So, I haven't really been sleeping much lately. I actually didn't sleep for several days, and last night I got about five hours, which was lovely. But then, diasaster struck. My nose started inexplicably bleeding...everywhere. I wasn't aware of it at first, and then I woke awash in a sea of blood. Everywhere I looked, there was blood. I may have entirely ruined a set of sheets. They're soaking right now. So, anyway, I'm trying to figure out what the link between insomnia and nose bleeds is. Fuck. I really liked those sheets, too.

"The doctor said I wouldn't have so many nosebleeds if I just kept my finger out of there." --RW hmmm....ever think of that? seriously, the only link between insomnia and nosebleeds that I know of involves heavy drug use.

Hm. Maybe someone is slipping me cocaine in my sleep. Certainly I'm not wandering about sticking my fingers up my nose. Curioser and curioser, said Alice.

me and my fireplace bellows, platy. i'be been coking you up.

are you dehydrated? if you've been having nosebleeds, drink more water and maybe stick a little vaseline up there.

i've never had a nosebleed. is that normal?

That's smart Pez, and being dehydrated may have something to do with the insomnia. Are you having headaches as well?

never having a nosebleed: cool and lucky. most minor health problems can be solved by drinking more water. eat some fresh fruit, drink a glass of water, don't headbang so much. it would be neat to study homeopathy, midwivery and cultural healing. visualization exercises for pain. peppermint and chamomile tea for cramps. "medicinal" teas should steep for four to six hours and drunk a tablespoonful or two at a time.

Valarian root for insomnia, though I don't think it worked that well for me. Friends have told me that if you take enough you get a little euphoric rush just as you are falling asleep. I never did. I had some tea that worked really well, but it also made me feel heavy and lethargic...not just sleepy. You're not supposed to take it if you have any kind of depressive disorder, that may be why. I had to take perscription ambien once. I was desperate, I had a terrible bout right before my MA exams and I couldn't afford not to get at least 7 hours. That stuff is good, but I don't recommend unless you are at your wits end. "...midwivery and cultural healing" I've got a good book on the topic, from a literary historical perspective. My professor from OSU interviewed some of the last of the living African American granny midwives...women who delivered many, many babies back in the day, white and black, poor women went to them. There is also a whole bit on conjure women and how they are portrayed in contemporary novels. She also made quite a bit of reference to the kinds of herbal medicines these women used.

I drink something like four litres of water a day. And eat lots of fruit. I've tried a number of things for the insomnia. I think it will go away naturally with time, or I'll have more binge sleeps like I did last night, where I get so tired I have to sleep. I just finished reading "Midwives," by Chris Bohjalian. It's pretty interesting, if you're into that sort of thing. The book does raise some interesting statistics about home vrs hospital births. I know a fair amount of people who have chosen to go the home way. It seems neat. Not neat enough to have children or anything. When I called my nurse practicioner she said I should do the pinch the bridge of my nose and tilt my head forward thing--if it doesn't stop after 15 minutes, I should go to the hospital and have it cauterized. I'm hoping not to have a repeat incident. The back of my throat still feels funny from all the blood.

Another good thing for insomnia is too lie as still as possible, trying to relax...apparently that can provide your body with a certain amount of rest. Good luck with the nose Platy, that can't be fun...worrying about a relapse...ick

That's what I do every night, Kazoo...usually I end up feeling more awake. C.S. Lewis has pretty good advice: "She knew that one of the best ways to get to sleep was to stop trying, so she opened her eyes." That's how I ended up asleep last night. I was reading a book and I just...slept. Maybe I'll try clonking myself on the head or something.

that was a good book. (midwives) i always fall asleep eventually if i'm reading in bed.

shit, drink some nyquil. i challenge you to stay awake after downing a couple jiggers of nyquil. go ahead -- i dare you. as for the nosebleeding. get your blood pressure checked.

i've been reading our bodies, ourselves lately. bit of a cliche these days to read it, but i think it's something i should've done years ago. osu? i'll assume ohio or oklahoma, but there's one out here in oregon. do tell, please.

That's a bit of a concern, Platy. I'd go to a proper doctor. And get some iron into you, you mealy bloody vegie.

mmmmm....nyyyquiiilllll (good stuff) platypus, watch your head, I don wan you gittin all brane damaged, I jus metchya. yeah, I complained to my therapist that lying still didn't help me sleep, but I did feel a little better than when I just paced around the house looking for things to amuse me. Are you an active insomniac or do you stay in bed? I don't watch TV, but the internet kills me. I've also got a terrific collection of coloring books and pencils that keeps me busy too. I could never use the time for school work though because I can't concentrate. Do you get enough exercise? That helps. pez, OSU = Ohio State University

is that in ohio?

Tried nyquil, Dave. And I eat lots of leafy green vegetables or take iron supplements. And I have "adorable" blood pressure. I think it's just stress. I'm going to go and get a nice long massage today and see if that helps. The sheets, by some miracle of God, came out clean. I think it's because I soaked them right after the nose incident, so the blood didn't have time to adhere. I got four hours last night. It would have been more, but apparently it was imperative for the Oakland PD to drive by my house several times with the sirens on.

yea, blood is pretty easy to get out of cloth if you get at it right away. they say that in oakland it is better to hear sirens all night long than to be murdered.

Use hydrogen peroxide to get blood out; it's a protein. Nose bleeds and high blood pressure are not correlated in any way. Nyquil is full of alcohol, hence the drowsiness. Valerian root does induce relaxation but if in a tincture (liquid), probably is in an alcohol base, too. Ambien is so new we don't know if it is addictive. If there's substance abuse in the history, it is not a safe drug to try. It is meant only for short term use. Lots of vodka always worked for me. However, since stopping that stuff, insomnia has become a way of life. Hence Sorabji. I've found that if I get books and tv and every other distraction out of the bedroom, the bedroom is for sleep. I can't expect my body to know "it's time for sleep now" ... after an hour of books, tv, sex, and triscuits in bed...simply by turning the light out??? For the nose bleeds, try rinsing the ol snozz out with saline solution tid and using a little otc borofax or rx bactroban ointment on the sore parts. And use a humidifier when you sleep.

I have been having a hard time sleeping lately, too. Usually I read until I just crash, but lately that hasn't been working. Reading has been getting me more worked up or just bored and I put the book down. I am drinking less. I wonder if that is it. Not like I am dehydrated, because I am replacing the alcohol with lemonade or things like that. I also wake up a lot during the night. I still wake up feeling better, for some reason, though I didn't get crap for sleep. I used to get the nosebleeds like that. I got a bottle of saline and sprayed it in my nose before I went to sleep and it stopped after a few days. It has only happened to me like twice in the last 4 years.

Vodka puts me right to sleep too,but it's not a good sleep and when I wake up I always feel like shit.

agatha, did you deliver cleo via midwife?

Nyquil makes me sleepy the first night I take it, but I can't take it again after that....it keeps me up all night with the jitters. I'm a very restless sleeper -- I wake up several times during the night, often with tangled sheets or in strange positions, sometimes on the floor. Poor sleep is what gives me such vivid dreams. The only thing that ever helped me sleep was Elavil (one dose of 12.5 mg per night, for pain). It didn't put me to sleep, but made me sleep very deeply. I would sleep 9-10 hours without waking up once, but I woke in the mornings still tired and headache-y. Hated it.

ambien made me insane, wired and hallucinate. fuck that shit.

I have to take tylenol pm in order to go to sleep. If I do not, I will be awake until I take some, period. I have been this was for going on 8 years now. I am up to 10 pills a night. Started at 2.....

10 a night? 8 years???? fuck spunky, get help. no. really. thats not normal.

you're not supposed to take tylenol pm for more than something like five days in a row.

He's going to start mutating any day now. He's going to grow an second, evil head.

the sleeping agent in that shit is akin to regular sleeping pills. i dunno about you, but i always feel funky after eating those or anything similar, nyquil included. I usually avoid those particular medicines if i can. I can never sleep on them and i tend to shuffle and squirm all night, the decongestant acts as a speed agent. seriously spunk, id stop taking them tonight, thats stuff is no good.

HAve you seen a doctor about this, spunky? What you do could easily be classified by our fair-minded and liberty-loving government as DRUG ABUSE. Not that I am SAYING that it IS, but you NEVER know who WILL.

you don't want to hear my birthing story, patrick. it will frighten you.

I have been telling him to see the doctor for quite a while, but he doesn't listen. The amount of diphenhydramine in those pills is TOXIC to his body, and I have told him this, but now he is up to 10 PILLS A NIGHT (which he didn't tell me) and scaring the shit out of me. He even has physical withdrawls if he doesn't take as much. Someone, drag his ass to a doctor, cuz he won't let me do it, and he is more than twice my size! I have taken the Tylenol PM a couple of times, but will never use it more than one night in a row, because I fear becoming dependant on these pills and I think natural sleep is more what my body needs, even though it hasn't been easy lately. I hate taking pills (for those of you who haven't heard me bitch about this before) and only take them if I don't see any other choice.

melatonin is now my #1 sleep aid. i've temporarily lost my valium connection. so it's 2 mg of melatonin and about 30 minutes later it's nighty night.

I'll bet I'm bigger 'n' spunky. When do you want my services?

So, the new developments are as follows: a. I feel like shit. I have a summer cold, I think. My nose in all congested and I have a fever and I feel like...well...shit. And I can't breathe, which always happens when I get all congested, so I'm wandering around taking hits of maxxair and breathing sterterously through my mouth. b. started my new job today. I am now among the communters who board BART every day at 7:00 and I go into Berkeley and walk to work, and then come back in the evening. It seems to be working well (after one day, anyway), but...this whole sickness thing needs to stop. c. My neck hurts. d. Spunksters, ya gotta get unaddicted. This is part of the reason I'm trying to stay away from that stuff--I don't want to end up taking toxins into my body for years. (I thought, briefly, about trying a little of the old mary jane, but in my current aggravated asthmatic state, that wouldn't be a good idea, I guess). e. Fuck, my neck hurts.

p.s. daniel--hydrogen peroxide shouldn't be used on stuff that's not white--it's bleach.

pot is good for asthma. POT IS GOOD FOR ASTHMA. i'm going to go work on my glucoma.

Pot is bad for asthma. POT IS BAD FOR ASTHMA.

WHAT IF YOU'RE WRONG?

I have asthma,I like pot,sometimes it hurts my lungs though.

Pot is good for insomnia. I forgot about that since it's been so long...since I've had weed, not insomnia. One of my shrinks encouraged me to smoke because it was only then that I ate and slept. The longest I've ever stayed up without a nap or a blackout was about 76 hours. That was scary. I was wired and started hearing these loud BOOMs and seeing strange shadows on the sides of my eyes.

Yeah Spunk, get off the junk. Seriously. Try chamomile tea, warm milk (those things always piss me off though because although they do put me to sleep, I have to get up at 2:00 am to piss them out), a shot of brandy or scotch -- got to be better than sleeping pills.

yeah Spunk, there is a tea i mentioned earlier, I wish I could remember the name of it. Celestial Seasonings has a lemon-honey-chamomile that knocked me out quite a few times. and is there any kind of aroma-thing. I used to spray lavender on my sheets...that was relaxing, but i don't recall it making me sleepy.

I know I gotta find something else. I do need to see a doctor....

im fortunate to have never suffered sleeplessness. bongloads and red wine would be my first choice though. don't you feel the funk in the morning spunk from taking that junk?

email me anyway agatha because i never seem to have your active addy handy. i have some id love your take on.

spunk, do you have anxiety before going to sleep? Do you get much exercize? Do you snore? Do you have digestive problems? You absolutely should go to a doctor. Sleep problems can be a symptom of SHITLOADS of other health problems, from physical to psychological. You need to take care of the cause, not just treat the symptoms. Make an appointment right now. Pick up the phone. Go!

Made your appointment yet, Trace?

No. I did just select a PCP through the HMO, and am now waiting for the request to go through. ECD is before the EOB Friday....

Sorry, that is COB. Pushing AFDS through the CPSG for the AIA is driving me UTW, and I may be EOM or DOA before the COB today.

YOu think I'm kidding? I bet that is a good source of my insomnia... I am working on an MOA for a MOU, and a CON, a NOS, a SOW. monitoring SRRs and STIGs, as well as IAVA and IAVM. I am reporting to DISA, NSA, CIA, AIA, CPSG, FBI, and a few others that I cannot say. I work in an NCC, for the AETC CS. Looking to relocate to a DECCD. Oh yes, and trying to decrypt encryptions as well......

Try some SSRI's, then! But only if you're not on MAOI inhibitors. But remember...TANSTAAFL.

The Aliens Need Some Tangerines And A Fleece Lamb?

FMUTAWACS

KMKYWAP

fy,ya.

Kiss My Kinky Youthful Wide Ass Please dinner lady?

EHF. all of you.

there ain't no such thing as a free lunch

The sick thing is I was not kidding

fyya2 nate. EHF?

eat hot fuck FTF!

If anyone is ever out in my neck of the woods,would they please drop by and try to help me set my radio stations? I'd kiss your ass.

I am soooo into green tea with ginger and ginko and lime. Man it gives you a lift. I'm never ever drinking coffee again, until tomorrow.

Fight The Future?