drinking a cup of warm milk. But does warm milk really help you sleep, or is it a myth?

Urban legend has it that warm milk is sleep-inducing because it contains the enzyme tryptophan. This is the same enzyme that is found in turkey meat and that is credited with lulling people to sleep after a big Thanksgiving dinner.  However, studies have shown that it’s not the turkey meat that makes you sleepy, as you would have to consume 40 pounds of the meat for the tryptophan to have any effect.

If you’ve been tossing and turning, and you eventually get out of bed to warm up some milk, you’ve taken the first step in the right direction, getting up. Going to the kitchen to warm up something relaxes your brain because you’re no longer concerned about falling asleep. While you wait for the milk to warm, your mind relaxes even more, thus preparing you for sleep. Making a cup of herbal tea would have the same effect because it’s the warmth that gives you comfort. People often discover that once back in bed, they can fall asleep even before they’ve taken one sip of the milk.

Further studies have shown that although tryptophan can help with the first phase of sleep, it can interfere with the remaining sleep phases. Tryptophan, when taken in conjunction with high protein foods such as milk, can decrease the chances that the enzyme even reaches the brain.

If you find it hard to fall asleep, it’s a good idea to reach for foods rich in carbohydrates. While it’s not recommended to have a big meal before going to bed, never go to bed hungry either. Mix protein foods with carbohydrates to encourage the brain to produce a calming hormone called serotonin. Good choices would be a slice of whole-wheat toast topped with a slice of low-fat cheese or one banana combined with a teaspoon of peanut butter.

Any number of details could be to blame for preventing you from falling asleep. Stress, the room’s temperature, too much light, an uncomfortable mattress or even an overly fluffy pillow can cause insomnia. There are companies that specialize in making sleep aid products. They manufacture eye masks, pillows, herbal teas, and natural sleep-promoting supplements to fight your insomnia.

Does warm milk help you sleep? Not really, but the routine of preparing something warm is enough to relax you.

Day 11: Catching those zzzzz’s

Between You, me and the Lamp Post

Day 11: Catching those zzzzz’s

I’ve started a new job. Nothing to get excited about as it is temporary work, not a full-time job. Why do temp work rather than a permanent position …

At my age nobody will hire me anymore. They can say all they want that age discrimination is dead, I can assure you, it’s very much alive. If I apply for a position and a beautiful twenty something applies for the same position, guess who will get hired.

So I gave up the search for a full-time job and concentrated on temp work. Over the years I build up a reputation and now certain companies as for me by name to come back again, and again, and again.

The company I’m currently working for is one of my least favorites. There’s hardly anything to do and at times I’m so bored I could climb the walls.

And I’m not the only one who is bored.

Take Susan for instance. Susan, an administrative assistant, has her cubicle in a quiet part of the office. By quiet part I mean, not much foot traffic.

Yesterday I needed her help for something and made my way to her desk. When I got there I found Susan bend over her desk, her head propped up on her right hand. She appeared to be reading a document in front of her.

When Susan didn’t acknowledge me I figured that she couldn’t see me, so I moved in a little closer. When there was still no reaction I leaned in and found Susan … fast asleep.

I wasn’t sure what to do. Should I wake her and quietly make my way back to my desk and ask for her help later? As I started to back away, Susan suddenly woke up with a jolt.

Later that afternoon I returned a file to Susan, found her sitting back in her chair, once again … fast asleep. She obviously must have been very tired.

When it was time for us to go home, we congregated by the elevators. Alfred asked Susan how her day had been. “Oh I’ve been so busy I hardly know what to do first,” she said. I didn’t dare looking at her for fear of bursting out laughing.

Then again, Susan is hardly the only one who falls asleep on the job. A few years ago I worked for the Justice Office of Ontario. Every month the Justices of the Peace held a meeting to keep each other up to date on what was happening in the courts. As the minute taker I found this exciting at first, but it quickly got boring. (You try listening to them quibble about how many pleats a Justice of the Peace’s robe should have.)

Apparently I wasn’t the only one who was bored with the meeting. The conversation was suddenly interrupted by a loud bang, followed by hilarious laughter. One of the Justices of the Peace had fallen asleep, tumbled off his chair and was now under the table. After the man had clambered back onto his chair it was decided that we should break for lunch.

Strange isn’t it, plenty of people suffer from insomnia, but where it comes to napping, they have no problem catching those zzzzzz’s.

Day 1: Resolutions

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 1: Resolutions

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Fred, my new laptop. Together we’ll try to bring you daily stories. I do say ‘try’ because I might be busy, tired or just have nothing to say.

For a while I had a project going named ‘365 Creative Writing Prompts’ but there was nothing creative about it. To me, creative writing is fictional, and my posts were anything but. So, I’ve said goodbye to that project and I’m starting something new. This new project is called ‘Between you, me and the lamppost’ but that can change. If you can think of something better, I’m all ears.

Anyway, getting a new computer seemed like the perfect time to start a new project and along with this new machine come three resolutions.

First resolution:

I said goodbye to social media. That mainly means I will no longer look at the home feed of Facebook. I will occasionally post something and still play Bingo and Gin Rummy, but I will no longer look at what other people post. Why? Because I’ve had it with seeing pictures of animal abuse.

Whether it’s a cat or a dog, a bunny or a horse, seeing animal abuse makes me so mad I could throw my computer across the room. So, for the sake of my laptop, I rather don’t look anymore.

Second Resolution:

I’m letting go of the past. For far too long events of the past have dragged me down and giving me sleepless nights. Well, no more. From now on, when memories haunt me, I’m going to push them away, I’m done with them. As someone told me ... Visualize an open box, put memories into that box, close it, put the box in a safe and lock the safe. This is my way of locking away those memories.

Third Resolution:

Recently I started a new manuscript and I intend to work on it every day. In the past, my manuscripts have gathered dust and I eventually abandoned them. Starting a new story is easy, but keeping the story going is a lot harder than some people think.

That’s not the only reason I got discouraged with writing though.

Many years ago, self-publishing was a respected business. Proof of that is John Grisham who self-published his first book ‘A Time to Kill’ and was consequently contracted by a mainstream publishing house.

Ever since that success everyone and his auntie have been self-publishing books. Some are good, some are bad, some are downright ridiculous. I read of a woman who’s 6-year-old son published a ‘book’. The book in question counted only 5 pages. 

Fact is, with so many people publishing their works, self-publishing has lost its value. More than that, self-publishing has gained a bad reputation. Far too many people when they see that a book is self-published withdraw and move on to something else.

Still, I won’t let this get me down. I’ve started a new manuscript, the first 18 chapters are done in the first draft, and I fully intent to keep going.

In conclusion … I’ll try to post something every day, but I can’t guarantee it. Some post will be funny, some venting about this or that, some will be animal stories and with some, you might laugh out loud.

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A cure for insomnia?

People who can’t sleep will try just about anything to catch those elusive zzzzzz’s. I should know, falling asleep is a major problem for me and over the years I’ve tried it all: chamomile tea, counting sheep, meditation, lavender oil, lavender mist … nothing helps.

So when I learned of a sound machine that produces relaxing sounds I thought I should look into it. I researched the machine online and found that sound machines come in various sizes and prize ranges. Nearly all of them come with the following:

Ocean waves

Summer night

Rain

Thunder

White noise, and

A babbling brook

In all honesty, I wasn’t crazy about any of these sounds.

Ocean waves, a babbling brook or rain or anything to do with water is out of the question as it’s only a matter of time before I have to go to the bathroom.

Thunder … no, thank you. I very much suspect that bolts of thunder will keep me awake rather than put me to sleep.

Since I didn’t know what white noise is I had to go and look it up. Apparently, white noise is celestial sounds. I looked, or rather listened to a video online and it sounded like the space shuttle taking off.

As for summer night noises, I had to look that up to and it turned out that summer night noises involves birds, owls and crickets. I don’t have a problem with birds and owls, but crickets … no, I’m not a fan of those critters.

Eventually my research led me to relaxing music and that, by far, is the best choice. A word of caution though, during a time of depression this type of music should be avoided as it tends to make one rather melancholic.

Not only is relaxing music the better choice for me, it’s also more suitable for my cats. When I tried out various videos yesterday and clicked on ‘Bird songs’, Mickey, who had been sleeping, was instantly on high alert.

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