Addled

[vaneramos]

Insomniac self-talk: "I'm so funny it isn't tired."

I realized as I dragged myself out of bed this morning after yet another five-hour sleep, I must give up caffeine tea, which makes me sad. I have a whole drawer full of tea. Fortunately about half of it is herbal.

While we were moving heavy stuff into the shop this morning, I started getting intermittent chest pains. I get that from anxiety sometimes, but recently it has happened during exertion, which is more of a concern. I went to emergency.

Groves Memorial Community Hospital is Fergus is famous for its speedy ER. Many people from Guelph go there. The triage nurse was grumpy, but otherwise the human contact was refreshingly enjoyable. I even had a chance to close my insomniac eyes for a few minutes, but there wasn't much waiting around. They plugged me in and did an EKG. I was out of there in 70 minutes.

They didn't find anything wrong with my heart—it might have been muscle strain or digestive problems pulling on my diaphrahm—but said I was right to go in and have it checked. My doctor had asked me to do so when it happened, just ot make sure, so now I can rest a little easier (I wish). It is just another one of the annoying (mostly little) aches and pains I better get used to.

Comments

[apel.livejournal.com]

Aw, that's too bad. I've got a tea habit too but I stop drinking caffeinated stuff at 4pm. So far that works. Hope I don't have to quit completely.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I remember when my parents were my age, they couldn't have caffeine after breakfast or they wouldn't sleep. I was never a coffee addict, but sometimes it made me moody/agitated/depressed and it gave me acid indigestion, so I stopped drinking it several years ago. I haven't had those problems with tea, but it occurred to me this morning that I've developed a daily tea-drinking habit in the past few weeks, and coincidentally I haven't been able to sleep more than five hours. So I'll quit experimentally and see what happens.

If I notice an improvement, I think I'll still allow myself caffeine tea as a treat on Fridays. If I don't sleep especially well that night, it won't hurt.

[vaysha.livejournal.com]

So very glad you are in good cardiac health.

Do you find your insomnia worse in the winter months?

One of the things a local naturopath talks about here is that if you find yourself very tired in the mornings and waken as the day wears on and then sleepless at night it is possible you have adrenal fatigue. There are some fantastic supplements out there right now for Adrenal function, After Jordan was ill a couple of winters ago I took one regularly and found it did wonders for my inability to sleep as well as stabilized my energy so I did not have slumps during the day.

As well, Dinos, my hubby has had insomnia for a couple of years now and was recently diagnosed with sluggish thyroid, apparently one of the symptoms is insomnia. Something to check out maybe?

Love to you Van.
V

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I read an article about adrenal fatigue, and it was very interesting. I was "never the same" after I came out, left the church and my marriage broke up. As a young person I was a morning person. I never have been since.

I reduced my dosage of mirtazapine (anti-anxiety and anti-depressant) in May, and that is certainly a factor. Before I started taking it in 2005 I was never a great sleeper, and the drug changed that. Unfortunately it had a negative effect on my creativity and made it harder focus on goals from day to day, which was depressing, of course. Since stepping down the dosage (from 60 mg to 45 mg), I am aware of how much clearer my head is. As far as I'm concerned, increasing it again is not an option. I have to find other ways to sleep better.

The weird thing is that I am not experiencing the usual SAD symptoms this time of year. Although tired, I do not lack energy, motivation or concentration, and I have not had persistent depression. In some ways it feels like I'm in the place where I need to be, in a way I've never been before. My anxiety is high, however I tools to address that.

It is just so complicated trying to sort out all these factors, as I'm sure you understand. My dad has had thyroid problems, so I've had my levels checked a couple of times over the years. As it happens, I have a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. I wanted to talk about intermittent trouble I've been having with leg pain (probably sciatica), but I better put insomnia at the top of the list. I will ask him about adrenal function and (again) thyroid.

Be well.

Love,
V

[waitsfortherain.livejournal.com]

Amazing! You and I are on the same boat. Your description of anxiety messing with your sleep and then going as far as tob make you think there was something wrong with your heart could be me speaking, word by word. We all have this peculiar tendency to dismiss anxiety as not serious. It's very serious. I'm glad to know there was a first class medical center you could go to.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

It's a bit confusing because I occasionally get chest pains with anxiety and have known for years it was likely nothing to do with my heart. On the other hand I have slightly high colesterol and my dad had to undergo a triple bypass two years ago, so my doctor asked me to go to emergency sometime when I had chest pains and get it checked. So yesterday was a precautionary measure, and since the EKG was done after heavy exertion we can now be pretty sure my heart is in good shape. That was what I expected.

But yes, anxiety is serious. It is the plague of my life. I've come a long way in addressing it better, but old habits die hard and I'm still adjusting to a change in medication earlier this year.

I'm sorry it's a problem for you, too, but thank you for identifying.