Insomnia

Other people's sleep difficulties are so BORING, so just stop reading right now!

I warned you. This is a just a rant for me and my mental health.

They (who is 'they' anyway) say if you don't fall asleep in 20 minutes, get up and do something and try again, but don't do electronics. At 1:45 a.m. or thereabouts, I did this, and even stayed off electronics...but here I am so you know that didn't work.

2:45 a.m. Let's do this again since lying there feeling tired but not sleepy is not working. Write some Christmas cards, do some financial tasks, file some paperwork, make some coffee, because believe it or not, if I drink coffee at 3-4 in the morning, I often can fall back to sleep in a weird caffeine induced state of relaxation.

What I shouldn't do is eat at this point. It always makes me wake up feeling starved and out of sorts.

You see, the problem is not the initial falling asleep (usually). I am normally asleep quickly, unless old restless leg acts up. Then two or three in the a.m. after a few trips to the bathroom, I'm awake again. I did go through a phase of putting myself back to sleep a couple weeks ago which lasted a week or two, until of course, I said out loud, "I'm sleeping better."