wowza, i finally slept. i honestly believe there needs to be a study about this issue. is this insomnia i experience ONLY because of WLS? or is it because of the extreme loss of weight? i know that preoperatively i slept like 12 out of 24 hours a day. yeah, except on the days that i worked (then i got 6 hours), i was always asleep. of course, i had sleep apnea and didn’t know it at first. but let me sit for one minute somewhere, i was out. OUT... didn’t matter where i was. car. beach. i even took naps in a hard back chair at work on my break. now, it didn’t help that i woke at 3:45 in the morning 3 times a week to drive my daughter to swim practice. then waited in the parking lot for 2 hrs and drove home again. being a night owl who likes to stay up well past the pumpkin turning time, it’s not conducive to a healthy sleep pattern, still i DID sleep in the parking lot while she swam, woke and drove home. yet, i was never sitting awake not able to sleep. now, i do my mantra to get my alpha waves flying. i meditate. i pray. do my rosary. still lie awake. then first thing in the morning, when my daughter wakes me with, “i’m leaving mom”, PING, my eyes are open and darned if i can’t get back to sleep. if you ask me to read long books like i used to, bam, asleep, but that doesn’t mean i’ll STAY asleep. so, my question, is it the loss of sleep apnea? or the fact that i slept my life away for 15 years in obesity? is it that i have renewed energy? a reason for living? excitement about the changes in my life? things that make you go hmmmm. i know that on twitter we have a group, just tweet #wlsomnia. someone will respond… i promise. it’ll probably be ME..... xxoo~nicole
btw~ i think i have a new painting in mind.... a woman asleep under a tree....lol (at least i can dream, can't i?)
One Word: STUNNING. Oh my gosh, Nicole...your art speaks to my very soul. Your movement and choice of colors is simply magical...it transports me to a different place. Thank you for doing this...thank you for not sleeping ;-)
ReplyDeleteSorry I can't diagnose your sleep problem...I, too, used to sleep for 12 out of every 24 hours...even took "power naps" in my car at lunch and, in my younger days, slept under my desk at work (uh, until my boss told me that was "aberrant" behavior...wha wha? I was sleepy.)
Oh my gosh...I just remembered that I used to sleep in the courtyard in downtown LA during my lunch hour. I am serious. I would curl up on a big concrete square in the open and listen as people passed and said, "Is she dead, or just sleeping...?" I thought it was funny.
Until I fell asleep at the wheel of my car in bumper-to-bumper rush hour traffic and hit the guy ahead of me. "My breaks didn't work!" I exclaimed. Uh...yeah...'cuz I didn't USE THEM. Ugh.
Of course, I was also a nightowl...I'd burn the candle at both ends (as my mom would say) and stay up 'till the wee small hours of the morning. I claimed that I did my "best work" at 2 AM.
In retrospect, I think I was awake because of the excessive intake of caffeine from things like Diet Pepsi. Trust me, that's why I can't do things like Click or Whey Up! Protein drinks :-( I am WAY too susceptible to insomnia!!!
Fortunately, I sleep more regularly now (in bed no later than 10 PM and up at 5:30 AM) and find that I don't experience the exhaustion and sleep terrors that I used to. (Note: I have fibromyalgia, and that is one of the symptoms -- sleep disorder).
Anyway, I hope that you can find out what is causing your particular disruption, because I know how crazy-making it can be. Having said that...if it causes you to paint such extraordinary paintings, then I say, "sleep deprivation + creative genius = work of art" ...Reasonable trade-off? You decide ;-) Love ya!
cari, thanks... the painting is NOT mine. i repeat NOT mine... but, i'm grabbing my brushes and canvas and heading into the perfect light to do my "version" of this, and i WILL post when complete. wow, you DO have some stories about sleep... i drink CLICK only first thing in the morning, so it's NOT that... someone mentioned to me, "change of life"...hmmmm sounds possible....plus no need to sleep 12 hours when no sleep apnea anymore, the sleep i do get is like a baby..... i'll keep ya posted! xxoo~nicole
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