Sleep and insanity.

Since I was 8, I have had problems sleeping. It used to just be problems getting to sleep, but as I've gotten older, I also have had problems with waking up in the night and sleeping very restlessly. Over the last year, it's gotten worse and worse. More often than not, I wont get to sleep at all until 4 or 5, or sometimes even 6 in the morning. I've tried everything from herbal remedies to exercise, to changing my diet to anti-anxiety pills to sleeping pills. I try to avoid sleeping pills as they make me sleep okay for a while but within a day or two they make me very lethargic and zombie-feeling.

Lack of sleep has made me insane. I am constantly grumpy, short tempered and I have huge problems with my memory. I literally fall asleep all over the place - I recently fell asleep in an important university exam. Not sleeping makes me grumpy, but the insomnia is even worse. It makes me question whether I'm sane or not, and it causes panic attacks at night because I imagine that I will never sleep again.

I tweeted about my problems sleeping, and a couple of wonderful people (@TaraSutherland, @MissNickiBee) responded suggesting something called SleepEase by LeEsscience. Tara also pointed me into the direction of her blog post about SleepEase. I read it, and decided that I had nothing to lose - I downloaded the Sleep Cycle app, and ordered SleepEase.

My SleepEase arrived after 2 days of using the app - my first two graphs showed why I wake up so tired. I slept comparatively well compared to 'normal', but they still show a lot of awake time during the night.

DAY ONE


DAY TWO

I thought this was a really great night's sleep - I woke up feeling more rested than usual, and had a very productive day.

DAY THREE - the first night with SleepEase


You'll notice that while the peaks are still very high - up to the 'awake' zone, my sleep pattern is much more regular than the previous two nights. When I woke up this morning, I felt like a new person. It amazed me how much calmer I was.

Since then, my sleep has gotten better and better. It's starting to look pretty consistent - like these:







Now, I have no idea how much of this is the SleepEase, and how much is psychosomatic. But you know, I really, really don't care. I now have a routine when I go to bed - I wash my face, brush my teeth, soak my feet in warm water for a few minutes in the bath (can't stand going to bed with dirty feet!), then I put my PJs on and rub the SleepEase into my chest, the soles of my feet, and rub the rest into my hands. I sleep with my hands by my face, so I don't bother putting a dab of SleepEase under my nose - I can always smell it, and it smells great. I'm sleeping better, I'm waking up feeling more rested, and I'm not so tempted to sleep all day. I've been feeling quite depressed lately and this has really helped pull me out and put me in a better frame of mind. It's a great feeling to wake up feeling like you haven't just wasted 7 hours of your life tossing and turning.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that SleepEase will cure all your problems, and if you have depression, please see a professional. However, it really, truly has changed my life. Thank you LeEsscience!

I would recommend anyone who's interested to follow LeEsscience on Twitter -@LeEsscience. She got my Sleep-Ease to me super quickly, and has been great about answering all of my questions on Twitter. Next step - going to her for a massage!

I know this probably sounds like an ad, but I promise it's not. If you have problems sleeping, give this a go. It's not expensive, and it's not going to do you any harm if it doesn't work for you, unlike sleeping pills.