O sleep, O gentle sleep,
Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee,
That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down
And steep my sense in forgetfulness?
William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part I
I can certainly identify with the King. I haven't been able to sleep for a couple of nights now and I am exhausted. Kent (my wise and insightful sponsor) told me once to remember the acronym HALT, which stands for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired. These are all common risk factors or triggers for addicts. So what does that say if I am up sitting alone in my apartment at 3AM, pissed off that I don't have any ice cream? :-/
The amount of sleep required by the average person is five minutes more.
Wilson Mizner
LOL, so true, so true.
It's not like I am anxious or worried about anything major, these nagging little thoughts just keep flitting in and out of my head. Two nights ago it was this blog, and wanting it to be helpful, funny, insightful, attractive, and fun. Last night, even though I was exhausted, I kept imagining there were fleas in the bed (there weren't any, were there?), and once I start feeling those little feet walking around, it's all over.
Even thus last night, and two nights more I lay,
And could not win thee, Sleep, by any stealth:
So do not let me wear to-night away.
Without thee what is all the morning's wealth?
Come, blessed barrier between day and day,
Dear mother of fresh thoughts and joyous health!
William Wordsworth, "To Sleep"
I do my best to avoid taking Ambien. Even though it's not addictive, I really like to avoid medicating whenever possible. I've got some hypnosis CDs
that I may break out tonight ... I don't want to spend another night in front of the TV watching B movies like Reindeer Games.What do you do to help you drift off?
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and 
for his irreverant take on the road to recovery. For more about these and other reccomended reads, see My Library.
I used to be able to fall asleep anywhere. Now it is harder but what sometimes works for me is to tell myself a story in my head. Right now it might be a story about where I am in recovery. Maybe that is a form of meditation but it helps to relax (and bore)me so I drift off.
ReplyDeletePS What is it about ice cream??!!! I have graduated to cookies but trying to cut out the sugar I am substituting for alcohol.
One of the benefits of my sobriety is that I sleep better. The mix of a lot of wine and approaching menopause did nothing good for my sleep patterns. But that's no help to you. :-)So when I do have trouble sleeping these days, I read. Usually they are trashy historical novels or something mindless, but I love it. By the way, your suggested reading is outstanding! I can't wait to read "Dry."
ReplyDeleteSo I love that quote by Wilson Mizner, it describes my disease perfectly, just a little bit more and I'll be just right! Heh heh! Never got that down.
ReplyDeleteYou know sleep isn't all it's cracked up to be. When I was first getting sober I was also kicking my ambien habit (10 years) and they say it's not addictive! Anyway, it took lots of sleepless nights and semi conscious days before I could even think of sleeping through the night.......some things that helped me were...walking after dinner, Chamomile tea, yoga, meditation, reading the big book (always good for a snooze) and mostly allowing myself to just be awake and not worry about it.....maybe get up use the bathroom and then give myself permission to go back to sleep.
Okay its 9:03 get out of your chair and off your computer and TAKE A WALK.........love ya, night!