Sleep Cycle......Or

No Sleep Cycle....

Imagine a large round gauge, similar to a temperature gauge, hanging on your bedroom wall. But instead of numbers for the temperature, there are numbers for sleep patterns. They might read like this...

1. A full eight hours. Rested and ready to roll.
In a perfect world, or if you are a young'un.

2. A good five to six hours. All systems functioning.
A happy thought.

3. Fall asleep easily. Sleep for two or three hours and wake up. After a drink of water and bathroom break, you go back to sleep.
Acceptable

4. Fall asleep eventually. Wake up every little while, turn over and go back to sleep to repeat the process.
If you are lucky.

5. Doze off, then wake up. Toss and turn. Doze off, then wake up. Toss and Turn. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
Becoming alarmed.

6. Doze off, sleep for an hour or so, wake up. Toss and turn trying to go back to sleep. Finally get up and read for an hour. Lay back down and try to sleep. Finally get up and get on computer for an hour or so. Lay back down, and try to sleep.....At around 5:30, fall into a light doze.
Ding Ding Ding....folks, we have a winner!

7. Give up.
Contemplating this option.

Needless to say, I am having trouble sleeping. It runs in cycles, or has in the past. This time it seems to be in a holding pattern. I can't remember the last good night's sleep I got. Oh wait, it was one night last week when I took a Zyrtec trying to dry up the poison ivy.  Every great once in a while, a medication I've not taken in a very long time will work....once. The second attempt fails.

OTC meds work for a couple of hours then I'm wired.
Benadryl works for about an hour, then the RLS is kicked into overdrive.
Prescription meds work for maybe three hours, then again the RLS is kicked into high gear or I wake up with a severe headache.
Muscle relaxers help with musle aches, but no sleep. Well, they used to anyway.
Exercise hasn't helped.
Limiting caffeine and sugar intake hasn't helped.
I may have to go to a sleep center, but I don't know what they can do if none of the above works.

So, it's 3:43 in the a.m. and instead of sleeping, I'm blogging. That can't be a good thing.