WHY CAN'T I GO TO SLEEP???

 

According to research about being/staying healthy, I should get seven to eight hours of sleep a night. Well, I must be very unhealthy because I’m having an extremely hard time getting to sleep once I’m in bed. And, let me tell you, it sucks laying there listening to Kuma snore and being unable to turn my mind off. There are actually nights, or early mornings, where I’d be happy to go to sleep permanently.

It’s not like I haven’t tried almost everything I can think of or done research about what I can take/do in order to be able to go to sleep. Usually, when I do go to sleep, I stay asleep. Or, if I wake up and have to use the bathroom, I’m able to go right back to sleep. So, what have I tried that allows me to be asleep fairly soon after my head hits the pillow.

• I take a five mg tablet of melatonin but think I’m going to try not taking it for the next week.

• I’ve tried a cocktail before, with or after dinner.

• I’ve tried breathing in and out slowly.

• I’ve tried relaxing my entire body beginning with my toes; and when that didn’t work, I tried doing it in reverse order.

• I’ve tried having the television on, programmed to go off in sixty or one-hundred-twenty minutes.

• I’ve tried reading a book.

• I’ve tried using my phone.

• I’ve tried ignoring my phone for an hour before bedtime.

• I’ve tried a half tablet of Xanax and this does work, but I can’t take it past a certain time if I want to be cognizant the next morning. I also can’t take it on a regular basis. My new MD probably won’t prescribe it again because she believes a glass of wine and a Xanax could kill me. 

• I’ve tried trazadone once which is what my new MD wants me to take in lieu of Xanax. The side-effects from this medication will preclude my taking it again. And, sheesh, I have three refills left.

• I’ve tried more and less exercise during the day to wear myself out.

      As I stated in the second paragraph, I’ve researched online to see if there’s something I can do/take to insure I go to sleep. And, as whoever may be reading this knows, there are a ton of options, most with a hefty price tag. Each possibility “guarantees” it will work for me. I seriously doubt that and cannot afford to keep trying one after another to find that “one,” if there is one, that does the trick. 

     So, there you have it. Why doesn’t one of these solutions work so I could resort to it on a nightly basis? I have no idea. All I know is that I’ve been up for almost two hours and I’m ready to go back to bed. But that’s not a choice I can make because I have stuff to do, stuff that needs to get done. Maybe tonight I’ll fall asleep soon after I nestle into my bed…hope so anyway.