Rant #3,310: Talking In Your Sleep

My life as a sedentary person has greatly affected me, both mentally and physically.

The physical part is one thing, and it is the "easiest" thing about what I am going through.

"Easy" is the operative word here.

The physical part of this is getting better all of the time, and with the physical therapy I am going through, and the work on the physical side that I am doing st home, I believe that I will be back to some semblance of myself later this year.

The mental toll is harder to figure.

Being so cooped up in the house much of the time has put a heavy load on me.

I was always a very active person, and now, not being so active, I have had to change many things in my lifestyle.

I have had to reduce my sugar intake, watch my salt intake, and try to stay as busy as possible, all within the confines of a small two-bedroom residence.

It has not been easy, and I take it day by day, as some days are better than others.

I have not been sleeping very well. 

I am not a heavy sleeper to begin with, but since my first accident, my sleeping has been ragged at best.

I sleep an hour here, two hours there, 45 minutes elsewhere, and this has been going on since the end of September, when I first hurt myself.

My wife suggested that perhaps my soda intake was greatly affecting my sleeping during the past six months or so.

When I was active, I just burned off a lot of the caffeine and sugar, but now, not running around nearly as much, my body simply can't do it anymore.

So I first cut it down to having my favorite Coke at dinner, but it just had little impact on my sleeping.

So then, I decided to cut it out completely.

This was a tough decision, as I am not the most prolific water drinker ... although I do like seltzer.

My wife found a sugar-free juice that is OK, and we put the premise that the soda was affecting me now like it never had before into practice.

Well, it has worked. To a certain degree at least.

I am not sleeping in my bed or bedroom very much, probably because it is very uncomfortable to sleep with the leg brace on.

But even though I am doing much of my sleeping--at least 80 percent of it--in the living room, with my leg propped up on an ottoman that we have--my sleeping has improved, but not consistently.

Although I continue to sleep in clips, the clips are somtimes longer. And most important, I can get back to sleep easier, but not all of the time.

For instance, on Friday and Saturday nights, I slept for about nine and 10 hours total each night.

Before, I was sleeping maybe four ir five hours, sometimes six.

But on Sunday evening, I had a setback, and only slept about three hours.

Monday evening, I probably slept about five or six hours, but it was split up, not consecutive hours but some time here and some time there.

Look, I am not sleeping normally, not sleeping through the night without getting up for several minutes in between, but things were better, at least on Friday and Saturday nights.

I continue.to have some anxiety, and I continue to believe thst staying as busy as I can is the best remedy for what ails me in my head.

But while I do miss my daily Coke to a certain degree, if it is going to.impact my sleep, perhaps I can live without it.

Maybe at some point in the future, when I am well and running around like I usually do, I can go back to drinking soda, but right now, I can live without it.

I previously went a few years without soda when I had my gall bladder removed when I was age 50--I tried to drink it afterwards, but i.stopped drinking it because it made my stomach feel a bit bloated--but I went back to it gradually, and never had any ill effect from it.

But now, I am getting away from the stuff again.

Maybe I will return to my favorite beverage again at some point, but right now, I won't lose any sleep over this loss.

Hopefully, I will be able to gain some sleep--and some mental peace of mind--from pushing soda aside and letting it fizzle out from my daily routine.

But I clearly am suffering from insomnia related to my injury, and I keep on trying to learn how to fix this.

I am frustrated, but I am not defeated.