I’ve never been a great sleeper. I started having fitful nights in my early twenties. In my mid thirties I had close to a year where insomnia pretty much ruled my life. I bought a book called “the feel good handbook” by Dr. David Burns. It’s an actual handbook to help address anxiety and/or depression. It provided the tools to help me make cognitive changes that literally changed my life. it took about six months of working the handbook every day to start seeing regular changes and benefit but it changed the rest of my life. I still have insomnia on occassion. More so with hormone changes. But it doesn’t destroy me emotionally anymore. And for the most part I sleep an average of 5 - 7 hours a night. 5 is pretty good for me and 6 or 7 is perfect. I also will take the occassional ambien. And by occassional I mean a prescription of ten will last at least six months and sometimes a year. I’ll take them if I’m traveling on the motorcycle and sleeping in weird places then having to ride 500 miles the next day. I just won’t ride on 3 hours of sleep. Or I’ll take them if i’m particularly hormonal, not sleeping… and just don’t want to deal with it.

So many years of getting up at 5 am have cut into my ability to sleep in when I have a day off. Wich I could sleep until 8 or 9 or 10 like I would when I was younger - before kids, before work schedules took hold of me brain.

When left to my own devices, nobody waking me, and all caught up on my sleep I find that I almost always wake after 7 1/2 hours of uninterrupted sleep. However, since my son was born 6 years ago… I doubt that I have had 7 1/2 hours uninterrupted sleep in 7 years! 6 - 6 1/2 would probably be most common, though 5-6 is not unusual. I just can’t get myself to bed early enough for a child who wakes up around 6 am every morning.

I’m a night owl and boudoir babe. The bedroom is where I live. If you’re looking for me, I’m already under the covers. I come home from work, cook dinner, drop a load in the wash, straighten up a little (or delegate the rest) and retreat. I worked the graveyard shift for ten consecutive years. If a must see show comes on at midnight, no problem. I’m a light sleeper too, so when the kids get up during the night, most times I hear them. It varies on how many hours I actually get each night- I try to get at least six.

I love to sleep….and usually get eight hours a night. Sometimes I sleep for ten hours!! My Mother said I always liked to sleep…..while my older sister didn’t….and she is a night owl. I should add I do not stay up late…..am in bed by ten. BUT….when I was in my twenties….I burned the candle at both ends and in the midde……this is soooo much better.

Lately I’ve been getting a lot less sleep than I need, and it’s all your fault wOw!

If I go a week without getting at least seven hours of sleep a night, I turn into a big blubbering mess. Lack of sleep gives me a major crying jag. On top of that, the new nasal antihistamine I am using at night has been giving me the most wild and crazy dreams. These are dreams like the prophets used to write about—full of bold colors and bizarro details. And the mention earlier of orgasmic bliss for good sleep … all I can add to that is Amen!

I tend to get so many pains in my head ( I hate to say headaches because doctors ignored me for years when I said that). I take my medicines and pain pills sometime between 6 and 9 every night and they tend to put me to sleep but the earlier that I take them, the earlier I am up in the morning. On bad days my head wakes me at 4 in the morning or before. That is the time limit that I try to set for getting up. The cat gets mad if I feel well and manage to stay in bed all the way til 6 because he hasn’t had his treats yet.

I have RA and with this disease, you need alot of sleep. Unfortunately, I’m lucky if I get 3 hours a night. I would like to sleep eight or more hours.