Wednesday 23 January 2008

Lack of sleep

While I have been whining about my insomnia, I realise it's nothing compared to what Heath Ledger was suffering from before he died. That inability to sleep could be the cause of his death. I know how desperate one can get in his bid to get some shut-eye.

In a November New York Times interview, he said he was having trouble sleeping. "Last week, I probably slept an average of two hours a night," he said at that time. "I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted and my mind was still going."

I empathise with him. Though I have nothing much on my mind, I'd been waking up every hour at night. I glance at the clock....only 1.30am... too early, back to sleep. At 2.30am, l wake up again, look at Rusty curled up in his little bed beneath me and drift off to an uneasy sleep...then I am awake at 4.15am again.... and finally I open my eyes at 5.15am..... just before my alarm clock goes off.

The rest of the day will go by in a blur. My body can't function normally, my mind's fuzzy and by 3pm, my eyelids will be droopy, I'll be grouchy and irritable.

Oh, sleep. Why do you elude us?

15 comments:

WaterLearner said...

Ting,

I did not know that you have insomnia. How long has this been going on?

For me, I can't seem to have enough sleep! I usually sleep before eleven and get up at 630am.

Blur Ting said...

Oh, I used to be able to sleep so well. I have no problems falling asleep but I am not sure why I keep waking up in the night. Interrupted sleep is really bad for the body. You feel so lousy and lethargic the next day.

This just started recently. Several years ago, I had this problem too but it managed to go away.

WaterLearner said...

Have you thought of trying TCM? Continuous sleep is important for renewal of our body organs.

I have quite weak stomach. Whenever I have gastric problems, even if I feel no pain, my sleep would be affected. Waking up very often. I have read that liver function could also affect sleep.

I have a friend who knows Chinese Medicine. I will check with her for you. Sometimes body's heatiness or "wetness" would affect sleep also.

Blur Ting said...

Thanks Water. You're a sweetheart. When I am anxious about something, I can't sleep too. Maybe I am, just dunno what it is :-)

haha, I'm anxious about not knowing what I am anxious about!

mooiness said...

It's interesting that an active person like you (ie. running) would have trouble sleeping.

My routine is: brief 10-min workout, shower, wind down with a book or the PC, and then sleep like a log.

My other suggestion would be diet - there are some foods out there that encourages sleep.

Hope you find a solution! I totally empathise about the crankiness and irritability.

Blur Ting said...

Mooiness - How I wish i could sleep like a log. I'm a light sleeper, so there's rarely a night that I can sleep right through like a log.

My friend has an interesting theory. She said she wakes up alot when she's overseas, not because of jetlag but cos the stomach thinks it is mealtime.

I usually eat take a light dinner at around 7pm (and nothing else after that) and perhaps my stomach is growling for food in the middle of the night. Maybe I'll eat more tonight.

Unknown said...

I have a weird sleep schedule - the children sleep around 8PM, I sleep from 9PM-12AM. Then I wake up around midnight. Go back to sleep at 3AM and wake up around 7AM.
It's midnight here I just woke up from my nap :)

Blur Ting said...

Wow, that's interesting Seagrape. Add together - you still get 7 hours of sleep. First time I come across someone who sleeps like that.

Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022) said...

I'm one who's never been known to have sleeping problems. I can sleep anytime and anywhere ... LOL!

But I sympathize with you. I hate waking up in the middle of the night too cos then I can't go back to sleep and suffer for it the next day just like you. Well, when that happens to me, I'll get up and take a drink of water and get a couple of breaths of fresh air and I'll be sleepy again in a little while. It works for me though.

Blur Ting said...

Nick - from my observation, most guys have no problems sleeping through the night. Women tend to be light sleepers and if they have a snoring partner, that's it! Now you know why women tend to age faster than men!

Amel said...

It happens to me a few times and it IS torturing. :-(((( Hope you'll be able to go to sleep easily. Sorry I can't give you any tips. :-((((

La delirante said...

Hi Blur Ting! Have a look at the "Insomnia list" (my blog)that we prepared with the help of comments some days ago :)

Blur Ting said...

Yah Amel, being wide awake when everyone else is sleeping is really torturing!

Wen - I remember reading about it in your blog. Good tips. The thing is I would go to sleep quite easily not knowing if I would wake up in the middle of the night or not. I hope tonight's a good one.

Mike Minzes said...

One of the worst feeling in the world is not sleeping well. I have been through that before, twice in my life and it was a huge up hill battle both time. In the end, it ended up being what doctors say it always is. The is something on your mind. You need to find out what it is, resolve it and then you will sleep like a baby.
It was hard for me to figure out what was bothering me, but when I did, I slept very well. I haven't had a restless night in 5 years.

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