Last night, I was awake until 5 am. Roughly. Probably later, but that’s when I stopped looking at the clock. A bout of insomnia like this one hasn’t hit me in a while. I generally can sleep pretty well whenever I want (with the exception of naps. I don’t nap well.)
The trouble is, I don’t believe in taking sick days for sleepless nights. So, here I am at work trying my damnedest to figure out algorithms for rendering terrain data in 3D using some new fancy code. To be clear, this is not a task that can be accomplished in one day. Or even a week. This is a relatively huge undertaking. And I’m researching all of this on a day when my brain power is equivalent to a lame hamster running on an ungreased wheel.
So here is the question I pose to the masses who read my blog:
How do you deal with insomnia, and do you find it helps your productivity (by giving you more working hours in a day) or impedes it (by turning you into a mindless zombie)?
Okay, so that was more than one question, but still. I am interested to know, folks. I know there aren’t many of you in the blogosphere who pop around my way very often, but if you do then HELLO! It’s nice to have you. Care for a cup of tea? Oh, and while you’re here, would you mind terribly cleaning up after yourself? Because I’m going to go upstairs and pass out.
When insomnia hits me I can barely function. For the first little while I would just zone out, and become a zombie at work and at home. It’s no fun. I actually take Seraquel now when I’m experiencing it. It’s non-addictive and I can take one whenever I need it (as long as it’s an hour before bed time and you allot yourself at least 8 hours). It knocks me right out and it prevents anxiety the next day. The only thing that sucks is you’re a big groggy for an hour or so after you wake up. An annoying chemical groggy, something you can’t shake by having a coffee. But, it’s a small price to pay for a decent night’s rest.
I had supreme insomnia with both of my pregnancies. I played A LOT of mahjongg. Because preggos can’t take anything. (Can you hear the bitterness?) I never did find a solution while knocked up. Now I knock back a beer or two, grab some light reading and I’m usually out within an hour or so. Neo citran works for me too, but the dreams, oh, the dreams! Crazy!
Hope you find (found) something that works for ya!