Counting Sheep....1...2....3..

I have always heard the old saying..."if you can't sleep, try counting sheep". Believe me, I have tried that and everything else with no success. For the last 5 nights I have been trying different things to help me get some sleep and out of pain. I am not a medicine girl as you know, so this has been a very hard thing for me to take. The first night I took Advil PM and slept for 5 hours straight, that was unbelievable! I never sleep more than 3-4 hours at a time. I tried it again the next night but it didn't work. I was up every few hours, trying to rearrange my 100 pillows ( not quite that many) and my rice bags and ice packs. It is quite an ordeal for me to get in a position where I am out of pain long enough to get comfortable and fall asleep.

The Spine specialist gave me a prescription for a muscle relaxant and hoped that I would be able to sleep better with that. For two nights I tried it and even doubled up on it the second night but with no success. I called back to his office and this time he gave me another prescription it was a muscle relaxer and a pain killer combined. I took it for the first time last night and nothing. I even got so desperate at 3:30 this morning that I took another one...still nothing. I usually can stay positive, happy and still going with very few hours of sleep but I am so tired this morning, I can hardly think. I am not sure where to go from here? I need to sleep, my body needs to sleep. My body needs to completely heal but that requires sleep. I am a bit worried how to get there.

"[S]leep is the golden chain that ties health and our bodies together."  ~Thomas Dekker

I have been using my hypnosis tapes again when I take my naps. It helps me to teach myself to relax. I was really hoping those would help but nothing so far! Oh well, I will continue to try new things and hopefully sleep is just around the next corner. For those of you who sleep well, remember how lucky you are...it really is a blessing.

"The worst thing in the world is to try to sleep and not to."  ~F. Scott Fitzgerald

A flock of sheep that leisurely pass by
One after one; the sound of rain, and bees
Murmuring; the fall of rivers, winds and seas,
Smooth fields, white sheets of water, and pure sky -
I've thought of all by turns, and still I lie
Sleepless...
~William Wordsworth, "To Sleep"

"A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book."  ~Irish Proverb