My day on 90 minutes of sleep

[RadioGaGa]

Hello fellow forumites

Last night I had my worst (well, that's a lie - joint "worst" insomnia experience ever) (The last one being in December 2017)

I've always been prone to the odd bout of insomnia - usually falling asleep somewhere in the region of 02:00 to 02:30 and waking up at 07:00 to 07:30. Nothing dreadful... I'd maybe be a bit groggy the next day (if anything at all) and then would usually resume a sleep pattern of some normality. My insomnia, as I believe is common with others, comes in bouts and then leaves again.

So anyway, this week I'm off on annual leave, however I had a course to attend today. Last night I decided to watch the Margaret Thatcher series that BBC 2 are currently running. After this, there was the obligatory check FB/Insta etc, then the rituals we all perform before going to bed (brush teeth etc).

Lights went out at about 23:45. Then I realised "this is going to be one of those nights". 01:00 came. Then 02:00. (Any minute now, I thought, and I'll be asleep). Then 03:00 came. OK, this is unusual. Then 04:00. Then it was "Holy S**T I need to be up in 2 hours. 06:00 came. You get the gist?

At 07:50 (having not slept) I texted one of the staff members taking the course, with the white lie that a family emergency had arisen, and I'd be in mid-morning ("kick off" was 09:30, I arrived in just before 11:00). I got the most precious 90 minutes sleep from about 08:30 until 10:00.

Now the symptoms I experienced. I'm not looking for reassurance - moreso just to highlight the bizarre symptoms we can experience when we're seriously sleep deprived:

* Poured water in cereal
* On the train, I erroneously asked for a single, instead of return. Ended up paying double fare for this mistake
* Had my first non-hangover related migraine in months (thankfully I knew sleep deprivation is a trigger for me, had tabs with me)
* Called Propranolol "paracetamol" three times (What the..?)
* Tripped over my words/speech sounded off at times
* Fairly sure I had a few episodes of "micro sleeping"
* Grumpy/irritable
* Couldn't think straight

Let's just say I'm glad I'm off tomorrow


The point of this post has really been 1) To let off a bit of steam :roflmao:2) Admit, sadly, the HA was back slightly last night (I think it possibly contributed to the insomnia) although I've been better today 3) To reassure those who post about those symptoms I've listed above that sleep deprivation can cause them

#IsItTooEarlyForBed?

[jojo2316]

So horribly Sod’s law that the insomnia should happen the night before your course. Did your colleagues notice - or did you do a good cover-up job? I really hope you can sleep tonight. Good luck!

[RadioGaGa]

Isn't it so typical? I only told a few close colleagues/friends that I hadn't slept. Certainly the paracetamol/propranolol thing was mortifying because it obviously made no sense.

And also the memory loss - I had conversations at lunch and either forgot what I was saying mid-sentence (and when I asked some colleagues for prompts, they couldn't remember either - obviously my conversation was scintillating to them :roflmao:) or I said something, then 5 minutes later, repeated it.

But, alas, I'm home and the tiredness has gone away (slightly). I just ​cannot sleep before 2300!!

Again, the "forgetful" symptoms are something I see people posting about on here, worried sick. That would've been me in the not so distant past. But now I just realise "No, it's the fact I've had 90 minutes sleep". And the course was very taxing to say the least

[Darksky]

I always find that when anything is happening the following day, whether it be good or bad, I can't sleep at all. Also when I've got to get up early, that can be enough to stop me sleeping.

Insomnia is a pain, I get the usual bouts of it. After about five days, the number of hours I sleep gradually increases until I'm back to normal. But until that happens I'm shuffling round like an extra in The Walking Dead.

Hope you sleep tonight.

[RadioGaGa]

Slept like a log all night. Got a whopping 10 hours sleep!

[MyNameIsTerry]

I bet you did!

I find this because I go from an "in week" routine to a weekend where I sleep more. Monday's were always 4 hours but then the rest if the week was fine, albeit I only ever aimed for about 6 hours anyway on work days.

It also hits me on holidays. If you didn't get much exercise the night before you can find some benefit in being a bit more active before changes like this but like you say so much of this is part of the battle with anxiety when it comes to big days. I've had the 30-90 minute sleep nights before things like the dentist earlier on. They sued to really stress me out because my morning anxiety was bad but these days I've learned to get up and slog on. And it can be a slog but I've trained myself with a period of getting 4 hours sleep daily for weeks so that I eas exposed to feeling like crap and didn't panic as much because of the physical symptoms and worry of not coping.