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usernamenumber"My head's full of mud but my limbs are full of bees*"
(* = buzzing, not stinging)
That's the best description I've come up with for the way my insomnia feels a lot of the time, and I'm curious whether it resonates with anyone else.
More often than not, it's not "useful" insomnia, where I can at least get up and get something done. My eyes hurt. They want to go to sleep. My head is foggy and from my chest up feels like it's full of something heavy, like mud. But my arms legs are literally tingling, and have been since around 11 last night. Last night I spent about a third of my time in bed, a third in self-exile to the couch where my legs twitching and bouncing of their own accord wouldn't keep![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
preraphaelite up, and a third sitting in the living room staring at my laptop, trying to get something done for work in anticipation of being useless on the morrow.
I looked up "restless leg syndrome", and it doesn't seem to be that. People with RLS describe a sort of throbbing ache that is helped by movement, while for me it's more a compulsion to move, like my extremities are in overdrive while the rest of me is trying to shut down.
My insomnia is not always like this, but the phenomenon is frequent enough that I think it bears noting. Has anyone else out there experienced this? What did you do?
I've started getting downright superstitious about what I eat. I was hungry late last night, so around 10 I had and apple with raisins and peanut butter. "Brilliant", I tell myself in hindsight, "that was basically just so much sugar and protein"... but could that possibly be enough to cause this? I'm going to try keeping a proper food/sleep journal, so I can "do science at it", as preraph puts it, and see what I find.
The advice I see online for similar things is "quit caffeine for a month and see if it helps". That's probably good advice, and I'm going to try it too, but a) I don't consume that much by most people's standards (though I did drink a couple of cups in the late afternoon yesterday), and even if I did quit caffeine, there's still my prescription adderall, and though I could quit it too, I'm loathe to futz with that too much because I think it actually does keep me (relatively) focused.
But then, I think maybe that's the crux of the issue: the things that clear out the mud anger the bees, which makes me muddier the next day. Vicious cycle indeed.
Anyway, was planning to work from home so I could pass out when my body finally decides to do so, but of course I look at my calendar and today is Have All The Meetings day, so here I am at work. Sometimes I'm get to a point where I loop all the way around to being too tired to get distracted, so let's see what I can do...
(* = buzzing, not stinging)
That's the best description I've come up with for the way my insomnia feels a lot of the time, and I'm curious whether it resonates with anyone else.
More often than not, it's not "useful" insomnia, where I can at least get up and get something done. My eyes hurt. They want to go to sleep. My head is foggy and from my chest up feels like it's full of something heavy, like mud. But my arms legs are literally tingling, and have been since around 11 last night. Last night I spent about a third of my time in bed, a third in self-exile to the couch where my legs twitching and bouncing of their own accord wouldn't keep
preraphaelite up, and a third sitting in the living room staring at my laptop, trying to get something done for work in anticipation of being useless on the morrow. I looked up "restless leg syndrome", and it doesn't seem to be that. People with RLS describe a sort of throbbing ache that is helped by movement, while for me it's more a compulsion to move, like my extremities are in overdrive while the rest of me is trying to shut down.
My insomnia is not always like this, but the phenomenon is frequent enough that I think it bears noting. Has anyone else out there experienced this? What did you do?
I've started getting downright superstitious about what I eat. I was hungry late last night, so around 10 I had and apple with raisins and peanut butter. "Brilliant", I tell myself in hindsight, "that was basically just so much sugar and protein"... but could that possibly be enough to cause this? I'm going to try keeping a proper food/sleep journal, so I can "do science at it", as preraph puts it, and see what I find.
The advice I see online for similar things is "quit caffeine for a month and see if it helps". That's probably good advice, and I'm going to try it too, but a) I don't consume that much by most people's standards (though I did drink a couple of cups in the late afternoon yesterday), and even if I did quit caffeine, there's still my prescription adderall, and though I could quit it too, I'm loathe to futz with that too much because I think it actually does keep me (relatively) focused.
But then, I think maybe that's the crux of the issue: the things that clear out the mud anger the bees, which makes me muddier the next day. Vicious cycle indeed.
Anyway, was planning to work from home so I could pass out when my body finally decides to do so, but of course I look at my calendar and today is Have All The Meetings day, so here I am at work. Sometimes I'm get to a point where I loop all the way around to being too tired to get distracted, so let's see what I can do...
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no subject
Date: 2012-02-09 05:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-09 05:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-09 05:13 pm (UTC)As for caffeine, I've definitely found that any caffeine during the day will affect my ability to get to sleep at night, and if I drink any after noon? I am out of luck.
Most of my true insomnia is emotionally based and is often of the brain-racing variety. It still doesn't mean I can get anything done. I think the kind of insomnia where one is always productive is pretty rare.
My sleep disorder runs more to waking up several times during the night and finding it really hard to get back to sleep than of another kind. Once I'm trying to get back to sleep, though, it can either be brain-racing or dopey-brain.
But yeah. It's hateful. I think restricting or eliminating caffeine may help, and certainly, if you went to a doctor with this issue that's probably the first thing they'll suggest (it's like rebooting before you call tech support, I guess).
-E
no subject
Date: 2012-02-09 06:01 pm (UTC)I'm not on any prescription meds, and I don't do caffeine (except in chocolate) so I don't know if it would help.
Unfortunately, no useful suggestions, just commiseration. But I'll be following to see if you get any useful advice. ;)
no subject
Date: 2012-02-09 06:17 pm (UTC)Restless leg can sometimes (not always, sadly) be treated.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-09 06:16 pm (UTC)Yep. That sounds like restless leg to me.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-09 07:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-09 08:21 pm (UTC)Another culprit may be Adderall (a purely anecdotal suspicion in that I had an ex who had similar insomnia problems who was also on Adderall), but I'm sure there's a solution that wouldn't require you going off it, given that it does help you.
My own insomnia is ALWAYS of the brain racing variety, except when I once had a dangerous reaction to a drug that gave me akathisia (compulsion to pace) among other things. Truly horrible and if that's what you're going through I'm SO SORRY. I agree the brain-racing is not as bad as that, in my experience. That said, I'm rarely if ever able to get things done in that condition. The racing thoughts *seem* like they make sense, but if I actually have the energy to try to capture the thoughts -- rare to begin with -- I find most of them are practically nonsensical. If my brain is racing and I'm using it to be productive I don't call that insomnia, I just call that "being on a roll." :)
hmm
Date: 2012-02-09 07:50 pm (UTC)How late in the day are you taking the adderol?
Do you do any form of Yoga/Meditation? While my body & brain typically dislike the "doing nothing" stage before falling asleep, breathing exercises apparently count as "doing something".
no subject
Date: 2012-02-10 03:27 am (UTC)Also if it's actual buzzing in your legs maybe your electrolytes are off. Consider journaling your hydration (eg if you drink 10 cups of water a day and very little salt, or don't take in enough calcium or potassium, that could cause some probs; similarly if you don't "drink to replace" when doing any stim's including adderall, tea, etc, that can leave you dehydrated and a little spazzy)
Basically if you are under eval for your sleep issues by an MD/other healthcare provider I would consider that team as your first line of defense against non-sleep. They may have info that they didnt share with you too like "well when you did your sleep testing you bottomed out sugarwise overnight so you need a high protein low sugar snack before bed. but we thought this was minor enough that we didn't tell you." ... might take some of the guesswork out of the equation.
Not that you probably haven't heard this before but I've also been told a 3pm stims cutoff should be in effect if you have any sleep issues. that means, no caffeine after 3, your mileage may vary and this may include chocolate; similarly, if you have to take a 2nd dose of adderall at 3pm consider whether you could either shift your dosing schedule so you don't need a 2nd, or ask about whether, like, a 1/2 dose at 2 would do you just fine for getting you through the work day, etc.
*I am not a health professional and none of this should be construed as medical advice.*
no subject
Date: 2012-02-10 09:29 pm (UTC)If you do decide to see someone for this, I've been very pleased with the people at Sleep HealthCenters in Brighton for this kind of thing.