Spring Break-Ish

[alexandraerin]

Folks, there has been and is going to continue to be updates for everything this week, but I've just realized it's Thursday (I mean that literally... I just checked the computer's clock to see if it was Tuesday or Wednesday) and I'm not going to hit the planned number of updates for the week. I should have been able to see this in advance and said so: my roommate's off work this week, my insomnia was in full force coming out of the weekend and I haven't been able to catch up on sleep by crashing during the day like I did last week because they've been working on the parking lot right outside and we've had painters in to clean up the results of the bathroom renovation and people in the hall... basically, it's spring cleaning time for the apartment complex.

Basically, I am so bone-tired mentally and physically but I can't sleep, for internal and external reasons. I should have declared this a vacation week and just tried to relax through it as best as I could. Gah. I said at some point (last summer, I think) that I'd do that once a quarter. I don't think I've ever managed to hold myself to it except semi-retroactively.

The writing I have done I think has turned out surprisingly pretty good, so I'm not going to take today and tomorrow off. My goal for the week is just to get as much as writing done as I can, make sure every story is represented since they've all got sponsors and people rooting for them, and then get my sleep sorted out on the weekend.

Melatonin has been suggested to me... as I recall, when I tried it before I didn't enjoy the side effects the next day, but I think if I take it Friday and Saturday night to ensure a night's sleep, that might work since what it's supposed to do is reset the circadian cycle. With that done, there's no reason why next week can't be like last week but without the updates drifting into Saturday.

Comments

[centauress.livejournal.com]

This one can have serious side effects for people with many types of mood and sleep disorders. So if you have a contrary or any non-positive reaction to using it, stop. ^-^ In other words, if it does nothing, don't use it.

[blue-x.livejournal.com]

According to my neurologist, St John's Wort's chemical effect is the same as a SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor). It is less potent than something like Zoloft (SSRI prescribed for depression, among other things), but it's over-the-counter herbal, which means it is also less regulated.

So, it can have all the side effects you might see in an SSRI anti-depressant.

For the record, this came up with my neurologist because SSRIs often trigger severe migraines in people prone to them. He was *very* annoyed my therapist suggested St John's Wort after I had trouble with other prescriptions due to migraines.

[gothmog-dave.livejournal.com]

Funnily enough, I only drink St Johns Wort tea as a means of being able to get to sleep when I *have* a migraine :P

[gothmog-dave.livejournal.com]

I was given to understand SJW had few side effects compared to most alternatives - photosensitivity being the only major one. In any case, in the rare occasions I use St Johns Wort, I don't use high-concentration tablets, I make a dilute tea from the flowers.