I had an allergy attack which means I have a wicked headache all day (I’m going to use the word wicked as many times as I can in this post because yes, I feel wicked) yesterday and after doing all my sweet soft natural things like neti pot and steaming and herbs, at 7 pm made a fatal error:
I took a Claritin.
It was my mom’s birthday and I was taking her out to dinner and I wanted to feel all peppy and happy and opening my heart was not getting rid of my headache (although the rest of me was feeling pretty darn good)…
Long and the short of it: Come bedtime, I was too wired to sleep. At all.
Want to know what time they deliver the paper in my little neighborhood? 3:21.
So today, I am one anxious, jittery, wired yet dull-as-dirt girl (and my right eye is doing that ticky dance and I feel like crying at everything)
So what’s a self-employed gal with a busy day on her plate to do?
- Eat frequent small high-protein snacks – I don’t know about you, but when I am tired, I’m starving and the more sugar and fat laden the food, the better. Only sugar and animal fat makes me even more dull and weepy so I gently remind myself that nuts, or melted cheese on rice tortillas with avocado, and little slices of turkey would be better. Then if I must have the chocolate, I have a small amount on top of the protein.
- Eliminate distractions – Twitter, email, jumping between writing projects must be gently stopped when I’m feeling like this. I close down everything but one project and doggedly bite at it to completion. I sometimes have to talk to myself out loud, “Do not open the email to check and see if Bob sent you a sweet note. Stay right here and finish this blog post.” Listening to music on headphones helps a lot, too.
- Copious cups of Yogi Detox and Tusli tea. (Putting the kettle on now.)
- Ease up on my morning practices – so just a little breathing, a little Shiva Nata, a little meditation.
- Drop what I can from the day – the sooner I come to terms with what I’m not going to do today, the better I feel and sometimes, a smidge of creative work will still happen. But looking at my list and elingfe bad because I can’t do what I’d planned only increases my brain fog. Letting go… asking for help… knowing the world won’t end, that’s the ticket.
- Avoid all numbers, details and computer nitpicking things. I’ll just screw it up. Taxes will not move forward today, the calendar the Comfort Cafe (you can try a week for a buck!) will not be filled out, and any other little bitty stuff that requires brain cells – not. Happening.
- Drive like an old lady – look both ways a million times and turn off NPR and creep… I have enough gray in my hair to feel justified driving like this. Sort of.
- Keep opening my heart and relaxing my neck and shoulders. I tend to tense up when I’m tired and my whole body gets sore very quickly.
- Go lie down on the couch with an eye bag over my eyes and tuck a blanket around me.
- Call my best friend Barb and bitch and moan for ten minutes.
Most Important
Keep asking myself, “How can I be gentle with myself right now? And what about even a little more gentle?”
Okay, no more in me right now… love to hear what you do when the brain is asleep yet the day must go on.. at least sort of!
10 responses so far ↓
1 Joely Black Feb 21, 2009
Permission to be a slower than normal! That’s what I do on my “I didn’t sleep last night” days. I do have them still.
Wonderful. I’m so glad you’re writing on Saturdays because that gives me something to read in the peaceful morning.
Joely Black’s last blog post..Popping patterns and twanging neurons with Shiva Nata
2 Diedra Feb 22, 2009
I wish for you a peaceful nights sleep !
3 char Feb 22, 2009
This is another one of your posts that is so helpful. I’ve been there, done that but not in a way that is as gentle and loving as your way was.
You’re amazing, Jen. Sleep tight tonight – pleasant dreams!!
4 Jennifer Louden Feb 22, 2009
Slept wonderfully – all is well… what I’m aware of is how much harder and more daunting everything seems when I am sleep deprived and needing to remember that and give ourselves a bit of a free pass, at least some days, makes it far easier to be productive after we get sleep!
Jennifer Louden’s last blog post..Making it Through the Day after a Wickedly Bad Night’s Sleep
5 Melanie Feb 22, 2009
Good post – I can relate. I’m feeling like I’m getting the flu – neck, head and shoulders ache. Yet I’m very busy. Need to find a way to get some work done while being good to myself – doing work in a way that feels easy and relaxing. With a cup of tea, breaks and naps.
Off to make ginger tea now…
6 Marisa Feb 23, 2009
Oh Jennifer, I hope that you are having peaceful, satisfying sleep now! The past week have been that way for me too, my grandmother died last week and I have been unable to sleep because I was either up late working on things for her funeral (and threw off my schedule too much to feel rested with the few hours I got of sleep) OR I would lay there and not be able to rest. Either way, being a zombie was NOT an option. The things that helped were Fittv’s Namaste Yoga (hatha vinyasa, all filmed in Vancouver BC) only a half hour to invest and it felt like a full body massage, small meals frequently, upbeat music, no tv or news playing in the background (I usually do this, but have found through being mindful and noticing that it slows me down to have any type of tv on), drinking plenty of water, and trying to wearing clothes that are comfortable and don’t have distractions (waistbands that dig in, strange tags that scratch, sleeves that have to be pushed up constantly). Also, give yourself permission to take a nap!
7 cathy Feb 23, 2009
I laughed at “opening my heart was not getting rid of my headache…”
That sounds like me.
8 sue Feb 23, 2009
Jen – This happens to me sometimes, too. When possible, I set the alarm for 20 minutes and take a power nap. I’m not much of a napper normally, but there are times that I’m SO tired that I do it. For me, a longer nap wouldn’t work because I’d be awake again at night.
9 Photopoppy Feb 23, 2009
Oh Jen, I know exactly what you mean.
I’ve never had an experience like that with Claritin (it’s the only decongestant that I can take – but then, I always take mine in the mornings…), but regular over-the-counter cold medicines do it to me. I can take one or two doses, and then they start keeping me awake.
In fact, when I got married, I’d been on cold medicine for three days to cope with spending time with all of the out-of-town family, and the night before the wedding, I was so wired, I think I got 4 hours of sleep, and none of them in a row. I feel bad for the poor girl who did my makeup, trying to hide the circles under my eyes.
“I don’t know about you, but when I am tired, I’m starving and the more sugar and fat laden the food, the better.” — The research they’re doing now on hormones is suggesting that sleep “resets” our hunger chemicals and eating right makes it easier for us to sleep…. I went several years just out of college where I couldn’t afford decent food, just lots and lots of cheap pasta…. I never could sleep right, which just made me eat worse and turned into a miserable cycle. Once, I called in to work at 4 in the morning, left voice mail saying “It’s 4 a.m. I’m still awake. I don’t think you’ll be seeing me in the morning.”
I set a general rule that if I get less than 6 hours of sleep in a night, I get to rearrange my schedule the next day, cancel appointments, call out sick, whatever it takes. I’m noticably less useful the less sleep I get anyway. Anything more than that, and I’ll reset my alarm for a little bit later when I can, get as much sleep as possible. And then give myself permission to be slower, drink lots of water or tea, and remind myself that I will be happier waiting for healthy food instead of devouring everything in sight. (Although I will admit to eating twice as much chocolate today as I had planned because I started falling asleep at my desk in mid-afternoon.) If I start sleeping poorly several days in a row, I’ll take some melatonin or nighttime advil before bed until I start sleeping normally again. The effects of losing sleep is so dramatic to me that I do a better job of making sure I get my sleep than I do with eating right or exercising.
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10 Snap Oct 15, 2010
Love it. I realise how much I tense up when I haven’t slept enough, like last night, but hadn’t thought to do something so simple as open my chest and relax my shoulders. I also feel really hungry when I haven’t slept enough. I tend to eat more later in the day: I think it helps stop the rut and get a good night’s sleep the next night. Also agree on listening to some music through headphones. A bit of meditation eases my tension somewhat.
I can’t sleep during the day. Just never happens. It’s pretty much torture for me. All I can do is try to get through it. Some nice tips there. Thank you.