Well, I've seen lots of subjects in this "topic" but SLEEP was one that I didn't expect...!
Not that I don't have anything to say, no no, believe me I do but, certainly is a problem that affects more people that one could thing, there is, lack of it and/or too much of it...!
I sure do have a sleeping problem that has been with me for more year I can count, all started when I became a night worker, dinner as at 4:00 pm afternoon and on the road for a couple of hours to start working just after sun set. Then, force the body to keep functioning properly and being "sharp" on everything right up to 5:00 am, then another 2 hours drive back to town, unload the vehicle, do the paper work and wash and disinfect the vehicle. Drive home, remove the equipment, do some more paper work, shower, take breakfast, put a few things together for the next days' work (evening) and by the time we (wife an I) would hit the bad, would be about 10-11am.
Get up at 2-3pm, get a few more things ready for the day's (night's) work while the wife does some dinner, heat dinner, dress-up, load the vehicle and on the road we went...! About 16 years for me and 7 for the wife, of this routine. While keeping awake was a full time job with the taken of any "alert" tablets we could find from the chemist and about a coup of strong coffee about every hour or so, after midnight, those couple of hours driving home on sunrise where a true killer...!:frown:
Now, and after 6 years of early retirement (no wonder why...???) I found myself struggling to sleep like any normal person in "normal" times, I take 2 very strong prescribed sleeping pills ( among a hand full of other medication) every night at about dinner time (7:00pm) and wait for the pills effect to start making me feel "dopie/sleepy", if I'm lucky that will happen about 3:00am if not I end-up getting so tired of being awake that I force myself to sleep, by then, close to day light.
If duties allow, and I can stay in bed until I awake-up normally, that will be at about mid-day (11-12am), from which I can function reasonably well, an hour or so later but if I have to get up early in the morning, I sometimes force myself to stay awake all night otherwise I feel really bad/sick if I'm awoke in my sleep, particularly during the first few hours...!
My doctor has tried everything, natural and not natural but my body rejects them all, so I can say that yes, I have sleeping problems and I would be surprised if I ever become "normal" in that respect, I normally say that the damage done to my natural biological clock in all those night work years, was such that, it lost all its natural settings for ever...!
Oh, by the way, the wife is a little better than me with this problem but still has identical problems...! And, not long ago, I had a friend visiting and staying overnight, this guy is a big fellow and in conversation, I told him my sleeping problems and his response was that, the pills weren't strong enough otherwise, no way I could be awake for that long after I took them 2 pills.
Because he was staying with us, I challenged him to take 1/2 (half) of one table at dinner time with me and see what would happen...!
, well I already knew what was going to happen as this was not the first time I prove the same point so, dinner time came and half a table he took...!:wink:
Just for the record, this about about 7:30pm (evening) just before dinner, when we both took the sleeping pills, by the time we were all finishing dinner, he was struggling to talk, he throw himself in his swag and he didn't know what was up or down until 7:00am morning, next day...!
:biggrin:
I don't thing that he things any more that, those sleeping pills of mine aren't strong enough...!:wink::biggrin:
This is my story and I stick with it...!
Cheers
George
