sleep deprived

Sleep is the kind of thing you take for granted until you find yourself wide awake at 2 a.m.--for the 5th night in a row. Listening to your husband contentedly snore while your brain is doing the rhumba can make a good night's sleep seem precious beyond compare.

You'll do just about anything to capture those elusive 40 winks.

And I've done it all, believe me. I've gone the natural route:
valerian (makes my heart race), melatonin (does nothing), chamomille tea (makes me sleepy, but then I have to go pee all night long).

I tried bio-identical hormones, which worked nicely for a few months. But then I started waking up once again in the wee hours. And staying awake.

I've used relaxation techniques, tried hot baths, white noise, reading scriptures before falling asleep. And I'm usually able to doze off without much difficulty. I just wake up four hours later, roused by some sadistic inner alarm clock. I may or may not snooze for a few hours right around dawn. But either way, it doesn't make for a very alert or productive person the rest of the day.

And, as much as I hate to admit it, I've tried sleeping pills. I don't do well with most medications--I can have pretty interesting allergic reactions--but, hey, I'm desperate. And I finally found one sleep drug that seemed to work really well with few noticeable side effects.

To be on the safe side, however, I decided to google this particular pharmaceutical to learn more about it's long term effects. And I found out WAY more than I really wanted to know.

Side effects include: sleep walking, buying unnecessary items, sleep driving, nightmares, multiple personalities, amnesia, hallucinations, severe head swelling and wandering around your backyard eating oatmeal cookies in the nude.

I am not kidding. These are all actual reactions to Ambien, one of the most widely prescribed sleeping pills.

Greg says he hasn't noticed any of these behaviors yet (although he thinks the naked cookie-eating thing might be kind of fun).

But he's asleep all night, so what does he know? I could end up swimming with the possums!

So, I'm back to the sleepless drawing board. If you have any suggestions for me, feel free to comment.

And pray for me. When you are struggling with insomnia, you realize what a gift from God sleep really is!

He gives His beloved sleep . . . . Psalm 127:2