Can't Sleep - Going Crazy! - BP UP!

[Guest guest]

I've always been a bit of a " night owl " - living quite happily on a mere 4-5

hours of sleep

per night. BUT, I know that isn't healthy and reportedly has affects on insulin

resistance,

weight gain, etc.. I'm also just flat-out getting older and I'm trying to go to

bed at a 'more

decent' hour, usually around 11pm-12am, getting up around 7:15 am on weekdays.

The

problem - I can't!

 

Many nights I'm just WIDE awake! Other nights my husband snores and I just end

up in the

other room. Sometimes I'm sleepy but I feel like I have 'restless ARMS' (instead

of restless

legs). I believe the latter may be related to my nighttime dose of insulin

(Levemir). I've

noticed this reaction to a couple of drugs, the first being prozac (which I

stopped taking)

but I can't exactly give up the insulin. I've done A LOT of work to properly

tritate my dose,

so just changing brands isn't really an option nor would it be guaranteed to fix

the

problem even if the insulin were the cause. I can't remember if there were other

times

when the sensation was present or not, right now.

 

It's like a 'pressure' in the outside edge my forearms, right below the elbow,

not in the

elbow joint itself, in the end of the muscle that flexes when you wiggle your

fingers (flexor

digitorum profundus, perhaps extending deeper into the palmaris longus and

flexor carpi

radialis, specifically). Sometimes doing push-ups will releave this

pressure/tension, other

times not.

 

Mosty though I just don't sleep well. Ever since I moved I just don't tend to

sleep as deeply

as I used to. I've recently gotten married and moved to a different city (6

months) and this

seems to have exacerbated the problem. I know part of it is just trying to sleep

with my

husband. Many nights I end up in a different room.

 

Until recently I had close to normal, or only very mildly elevated, blood

pressure. Usually

no higher than 120/80 or at most 125/85-ish. Now, all the sudden, my BP is

running in

the 140/90 range. YIKES! I do know I've put on some weight, but I honestly think

that a lot

of it is simply from the stress of trying to sleep. Meditation can help me GET

to sleep, but

it doesn't help the fact that I seem to be sleeping more lightly or waking up in

the middle

of the night, etc. Often when I wake up, I wake up 'early' around 4am and I'm

not tired or

groggy. It's as if it's " just time to get up " - but man, does it peeve me to no

end! I end up

getting mad that I'm awake, because I know that while I'm fine " right now " I'm

going to

end up tired and cranky later, so I get frustrated at my inability to get in

that last 3 1/2

hours of sleep. I have a very busy schedule (work 8 hour day, go to the gym

after work) so

there's no time for naps or being at less-than-100% during the day.

 

I've bought a bottle of Melatonin 3mg. I'm quite heavy, so I'm wondering if I

should take

more than the 3mg? Also, I've heard that L-tryptophan (the precursor to

melatonin) may

be a better option?

 

I don't more than a tiny amount of caffeine (No more than 2 sodas a week, and

a/or an

occassional green tea). I drink 2-4 liters of water a day but am not woken up by

a

screaming bladder. I do work out at night (around 7pm) but that's at least 3-5

hours

before I want to go to bed, so I don't *think* that is the issue, although I've

had more

energy (even on less sleep!) since I started working out. My BP has come down

somewhat

since I began working out (into the 133/85-90 range), but not nearly enough. I'm

hoping

better quality of sleep will help. Then again, maybe just not *stressing* about

not

sleeping, and getting up and doing something when I can't sleep would be better

than

fretting over it?

 

SulaBlue