Photo courtesy of Microsoft Clip Arts
For an insomniac I think a lot about sleep, like how can I get more sleep? My biggest problem used to be trouble falling asleep, but it seems to be evolving, so now I also have trouble staying asleep. Part of it is age, I know, as you get older you need to get up to the bathroom a whole lot more & it interferes with your sleep patterns.
Doesn’t it always seem when you need the most sleep is when you get the least amount? Parents with newborn children get very little sleep just when they need a clear head to deal with a new person in their house. Older adults get more tired by everyday life so they need their sleep, but their bodies betray them by making them need to urinate during the night more often.
Because I was born with a birth defect (spina bifida) I have always suffered from back pain. I’ve been in physiotherapy numerous times to try to keep my back working. I’m a side sleeper & use a side sleeper pillow. I sleep in the position most people with back problems sleep in. I lay on my side with my bottom leg straight out & my top leg bent at the knee & my top leg’s ankle resting on my bottom leg. A pillow under my bent knee is very beneficial for more comfort. I actually use a body pillow. When asked by a physiotherapist how I sleep, she said you can always tell a person who has back problems because they instinctually find the best position to sleep in.
Hubby sleeps on his back with his arms behind his head which means both elbows are encroaching on my side of the bed. Thank goodness he now sleeps in his recliner because of the arthritis in his back. Now I get the bed all to myself! Plus, with my insomnia, I need to read to fall asleep, so now I don’t have to put up with his complaining about the light being on. 😉
What about covers? I use a sheet & a comforter but I can’t sleep if my feet are too hot or too cold. 90% of the time my feet are sticking out of the covers because my feet are too hot. On rare occasions, when it’s really, really cold I put my feet under the covers. Usually it only happens when I’m sick.
How do you sleep? Do you have special pillows? Or a special mattress?
benzeknees 
Apr 30, 2013 @ 01:41:04
I sleep fine once I get to sleep… 😦
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 14:29:11
Do you have trouble falling asleep too?
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May 01, 2013 @ 02:01:51
Yes 😦
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 05:17:36
I am very fortunate in that I sleep like a baby and alway have. However, I’m positive that I don’t sleep as deeply as I could because my hubby is a very restless sleeper and snores badly. When he is away overnight, I always wake up in the morning feeling much more refreshed than usual :). As for how I sleep, it’s curled up on my side in the fetal position for me. That’s the way I have slept for as long as I can remember. As for you having the bed all to yourself now, all I can say is, you lucky dog!! :). Of course, the reasons aren’t good, but oh how nice that would be LOL!!
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 14:30:24
I agree with you about having the bed to myself! I think hubby enjoys it more because in our house I am the snorer!!!!!
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 18:05:21
LOL!! I’ve been known to snore a little myself when my sinuses are bad :). But for me it’s great because payback’s a bitch you know after all of the years that I have suffered HAHA!
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 06:05:00
The most important thing for me is the pillow. I sleep with a down pillow. Traveling and sleeping in motels is the worst because the pillows are often way to hard for me. I also sleep under a ceiling fan even in winter. I just like feeling the air moving over my skin.
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 14:31:29
When it was so hot here a few days ago I moved our box fan onto hubby’s dresser top so the air would move above me. Hubby is now looking for a ceiling fan for us.
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 08:47:22
“90% of the time my feet are sticking out of the covers because my feet are too hot.”—That’s me, too. Sleeping becomes more challenging the older we get. I spent a good deal of time last night staring at my ceiling. 🙂
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 14:33:39
I hate it when I can’t sleep. I can read until my eyes are falling out of my head, the book is falling on the floor I’m so tired, but let me turn the light out & I’m wide awake again. I have my best sleeps when I fall asleep reading & hubby finds me during one of his nightly visits to the bathroom & turns the light out for me.
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 14:39:42
I hope that doesn’t mean you’re sleeping in the bathroom. 😉
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 14:45:08
Unfortunately, I have fallen asleep on the toilet,but I usually wake myself up when my feet go numb or my head dips one too many times.
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 14:47:06
Hahaha. Thanks for the mental image!
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 18:35:37
No, one bathroom is off the master bedroom, but the when he uses the other one he can see the light on in the bedroom.
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 09:15:52
I’m a side sleeper (even though I have no back problems), with light sheet and duvet cover (sans duvet) tucked in at the feet. I’m very lucky because sleep is not a problem for me; neither is being awake. lol xoxoM
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 14:37:20
You are very lucky!
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 10:18:52
Hiya .. I need to sleep on my front, or side and with legs akimbo as you describe to a point! The ‘loo’ sadly is a thing of beauty in the middle of the night! – c’est la vie .. but it’s exercise!!
Now I must get up from my computer chair to exercise those legs of mine – congratulations on finishing the A – Z .. cheers Hilary
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 14:38:37
Thanks – it was a real challenge for me somedays, but I think it will help me be more consistent with my posting.
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 11:16:49
I have a bad back. Not all the time. But sometimes I move wrong and can’t move again for days. Now I am old, I sometimes wake up with some part of me hurting. What the heck is up with that???
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 13:13:33
Yes you are old!
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 13:24:47
pftzzle
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 13:27:19
well..
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 13:31:26
Medium well.
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 13:32:34
now i’m hungry for steak…
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 13:32:53
me too.
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 13:34:43
well you have a bbq..
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 15:04:42
How do you know that???
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 15:11:00
don’t most men?
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 15:12:30
I thought you had hidden cameras or something.
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 15:15:51
mawhahaha
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 15:20:08
You are really creeping me out.
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 15:20:58
perfect
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 15:21:38
sure
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 14:39:13
You probably have arthritis – does it feel better once you start moving?
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 15:05:34
No, I have a bad back because when I was 17 I made a Navy Lieutenant mad and he made me move a computer by myself. A 1970’s computer.
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 11:34:23
I fall asleep within minutes every night, without fail. Drives Tara nuts. 🙂
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 14:40:26
Hubby can fall asleep eating sunflower seeds – between popping one in his mouth & chewing, he’s sometimes asleep! Drives me nuts!
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 13:11:17
I need to fall asleep to a light hearted funny tv show..(Three’s Company) Hubby can’t fall asleep with tv on, so he has to wait for it to be over. I roll all over the place when I sleep, as does Hubby, so we wake each other up often!
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 13:12:24
Oh yeah I have to have a pillow over my head too.
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 14:42:47
Wow, a pillow over your head? I would suffocate! Hubby & I used to wake each other up all the time too until we started sleeping in his reliner.
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 14:45:30
Yes that came from years of living in noisy apartments…I would sleep with a pillow over my head to try and drown out some of the noise, the I got used to the pillow over my head and can’t sleep without it…lol
My Hubby is away for 9 days, I’ll bet I get 8 nights of blissful uninterrupted sleep! Maybe I should get Hubby a recliner for when he gets home…ha!!
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 18:25:08
For the past few months I’ve had very little ‘good’ sleep as I have a nose blockage soon after lying down and so have to get up and usually sleep in recliner (what would we do without them) Also can’t use my CPAP for sleep apnea …I am hoping for solution… ‘sleep sleep wherefore art thou sleep”? Diane
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 18:44:04
I well know the feeling. Have you tried using seawater nasal spray? It was recommended to me by an ear, nose & throat specialist. I have found it very helpful.
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May 02, 2013 @ 01:26:38
I’ve tried everything but…will be seeing an ENT as I think I’ll need surgery to fix it….(didn’t get your reply in my notifications..) Diane
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 20:00:46
Benze,
I hope that you will sleep well tonight knowing that you finished the challenge.
Me, I have found the perfect blanket — quilt, thingy. It stays cool on one side and keeps me warm on the other. When I get hot, I switch it. It is a magic quilt.
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Apr 30, 2013 @ 22:58:48
I haven’t been stressing too much about the challenge, but I hope I sleep better tonight too! I was off one of my meds for a couple days & now I’m back on.
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May 01, 2013 @ 00:53:46
I sleep poorly. Go to bed about 12:00 midnight or later. Covers on, and can’t get warm, open the drawer next to me and pull out socks after at least two hours of freezing. Still can’t get warm, At 2:00 a.m. or later, take a hot bath. Get warm. Fifteen minutes later after drifting off to sleep, get hot. Two seconds later, have to throw off the covers, the dog, and any thing else touching me including clothes. Put my flannel coffee cup pajamas, with frayed cuffs and worn out elastic pants that amazingly don’t fall off on their own, back on. Take the dog outside so I can cool off. Stay up and write in Blogland until V gets up at 5:00 or 6:00. Go back and lie back down, and immediately drift off to sleep dreaming about shower noises. Get up at 6:30 or 7:00 and answer emails. Oops, that’s not sleep. Sorry. Where did the night go???
BTW, awards are still out there. When you next visit my site check out http://wp.me/p2jC53-1lj for your blog. This is my way of saying that you are a special blogging friend. Feel free to do with it what you will – no rush – no pressure. The world won’t collapse if you do nothing, nor will I. I just wanted to say, “Thanks for being a good friend.” 🙂 Marsha 🙂
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May 01, 2013 @ 01:08:34
I feel bad for you! I sometimes get very very cold just before a hot flash, I always blamed it on my thyroid. Aren’t those night sweats the worst? Sorry I missed your post about the award – now I finally finished the A to Z Challenge I need to get caught up with other business. I have a couple other awards to accept & a book review to do, so I will try to get to them this week. Thanks for thinking of me!
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May 01, 2013 @ 09:46:07
hahah- you are Too too busy for awards, but I just wanted you to feel loved and wanted out here in Blogland! 🙂 I know what yo mean about being busy,, but awards are nice. 🙂
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May 01, 2013 @ 01:14:35
If I go to bed early, I end up waking in the middle of the night. I try to work on something for an hour or so and then finally sleep a few more hours. It’s nice to get some quiet time, but I would much rather sleep all night.
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May 01, 2013 @ 18:11:54
If I had small children, I think I too would like the peaceful time whenever I could get it, but like you I prefer to sleep straight through. Sorry you’re having trouble – maybe pick a middling time (between early & late) to go to sleep? Maybe it would work?
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May 01, 2013 @ 21:01:41
Love this post! Let’s see…sometimes hubs and I play a game to see who can fall asleep first by counting by 10 backwards, 10-9-8-7-6…I think I beat him once and fell asleep before I got to “5”. I love to read before going to sleep when he’s gone cos he’s a big baby LOL. He has some sleep problems right when he comes home due to the nature of his work, mostly he’s up all night, works very weird shifts on a tug, and has sleep deprivation, plus he’s restless and snores only when he’s very tired, but I just punch him a few times and he settles down. HAHA! No really, I do. When I fall asleep, I don’t move for the entire night unless I have to get up to pee!
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May 01, 2013 @ 23:03:18
I love your answer. When hubby & I first met I don’t think my head touched a pillow for the first 6 months because I slept on his shoulder (at his insistence). 16 years later we almost never sleep in the same bed anymore. I snore, he has weird hand & foot movements that scare the crap out of me. I’ll have to do another post about them.
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May 04, 2013 @ 12:23:04
Sleep can really become a problem, especially when you are tired but can’t sleep because of stress or other factors, and when it comes to sleep; it always comes when it shouldn’t. Personally I sleep a lot when I am tired, and I finally managed to sleep well at night.
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Jul 18, 2013 @ 04:10:40
Congrats on finally getting some good sleep. Sorry for the slow reply, you got stuck in my spam & I’m having another sleepless night getting caught up with my blog reading.
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May 29, 2013 @ 21:54:47