Ha!! What's New Monday....I DID IT!!!!!

Good morning Karen. I don't have an nswer for you because I have always been a good sleeper. I had a couple nights after coming home from the hospital that I woke up at 2:30 am and couldn't go back to sleep and then I was back sleeping the night through except for pee breaks. I am happy to report that is getting to be fewer times a nigh since Trooper finally got house broke and sleeps the night through. I have always been a good sleeper and I usually take a short nap some time during the day. I'm sorry I'm not able to help I mainly wanted to say hi. You have a good day. Birdy

Karen! Yay! Hi all! I was awake at 4am and got up finally at 4:20am. Karen, I have had insomnia for many years. Could always get right to sleep but never stay asleep. For the past few years I take medication. Ambien worked the best but I was one of those getting up, cooking and eating in the middle of the night, even going outside in the middle of winter, middle of the night taking photos! How do I know this? My tripod was set up and pics on my camera! After gaining 20 lbs and after the photo session incident, my doc took me off and put me on Halcion. It was OK but only kept me asleep for 5 hours at the most. Now I too am on trazadone/restoril, and that is 4-5 hours on a good night. I thought with my weight loss it would get better but no...I have chronic pain that is the culprit waking me up now. So...unless I want to go to a patch...early rising is where I am. The good part is I get up in time to visit OFf before work. Not much new here. Went to church out at the church camp where dtr is working. Had brunch there with her, for Father's Day, and then church. Very cool to see all the young counselors so enthusiastic in their faith...and Beth happy! yay! She was happy to have her dad there. Patting him on the back, rubbing his arm and leaning in to him during the service. Sad for him as this is the first year with out his pop. We had a nice day and will celebrate my dad's day next Sunday as their was so much graduation and other stuff going on we wanted to have time to have a nice BBQ with my family, sis, brother-in-law and parents. The weather is finally beautiful. Going to my PCP tomorrow, will ask for the ultra sound, eye specialist and anything else I can think of! Boy, I have really gone on.... I was looking at pics on Eileen's profile and got to see a bunch of you! The Texas Diva ones. What a bunch of lovely ladies, it was weird as I was looking at most of you it seemed like I really knew you and recognized you! Once again, I am bummed I can't go to your next get together! TTYL, Cheryl

Cheryl: I'm having a freaky computer day ... don't see Karen's post, but I guess it's about sleep problems. If you're dealing with them like I am, I'm on elavil (generic brand) and neurontin now for my chronic pain ... I realize my chronic pain is different from yours; yours is esophageal, I believe? Since I also have esophageal issues (barrett's), I'm on Nexium twice a day; the neurontin is for my back and the nerve issues from that. I am sleeping better since I've added the neurontin ... but I still have issues because of the knee ... if it's not one thing, it's another (I sound like Roseanne Rosanneadanna.)

Eileen, my husband has tried neurontin TWICE.  It helped his diabetic neuropathy pain but it made him STUPID!!!  The first time was in OR and after 2 weeks, he could barely remember what he had for lunch 15 minutes earlier!  About 2 years later, our new doc in NC prescribed something for his neuropathy.  After a few weeks he was stupid again, and we checked and he was now taking generic neurontin, the doc said to keep taking to see if the stupid would wear off.  After a month I was tired of answering the same question 6 times in 6 minutes and reminding him of everything a million times, so he quit taking it again.   It had the same effect on my Dad.

Well, maybe that's why I'm so stupid.  No, it hasn't had that effect on me ... I take it at bedtime only. So by the morning, it's worn off. I haven't done anything more stupid than I usually do.

Good morning, my wonderful friends! Karen, you're so funny.  Your timetable reminds me of those who drink..."must be after 5:00 p.m. SOMEWHERE!"  LOL  What ever works so you can start our thread works for me. I got ****y with my weight, thought that the constant eating to get up to 122 was ridiculous, so I went back to my comfortable 1500-1700 cals a day and have lost 3 lbs. So, it's back to eating again. I feel like a tightrope walker most the time. When my doc put me on a CPAP I started taking sleeping pills. The generic Restoril works best for me, gives me a full 8 hrs every night. For awhile he had me on Ambien, but I started doing crazy things like Cheryl so I tossed those puppies FAST!!! I think they should be taken off the market. We had a woman here in Little Rock last week who was given Ambien my mistake at the Pharmacy. She didn't realize what they were and took one in the morning. Well, she ran into many things in her car before she finally drove into an embankment and nearly killed herself. She had no memory of going anywhere! Now granted, it was the pharmacy's mistake and she shouldn't have had taken one during the day, but this medication  has millions of horror stories like this one.  Enough about that! Anyway, yesterday Gary worked outside all morning while I cleaned inside. The kids are making it a habit of coming over on Sundays and of course came yesterday for Father's Day. Gary wanted tacos so I made them with Morning Star Farms Crumbles, that soy "meat".  Well, let me tell you, after doctoring it up with taco seasoning, adding the lettuce, salsa, and some cheese, it was a dang good taco. This stuff is soooooo low in fat!  The serving is 2/3 cup, has 2.5 grams of fat and 10 grams of protein. I'm going to start using it in chili and pasta sauce. You guys might want to check it out.  I don't think I'd want to eat it alone, but in a well seasoned sauce or soup I think it's a great source of protein that's low in fat. OK, gone on long enough. I'm going outside to reseed some bare spots in the lawn. Everyone take care!

Karen, what a lovely picture you paint each morning. I can alsmost feel the warm breeze. Nah - I sleep in spits and spurts. Tossing and turning in bed is of no use. Instead I get up and go paint a project for a while. Other wise my brain goes into overdrive and I am unable to sleep at all.   Between cats needing loves and my pesky bladder, I never sleep the entire night through. When I discussed this with my shrink, he said most people my age have identical sleep patterns and go with the flow. His suggestion was to skip naps - yeah right!! That doesn't always work. The man isn't always correct. Enjoy your Skinny Cow - nice to have a treat without guilt??!!! Annette

I'm lucky my cats don't like to sleep with me except in the winter when it's cold. And they usually don't wake me up ... except Diva likes to jump on the bed. Scooter likes to snuggle, so sometimes early in the morning he'll come and cuddle but that's it. Of course, I only have three, not eight (hey, I used to have five when I lived in Montana, and that was in a one-bedroom house! Now that's really a crazy cat woman! Just couldn't say no to another cat!)

Eileen, Usually ... I don't mind having the cats in bed. Tony, the youngest gets a notion to give kisses , right in my face, on my chest as he purrs and kneads my neck.  Five isn't too many. The lady across the street is up to 22 in her house. Her family is ready to report her. She had photos of them on her front window, in case there is a fire and the firemen are supposed to rescue ALL of them. I hope there is NEVER an accident. Take care. I'm sure your furbabies give you comfort and joy. Annette