Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Stress at Work + Insomnia = More Stress at Work + Insomnia

Let me just start by saying I LOVE my job and the people I work for. They treat me like a princess, and I can’t imagine working anywhere else, we’ve been through a lot and I am grateful that they let me play on the team.

That being said, my workload has increased what feels like 8 fold in the last month. I’m no longer wonder Madge who can leap stacks of paperwork in a single bound while doing my nails and thinking about what I’m going to cook for dinner or the next tampon craft project. I’m Madge, the dogpaddling water treader who is working 10+ hours of overtime a week, Madge who called in sick to Henry’s so I could go to the office, only to have that BITCH Karma come back and try to give me the cold I told him I already had.

I don’t like that Madge, fortunately, there is a light at the end of my paper laden tunnel, and I’m armed with a jackhammer instead of a pick-axe and shovel, oh how I love industrial power tools, and their amazing ability to bust through anything. Along with that I just got a new assistant, and she’s smart, and what appears on the surface to be a lot like me, she’s only been with us a week, and I so appreciate everything she is doing. I feel like I can breathe a little.

But I still have insomnia; I woke up at 2:30 this morning 2 freaking 30! The problem with insomnia is if I knew I was going to have it, I would have taken something before bed, I have prescription meds for it, but I never know when it’s going to rear its ugly head, and 2:30 is too late to take anything. So there I lay, thinking about what was on my desk, and how I was going to write this post. I tossed and turned there for two and a half hours until Steve got up and left for work then I got up and came in here to write. So now I’m tired, and work is going to be stressful, which will make me more tired, and when I get home, I’ll want to fix dinner and go to bed, thinking that I’m tired enough not to take anything, and I’ll wake up, and start this vicious cycle all over again.

I’m getting sleepy now, and it’s ten to 6, I could go back to bed and try to take a nap before work, I don’t have to get out of bed until 7:45. I think that’s what I’m going to do….

Sweet dreams J

10 comments:

  1. It's hormonal too, I'm all in mid "change" and it's rediculous. Yoga and meditation sounds great if I could find the time. I'm sure I'll be fine, thanks for comiserating :)

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  2. Madge, you might need to take a couple three days off to recharge your batteries. Is your assistant up to where she could handle it for a couple of days, (maybe just calling you with questions). I hate insomnia and the horrid "if I fell asleep now, I'd have 5 hours of sleep... If I fell asleep now, I'd have 3 hours of sleep...". Stress is really so bad for our bodies! I hope you can sleep tonight.

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  3. She's great but not quite up to speed, maybe in a few weeks I'll be able to take a mental health day. I've been through worse.

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  4. Do take a mental health day as soon as you can. Mondays are always my favorite day off!

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  5. Just go ahead and take the night-night meds at bedtime. Don't be a hero. It's not going to hurt and you can take it every night or at least till you get through this period. Because lack of sleep can trigger your hunger mechanisms and cause you to need to snack more. Yep. I read that on the Internet so it must be true. You don't want to be stressed, exhausted and fat, do you?

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  6. How can I put this? My good friend "MaryJane" used to help quite a bit. Not always, but enough. I did try sleep aids but they never worked at the right time so I gave up on them. Over time, it eased until I was sleeping about 6 hours a night, which I was able to live with. I do still deal with occasional bouts, but nothing like I used to.

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  7. Mary Jane and I don't get along :(

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  8. I used to have that problem... and then I discovered medication... and not working. Guess I'm in deep shit when I have to go back to work next week for the first time in five months.

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  9. Yikes, 2:30 is way too early to wake up. Hell, most of the time I haven't even fallen asleep yet at 2:30. I really hope things get better for you soon.

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  10. Oh man, insomnia SUCKS. I hate when I have it. Im usually WIDE AWAKE at 2am. You can always email or facebook me at that hour!

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