Just Raven

I have been sick for several days now…started last week and it’s still a little problem for me. This morning yesterday morning I went to the doctor.
I told him that I haven’t been sleeping well for months; that I haven’t been eating good since school started. I mentioned to him that I hadn’t been taking my vitamins either. Also, I haven’t been drinking water as much as I should…in other words, I tried to self diagnose my illness and blame it all on my lifestyle of recent weeks. I got carried away, as usual. My doc just listened to me ramble on and on, patiently as always.

He went through the exam and even ordered a set of lung X rays even though I don’t seem to have a cold. We did all sorts of tests and they all turned up fine.

He tells me:
“You have a stomach bug. You’re going to be fine.”

OK.

Then he wanted to talk about my lack of SLEEP.

I have been getting by on 1 1/2 to 2 hours of crashing time, a night, for almost a month now. I go to bed at 2am and wake up at 3:30am and somehow manage to get through the day…it’s catching up with me. I am so tired ALL the time. But I cannot sleep. I toss and turn and fiddle and…nod off for a little bit then I’m wide awake again. I’ve always gotten by with 4 or 5 hours…when I crash more than that it’s cause I’m sick, or cause I’ve worked 20 hours in a row…ok at times it might be due to a night of heavy drinking too. LOL. I have never been a deep sleeper either. I wake at the sound of a cat meow in another apartment. I keep my windows open, a fan blowing on me to hide the quiet noises of life. And to keep from getting to hot.

This Friday night I am taking a pill to help me sleep. My doctor mentioned it several months ago as a possibility. I didn’t want any part of it then. I hate medications. But now…I think I’m willing to try anything. I have a 10 day supply of Ambien. I’ll take one each night around 9:30 pm and it will knock me out within 20 to 30 minutes. My alarm clock will need to be set on it’s loudest noise cause I won’t want to wake up. And for those 10 days, I’ll sleep for 8 hours. In bed by 10 and up at 6am. (Except for Wednesdays, I’m working third shifts). I have to change my gym times and all that…somehow figure out a way to fit that in later in my day. Anything is worth a try though. I am so tired so much of the time yet I cannot sleep. Sheesh.

If this doesn’t work the doctor will look at metabolism meds to slow mine down a little. Again he wanted to address this a few years ago but I declined…it’s just how I am. But now, being in school and being so busy all the sudden, it is starting to effect me in a bad way. So we start with medication-assisted sleep. If that works and I can get into a habit of sleeping on my own, no further interventions. They won’t give me more than a 10 day supply of the pills cause THAT is not what I need, and it’s illegal as well. After that, we’ll see.