Really Strong Sleep

Sleeping used to be something I was really good at. I was practically Olympic. In my family there was a wide range of sleepers. My mother and sister Margaret were not good sleepers, despite needing lots of it. They had trouble going to sleep, they needed perfect conditions and they had trouble staying asleep. My father was good at falling asleep and was able to survive on very little sleep. My sister Janet was a sleep traveler, meaning that when she woke up in the middle of the night, she would wander the house dragging her sleeping bag eventually making a nest at the foot of my parent’s bed on the floor.

I was the model sleeper. I didn’t have much trouble falling asleep, almost anywhere, and I could easily sleep through the night and long into the day, especially as a teenager. My good sleeping abilities served me well as I grew and had to travel for work and change time zones often.

As my life got less hectic you would think that I would have fewer things that might interrupt my sleep, but then came hormonal changes. Some people have hot flashes, some lose their mind, I lost my perfect sleep attendance ribbon.

Things were worse a few years ago and seem to be improving now, but every once in a while I have a bad night. About five years ago I discovered Aleve PM. It seemed to help me sleep on those night that’s that my mind would not turn off. It was just the right amount of sleep aid and I probably had some hurting body part that liked the pain reliever.

The other day I was at Costco and was looking to replace my Aleve PM. I saw this Kirkland brand sleep aid and thought I might try it since I don’t really need the pain relief, just the sleep aid. Night before last I had a bad night. Between my super sonic hearing that could hear Click and Clack laughing through Russ’ earbuds as he slept with Car Talk on an endless loop and probably some late day caffeine I hardly slept a wink. I desperately wanted last night to be a solid full night’s sleep so I took one of these Kirkland pills.

I passed out at 9:30 and had a hard time pulling myself out of bed by 8:30 this morning with a huge sleep hangover. Wow, these things work too well. I think if I am going to take them again I am going to try and cut one in half. I just want a good seven hours, not eleven.

Stopping all caffeine by 2:00 pm should do the trick so I could go drugless, but sometimes my iced tea addiction is just too strong.