Word of the Day

Counterintuitive. Counter-intuuihtihve. When something seems in opposition to intuition or common sense.

I went to a sleep disorders center this morning. I wish I'd done this years ago. They actually understood what I was talking about and didn't tell me it's because I'm depressed and if only I'd be willing to try another anti-depressant I'd be okay but because I won't (because it didn't help my insomnia much less my mood and it made me gain 10 lbs) it's my own damn fault. Not that I'm bitter or anything.

This doc said that based on my sleep history, the fact that I LIKE working swing shifts, and when able to go to bed when I'm sleepy and wake up without an alarm I'm an 11:30/midnight-7:30ish sleeper, that I'm a "night owl" (I'm sure there's a more formal medical term for this) and based on that pattern, his thinks that my body probably needs around 6 hours of sleep at night to function best. But because it's drilled into all of us that we need 8-10 hours of sleep or horrific things will happen to our brains and bodies, I've been doing what most folks w/this late night/6 hour sleep need folks do - and I go to bed too early - so I spent the first 2 hours too awake to fall asleep and when I do fall asleep my body is kind of out of it's normal rhythm so it doesn't get quality sleep so I wake up repeatedly and/or wake up too early and can't go back to sleep, or it finally starts to sleep and I jolt it awake at 5:45am. According to this doc to avoid all those health issues I need to sleep 6 hours, not 8.

He said there could be about 5 other things going on, but he thinks this is probably the core issue. So he wants me to sleep until 7:30a every day (then go stand in the "sun" for 30 min to "reset" my biological clock) and for the next 2 weeks go to bed at 1am (!) - so my body is good and ready to fall asleep when I go to bed and gets used to having deep sleep again. Then, provided that works, I will scoot back to 12:30 and then 12 - and find the exact time my body needs to go to bed to be able to really just go to sleep and sleep deeply. But just stick with waking up at 7:30a because, well, frankly that's how I'm wired. He said that people like me do well in college or swing shifts because, well, staying up late and sleeping in is the norm - and that our sleep "problems" really kick in when we start working in the real world and have to get to work by 8 or so in the morning and completely obliterate our body's natural rhythm. And everything we do to try and fix it (going to bed earlier, taking meds, random waking times) ends up making things worse. Which was so completely true for me that I almost started crying when he said that. I honestly haven't had a good night's sleep since I stopped working swing shifts 8 years ago.

So, I'm game. And if none of that works, we'll go to plan B and look into the other 5 options.

So, my first question is - after years of being at home by 8pm to take Trazadone (which only worked like 2 days of the month) to kick in in time to trick my body to go to sleep at 9pm, I now have 4 extra hours each day - at least for the next 2 weeks. What the heck am I going to do between 9pm-1am each night? I think I'll start a list. Feel free to submit your ideas.

1. read
2. watch all those TV shows I've been missing out on that come on after 9pm
3. surf the net
4. catch up on emails
5. clean up the kitchen
6. stare at the wall
7. go to the gym
8. see a late night movie
9. rent a movie
10. try desperately to stay awake...