…I’m in my eleventh year of recovery from stroke. I get about nine hours of sleep a day and need every minute of it to be able to handle a day’s activities. Yesterday we had a rare visitor, our number two son, He stayed for lunch and afterwards he and my wife moved into the atrium to talk and I went into the bedroom for my midday nap.
Probably mainly due to the excitement of his visit I could not drop off despite using all the tricks I’d learned over the years. First one is to keep brain clear of problems, second one is to imagine I am in a raft mattress with a shade sail anchored near a shore in the Pacific cooled by a slight wind from the East and listening to the only sounds of the nearby waves rolling over the beach and gently rocking my craft.
This works most occasions and I’m asleep before the next wave comes in.
If I am not asleep It is obvious that I’m uncomfortable so I go though all my limbs, moving them a little to a more comfortable position. I start with my right shoulder, working my way down past the elbow and each finger in turn. Then, making sure my shoulders are comfortable I move onto the left arm and go though the same steps there. By now I am usually asleep, if not I move my body so my weight is on the other side and go though the same stretching movements.
I never complete this exercise as I am usually asleep. But yesterday I was still awake, very tired and fed up with laying there. I looked at the clock and an hour ad a half had passed so I got up, made myself a cup of tea and went to see how the chatters were doing. They were surprised when I told them I’d not slept and was maddeningly exhausted because my wife shot me down saying that she had looked in on me half an hour previously and I was comfortably asleep.
I find that difficult to handle, I was exhausted and she was not lying!
Can anyone offer an explanation? I took a sleep tablet last night, slept well and brain is clear today.
I’m just beginning my fifth year since stroke.
It has given me a fresh view of things but isn’t an experience I would recommend.
I think that we can dream a very realistic dream during which we are convinced we are awake.
Maybe not even realising that we were asleep.
Many, many years ago I was lying in bed facing the wall.
I opened my eyes and looking around me I realised that I had left the light on.
Cursing a little I rolled over and swung my legs out of bed.
Bringing myself upright I realised I was sat at the edge of my bed in the dark.
Moments before I had seen the room in detail as if the light was on.
Somewhat puzzled, but glad that I did not need to turn the light out, I reached the conclusion that I must have been dreaming.
I’ve had very realistic dreams in the past but not one as confusing as this.
I am sure that the mind is far more complex than one would at first imagine.
We take for granted all the processes that make us what we are.
This showed me that certainty can be confusing and some experiences defy description and definition.
@Deigh I truly believe that you could quite easily have been dreaming that you were awake.
To your wife you appeared to be asleep and I think that despite how you experienced things you probably were.
We can only form a picture of the world from how we have experienced it.
Some say that existence is just an illusion. My words, my view, does not define your world and we each must make some sense somehow from what we perceive.
By the way I like your visualisation exercise for achieving a relaxed state.
It is useful to be able to do that. Thank you for sharing it.
Sending you best wishes for good rest and a full life.
A good starting point ; but do you control and regulate your heart coherence? The heart-brain is an essential tool to calm our nervous system (and brain). Also, the mind’s alpha state (and theta or sleep state) very much depends on heart coherence. I’m not going to lecture any further ; here is a “taster” primer
If you know nothing about heart coherence, then you have just come across a new learning opportunity !!
This is similar to one of my methods except mine is in a Yakatabune, a Japanese houseboat, and I am snug and warm inside while the boat floats on a rocky and stormy sea at night.
@Deigh I use an eye mask and drop off in a sec. You could not sleep because you were nosey what they were talking about and you were excited that your child was there as you stated you had not seen him in a while. You were not allowing yourself to let go and sleep. i wish you well for the future and my wife can say to me, you were sleeping and I will get cross and say I wasn’t. So looks like your wife saw you sleeping but to you, you were in a state of awake. Stroke does f**k you up. I am also a stroke survivor.
Thanks but none of the replies satisfied me! I took a rare sleeping pill last night and definitely crashed! It will take a few days to get back to normal hours but I have time!
I’ve been a poor sleeper most of my life, a few years ago I would go to bed wake about midnight and stay awake. I overcame the problem by writing using a computer. I wrote three books during this time, one was a disaster, marketed it myself and lost a lot of money. The second one is sci-fi and being marketed as “POOTI”. I’ve made no money on that yet. Third one is a blood and thunder and unfinished with just a chapter to go because I’m unable to concentrate on it these days and no writers in the family to finish it off.
It’s quite usual for aspiring writers not to make money from their books, and there are stories of really popular writers like John Grisham who really struggled to get their books sold initially. This doesn’t mean your/their books are not marketable. Marketing is a skill like any other, and not all that many people read books these days. Keep writing and don’t be discouraged. You will get the impetus to finish your book once your mind is ready. Nobody else can do it for you because then it wouldn’t be your ‘voice’ in your book.. Good luck.
@Deigh You evidently have a head full of sh*t and this is preventing you from sleeping. Sleeping tablets are not the answer. You have to work with your body, listen to it, Feed it veg, fruit and good protein, exercise, even just walking and all of this will make you naturally tired. I have never been a believer in tablets. But if you find this the easier route, good luck
Well. I have overcome that problem temporarily. I used sleep tablets and one of my concerns was getting hooked on them. I since found out that I can use them for some time before any problems would occur. Just finding this out relieved me enough to have the confidence to take another pill if I thought it was needed.
That was a few days ago and I’ve slept well ever since.
Shwmae Deigh, it’s the same with Lorazepam, a benzodiazepine, that I take for panic disorder. Very similar to Valium. I can safely take one a day for several months if needed without worrying about becoming hooked. Indeed, at 0.5mg, it would be highly unlikely.
Lorazepam is classed as an addictive medication but I think much of that monition is targeted toward those who may have potentially addictive personalities, those who might take too many in one go for various reasons, and as a legal disclaimer should the aforementioned be brought against the manufacturer or GP who has prescribed them.
I do make sure that I have breaks as I don’t want to build up an intolerance to them as they can be a lifesaver if having a panic out and about in the big wide world.
and my wife can say to me, you were sleeping and I will get cross and say I wasn’t. So looks like your wife saw you sleeping but to you, you were in a state of awake. Stroke does f**k you up. I am also a stroke survivor.
