Sleep is a GOOD thing

I'm working on a 10-day case of serious insomnia, and I think I'm going to lose my mind. Seriously, I just can't fall asleep. By mid-afternoon I feel like I could - nay, must - crawl up in a ball on the floor of my office and sleep like a baby, but come bedtime - wide awake. AWAKE.

I finally called the doctor's office today and asked for sleeping pills. I got some really, really good ones for the 16-hour flight to Argentina and the trip to Italy this year, and I want me some more of those. If I can just get a few nights of good sleep, maybe it'll reset my clock and get things back to normal again.

Of course, when you call the doctor's office and ask for sleeping pills - especially when it's the third request this year, because how do they know I really went to Argentina and Italy? - they have to wonder if you've got a little problem. They only gave me FIVE pills the last two times, so I hardly think they should be worried that I'm drug-seeking, but still. The very nice nurse grilled me for a bit on whether perhaps I'd been drinking coffee too late in the day, or perhaps I might try some warm milk and crackers before bed?

Finally I explained that my husband has a mild sleeping disorder. He's been to sleep clinic, where they wire you up overnight and watch your brain and your vital signs on a computer. I've read entire books on sleep. I understand about sleep hygiene. I have really good sleep hygiene. Sleep hygiene is an incredibly weird and stupid-sounding phrase but I KNOW ALL ABOUT IT and that's not my problem.

So they're giving me some sleep drugs. I hope this works because I'm not really loving the person that Sleep-Deprived Flora seems to be. I am short with people (witness my previous entry), and almost every day I come home and reflect on some conversation I've had and think, boy - that right there? was not my finest moment. I'm a total blob in the evenings, too enfeebled to exercise and that's just making things worse. I am unproductive at work despite having a huge deadline next week.

So here's to better living through chemistry!