Insomnia

Yes, this is a real thing. I have had it on and off for most of my life. It sucks big time.

What is it

According to the Mayo Clinic, this is a common sleep disorder. It will take all the energy out of you. Believe me, it does take all the energy out of you.

Depending on the person it varies on how much sleep you need. Most people need at least 7 to 8 hours. Wow that was so far away from what I was getting.

Symptoms

Difficulty falling asleep at night
Waking up during the night
Waking up to early
Not feeling well-rested after a nights sleep
Daytime tiredness or sleepiness
Irritability, depression or anxiety
Difficulty paying attention
Focusing on tasks or remembering
Increased errors or accidents
Ongoing worries about sleep

Did I have any of these

Let’s see if I have had any of these things:

Difficulty falling asleep at night
- Depends on the night, if I am not asleep by a certain time than I am up until 3 or 4
Waking up during the night
- Yes, I do wake up during the night
Waking up to early
- Isn’t this the same as above
Not feeling well-rested after a nights sleep
- Never, I was always tired
Daytime tiredness or sleepiness
- Yes, I woud fall asleep at school all the time.
Irritability, depression or anxiety
- Yep, Yep, and yep
Difficulty paying attention
- Yep, if I wasn’t flirting
Focusing on tasks or remembering
- All the time
Increased errors or accidents
- Nope, just on tests
Ongoing worries about sleep
- All the freaking time.

My life

I had this really bad while in my senior of high school. I would never be home before 11 PM at night. Then I would have to wind down, eat something, then head to bed. Usually about midnight and then I would be wide awake. I would try everything to fall asleep, like read a boring marketing book, do the math homework and that should have put me out for days. But, about 3 I would go to sleep and then wake up and start the cycle all over again.

For my 7th period class, I was a teacher’s aid for my drama teacher, and I would go to the auditorium to do what I was told to do. Some days I would just find a place to fall asleep for a good hour. It just sucked, big time.

I gave up caffeine thinking that it was the cause of my sleep and it wasn’t. I even called my mom from work and told her I was leaving work and the route I was headed home and if I didn’t make it then they could come and look for me. I think I was going on 6 hours of sleep for 2 days. I even downed 2 mountain dews and a coke.

I made it home but went to sleep, only to be awake a few hours later.

Primary issue

This could be a primary issue or there could be another cause that is causing the issue. But the following could be causes of this issue

Stress
- I had this my senior year. A lot of factors caused this
Travel or Work Schedule
- My senior year was so busy.
Poor Sleep habits
- Yes, I had this issue
Eating too much late in the evening
- Yes, I did this often and it was mostly, salsa that I would eat.

Complications

Here are some complications of this issue:

Lower performance on the job or at school
- My job never had an issue, but school, yes that was an issue.
Slowed reaction time
- Nope, never had this problem
Mental health issues
- Yep, I have had depression
Long-term diseases
- Yes, I have had high blood pressure and heart issues.

My thoughts

This just sucks. Now looking back at my life and seeing the things that I could have done to prevent this, maybe I could have had some better sleep and not let this be a cause of my depression. I have had it and I think I am finally getting rid of it. It has come and gone over my adult life and when it does happen it just sucks some big time.

If you don’t have this then count your many blessings. Because this is a brutal thing to have to live with. At this time I think I have a handle on this and I will explain in next Wednesday’s (Dec. 1, 2021) video.