Posted by BarbaraCat on September 3, 2002, at 13:03:37
In reply to lack of sleep , posted by janejj on August 29, 2002, at 14:50:50
Hi Jane,
I just re-read your post where you say that construction is going on. That has got to be the worst and insidious stress going. You feel like you're constantly invaded and on alert. The body thinks it's under seige and continually produces fight/flight hormones from the adrenals. This totally screws up your cortisol/dhea tidal balance and it's no wonder you're not sleeping. It becomes it's own vicious circle. Can you get somewhere for a few days (a long weekend?) where you can just rest in quiet comfort? I ask this because I've just recently been in a similar situation with caterpillers and tractors crunching and destroying our beautiful wilderness starting at 8 every single morning. I was a wildwoman for weeks and started in with the frantic pacing mind racing insomnia, feeling like a trigger waiting to spring all day. I said 'hell with this' and during a holiday lull I knocked myself out with benzos and ambien and slept for 2 1/2 days. It seemed to heal over the open wound by getting restorative sleep. I then just kept up a high dose regimen of lorezapam, invested in a high-speed air cleaner to provide white noise, and also went out there and chewed the guy on the caterpiller's butt out (that was more for my own frustration, but work stopped right then and there).You might want to find out from your city hall what the noice ordinances are. In a residential zone they're generally 8am 6pm. It might help to find out who your representative is and lay on a little pressure. At least it will feel like you're putting some of that frustration back where it belongs and not just being at the mercy of the intrusive chaos you're stuck with. But doing that kind of righteous civic assertion can really rev you up and you're back with insomnia again.
As far as travelling to other time zones, you have good reason to be concerned, especially while in a current sleep/wake upheaval. It doesn't take much for sensitive folks like us to get all cattywumpus in our sleep cycles. I just about died when my job took me on the road. I never, ever slept the first night in any hotel, no matter how sumptuous it was. And once the pattern was established, it just took on from there - poor sleep, getting revved up in the day to compensate for it, too revved up to sleep, etc,etc. There are many good articles on the internet about adjusting to time changes and about sleep cycles and their role in depression - I don't have them at my fingertips. One thing they do all mention is using Melatonin rather scientifically to adjust things. It does help me. The brand I use is Source Naturals Sublingual orange flavored. It seems to work better than the others, probably because of bypassing the stomach and liver.
I hope you get a handle on this, Jane. I absolutely know the hell it can be. Noise pollution is crazy making. Blocking it out with noise machines, curtains, meds, whatever certainly help, but you still know it's there. Maybe silly question, but can you move?
BarbaraCat
poster:BarbaraCat
thread:118153
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020829/msgs/118674.html