Bedtime Stories

Unpublished Post because...reasons.

I am usually a night owl. With everything going on, I've found that I fall asleep fairly easily now.  Before that though, I would be up until all hours or sleep for a few hours then be awake in the early hours.  Neither are recommended.  

Sleep aids, like Tylenol worked a little too well, leaving me hungover and there's a correlation between Tylenol and depression so: no.   I tried melatonin and had CRAZY dreams so: EXTRA No.  I have turned the television on, left it off, I've played a word puzzle game on my phone (which surprisingly works well except for the bright glowing rectangle in my face)  I've gotten up and done chores or snuck outside to take photos of the stars.  I've tried many things.

One of the tricks I've stumbled onto with not sleeping through the night, not being able to fall asleep, etc. is podcasts.  I can put earbuds in, set one playing, and next thing I know it's morning.  

Yes, the earbuds probably aren't my best idea. But really, who would be surprised that I died from choking on my own earbuds?  No one, that's who.  Since I've started writing this post - months ago - I have wireless earbuds now. AND they don't work as well as the wired ones.  Go figure.  But the chance is lessened - not eliminated - that I will be killed by earbuds.

It started accidentally when I decided that I wanted to listen to the West Wing Weekly podcast again.  By doing that, I discovered that I fell asleep and slept through the night.  Because I've heard them before, it's not a big deal that I fall asleep and have to begin again or I can just keep going to the next one.

Then I looked into apps, etc. for sleeping apps but couldn't find one that I liked.  They're a little too woowoopeacelovebeads for me.  I found myself annoyed instead of asleep.  Meditation is a challenge for the alphabet brain and when I'm already frustrated that I can't sleep or have woken up, learning a new skill in the middle of the night is probably not my best choice.

Finally, I found Nothing Much Happens.  It's little 30-minute stories that are exactly as the title states.  It's just soothing enough to relax and not interesting enough to become engaged in the story.  Highly recommend.

I have a pretty good list of podcasts that I listen to when my brain allows it. However, not all podcasts are good for middle-of-the-night listening.  I tried listening to one of my favorites - Ross Mathews - but it was too loud, too busy, and my brain stayed awake.

Two of my favorites are Alan Cummings Shelves and David Tennant Has a Podcast.  Not only are the podcasts enjoyable, they're both just so pleasant to listen to.  Neither of them are making new ones so that is disappointing.    Amy Farrah Fowler - also known as Mayim Balik lol - has an interesting one as well. The topics are deep though so sometimes I have to switch.

Then on the tickytock app, someone mentioned the netflixapp.  But that's television, you just thought. Yes, it is.  The trick is to chose something you've seen many times, like Friends or in case of the example she gave: Grey's Anatomy.

I tried it and it works so well.  No commercials like in podcasts.  I put the phone on wifi so it doesn't eat my data plan, turn the phone facedown so it doesn't light up the room, and go to sleep.  It doesn't matter if I wake up in a little while because a quick listen and I know exactly what's happening. Because I've seen it tens of times, at least.

Audio books also work well in some cases. The downfall is falling asleep and it keeps playing.  The fix is to set the timer, which I never remember to do.  Also, if the story is compelling then it's a fail.  My favorites have been autobiographies because they contain separate chapters/topics.  My all-time favorite is Bono - Surrender.  Stories mixed with a little bit of U2 music.  Dave Grohl - The Storyteller is also really good.

The one that really knocked me out was Mythos - Greek myths as told by Stephen Frye.  It's so interesting but his voice kind of lulls one into slumber.  He has a series of them and I fear that I'm Sisyphus in completing listening to all.

I know the internet has all kinds of "cures" for insomnia and sleep issues but I feel like there is no one Great Fix and different things will work for different people or combinations thereof.  I tend to stay away from pharmaceuticals and I know I'm the odd one out with that.  

I have a brand new doctor and she suggests a humidifier and essential oils so I ordered one from the shmamazon and it will be here tomorrow. She said to give it a week before calling it a loss or a win for helping with breathing, (thus also for sleep).  In the meanwhile, she suggested setting up a punch bowl sized bowl of water near the bed to create a makeshift humidifier.  (She said this is also good for when it's super hot out, btw)

Maybe this will be helpful to someone or maybe I just gave you something to think about when you're not sleeping.