paisley. part one

If you are not new here then you know I struggle with insomnia on occasion. And by occasion I mean more often than not.

If you are new here, first of all welcome, and secondly, I want you to know that I struggle with insomnia on occasion.

It started, bizarrely, after I returned home from a trip to Europe in 2007. I didn't sleep well upon return and, in fact, I seem to have never really recovered from that. After years of trying to figure it out I have discovered that my diet affects it dramatically. I gave up sugar for a month last year and discovered my sleeping profoundly affected. I have tried to remain sugar free, sometimes that's easier said than done. I have also recently cut my caffeine intake by 2/3rds.

And as of late I have been sleeping like a log.

Until......

PMS kicks in. Then the sleeping stops. This is when my anxiety rules my body and steals my nights.

It's rude. But try and tell it that.

Sheesh.

The last 2 years have been stressful. Another post. Another time. But it's been anxiety inducing. Sleep stealing. Hard times. The point being that sleep became more and more allusive. Some nights it was gone entirely.

Enter prescription sleeping pills. I took them on occasion, my rule being two bad nights in a row and then one pharmaceutically induced good sleep. Slowly, over time, it got to the point where I was taking one every night.

After a couple of months they just stopped working but I took them anyway in the hopes that it might work, on the off chance.

I was exhausted. On or off the pills I wasn't really getting more than a few hours of sleep a night so I figured if I was going to sleep poorly anyway, I may as well do it drug free. So I quit them. Cold turkey. It wasn't that hard actually. But the idea that I might be totally hooked on them was a little scary to me. It was a relief to find out that quitting them wasn't too big a deal.

However, just before I quit them I had a very clever woman I met through the miracle of blogging make a suggestion to me about something I could try that might help.

Might not. But it might. And where's the harm in trying?

So I tried it........

If you come back tomorrow I'll tell you my secret.

Here's a hint. Her name is Paisley. The secret, not the woman. That would be weird.

Or would it? Probably not.

Anyway, she is beautiful. And also, very heavy. The secret, not the woman. Well, the woman is beautiful. Just not heavy.

Oy...

That was three hints. And also, very confusing.

Until tomorrow............