Renovations and Repayments.

AlexLK · 24 March 2017 at 12:20AM

March Targets:

OSPREYS - CHECK.
Total Grocery Spend: £215/>£450.
Surplus Money: £750/£750.
Going to bed at a reasonable time: 20/31. Terrible night's sleep last night, though.

Meditation: 21/31.
One new recipe per week: 3/4.
Read three books: 0/3. Will try again next month, I think.
3 Things for Friday: 1. Check this in the morning, 2. Find three things to smile about, 3. Get up in time to play some duets with my son before school.

3 Things for Thursday: 1. Be on time, Achieved.

2. Find three things to smile about, 1. Got some unexpected work done, 2. I finally think my son is really settled in school, 3. The dog and I had a nice drive in the MG. Yes, you read that right ... the dog and I! :rotfl: 3. Get up in time to play some duets with my son before school Done, well time to play one!.

newgirly · 24 March 2017 at 1:48PM

Glad you and the dog enjoyed your date :rotfl:

Suffolk_lass · 24 March 2017 at 6:04PM

AlexLK wrote: »

March Targets:

OSPREYS - CHECK.
Total Grocery Spend: £215/>£450.
Surplus Money: £750/£750.
Going to bed at a reasonable time: 20/31. Terrible night's sleep last night, though.
Meditation: 21/31.
One new recipe per week: 3/4.
Read three books: 0/3. Will try again next month, I think.
3 Things for Friday: 1. Check this in the morning, 2. Find three things to smile about, 3. Get up in time to play some duets with my son before school.

3 Things for Thursday: 1. Be on time, Achieved. 2. Find three things to smile about, 1. Got some unexpected work done, 2. I finally think my son is really settled in school, 3. The dog and I had a nice drive in the MG. Yes, you read that right ... the dog and I! :rotfl: 3. Get up in time to play some duets with my son before school Done, well time to play one!.

You seem to have stopped meditating - stuck on 21/31 this month. Do you think that might be why you had a poor night's sleep?

I am also sleeping really badly at the moment but that is for a known reason. Mine manifests itself as waking between 01.45 and 04.15 in a state of mild anxiety/panic. At anything after 04.00 I rarely get back to sleep. Sometimes just getting up, going to the bathroom and having a drink helps, other times that is me awake

AlexLK · 25 March 2017 at 1:11AM

March Targets:

OSPREYS - CHECK. Really enjoyed watching today's action with my son before bedtime. We miss them over the Autumn / Winter.
Total Grocery Spend: £225/>£450.
Surplus Money: £750/£750.
Going to bed at a reasonable time: 21/31. Terrible night's sleep last night, again.

Meditation: 21/31. Not managed this today, either.
One new recipe per week: 3/4.
Read three books: 1/3. Finally finished the fish book. Started Excel for Dummies tonight, thanks Taff.

3 Things for Saturday: 1. Check this in the morning, 2. Find three things to smile about, 3. Do at least the one minute meditation exercise.

3 Things for Friday: 1. Check this in the morning, Forgot and not had a great day.

2. Find three things to smile about, Had a fairly bad day today but 1. Had a great lesson with a music pupil, 2. Enjoyed playing piano, 3. Spent some quality time with my wife.3. Get up in time to play some duets with my son before school.Didn't happen.

newgirly wrote: »

Glad you and the dog enjoyed your date :rotfl:

:rotfl:

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

You seem to have stopped meditating - stuck on 21/31 this month. Do you think that might be why you had a poor night's sleep?

I am also sleeping really badly at the moment but that is for a known reason. Mine manifests itself as waking between 01.45 and 04.15 in a state of mild anxiety/panic. At anything after 04.00 I rarely get back to sleep. Sometimes just getting up, going to the bathroom and having a drink helps, other times that is me awake

I meditated yesterday. It was today and earlier in the month I didn't. I've now had two terrible nights. Meditation is on my list as a priority tomorrow. My wife isn't sleeping well (waking very early and not able to fall back to sleep) which is very unlike her. She's really suffering in the daytimes due to not sleeping enough; she's very much an 8 hour a night type person usually.

Sorry to hear about your sleep woes, I've had episodes of having panic attacks during the night. It's awful and I've no advice in regard of how to stop them. My main problem is falling to sleep in the first place. Once I am asleep, I'm OK until I am woken with the need to visit the bathroom which starts the whole process of having to fall to sleep again. Most nights I spend about 3-4 hours trying to sleep and only around the same amount of time actually sleeping. Spending 5-6 hours asleep is a triumph. There have been times I've practically begged my GP for sleeping pills.

-taff · 25 March 2017 at 9:48AM

I assume you've tried all the herbal ones? Someone I worked with swore by vervain. He was on tablets for MH, and had a lot of trouble sleeping.

Suffolk_lass · 25 March 2017 at 9:55AM

AlexLK wrote: »

My main problem is falling to sleep in the first place. Once I am asleep, I'm OK until I am woken with the need to visit the bathroom which starts the whole process of having to fall to sleep again. Most nights I spend about 3-4 hours trying to sleep and only around the same amount of time actually sleeping. Spending 5-6 hours asleep is a triumph. There have been times I've practically begged my GP for sleeping pills.

What is your pre-bed routine? I know there is recent research that shows that stimulation by electronic devices too close to bed-time can prevent restful sleep. And do you have a drink too close to bed-time (there are arguments for relaxation but I find it just means I have to get up to pee!). I used to go through a body relation routine to remove all the areas of tension (I think I've posted about this on your thread before) - for me this has always been as much about the pain points associated with my back as tension-related relaxation.

I avoid baths and showers immediately before bed as they also wake me up. Reading is a sure fire way of feeling sleepy because my eyes stop moving fast enough.

My panic is around my inability to stop something happening - the lack of control starts it and then sorrow kicks in.

AlexLK · 26 March 2017 at 1:03AM

March Targets:

OSPREYS - CHECK. Found today after posting a link to the Osprey cam on Facebook that an old school friend now lives in Oakham. Ended up talking, told him my son is mad about nature and we've visited Rutland Water a few times now.
Total Grocery Spend: £250/>£450.
Surplus Money: £750/£750.
Going to bed at a reasonable time: 21/31. Sleep was practically non-existent last night.

Meditation: 22/31. Managed to do the one minute meditation.
One new recipe per week: 3/4.
Read three books: 1/3.
3 Things for Sunday: 1. Check this in the morning, 2. Find three things to smile about, 3. Do at least the one minute meditation exercise.

-taff wrote: »

I assume you've tried all the herbal ones? Someone I worked with swore by vervain. He was on tablets for MH, and had a lot of trouble sleeping.

I have tried them in the past but heard some bad things about them and to be careful not to be taking on a regular basis / relying on them.

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

What is your pre-bed routine? I know there is recent research that shows that stimulation by electronic devices too close to bed-time can prevent restful sleep. And do you have a drink too close to bed-time (there are arguments for relaxation but I find it just means I have to get up to pee!). I used to go through a body relation routine to remove all the areas of tension (I think I've posted about this on your thread before) - for me this has always been as much about the pain points associated with my back as tension-related relaxation.

I avoid baths and showers immediately before bed as they also wake me up. Reading is a sure fire way of feeling sleepy because my eyes stop moving fast enough.

My panic is around my inability to stop something happening - the lack of control starts it and then sorrow kicks in.

I go through occasions when I develop a fairly good pre-bedtime routine but it never seems to last for long. I am guilty for going on the ipad in bed (no excuses, really) and having a glass of water before bed. However, not having the glass of water doesn't prevent me from getting up in the middle of the night (tried it). Recently had some rather evasive tests, only to be told there's nothing physically wrong, it's probably wrong signals being sent to my brain and to "train" myself to go less often (just about every hour in the daytime, so the once at night isn't so bad, or wouldn't be if I could fall straight back to sleep). It's a problem I've had since childhood that gets worse with anxiety, so somehow don't think the "solutions" are going to work. Already cut caffeine out of my diet due to this. When I was drinking a lot of coffee and alcohol my sleep was disturbed multiple times for bathroom trips, so I shouldn't complain about one or two times, really.

You did mention the relaxation routine. I have tried something similar but it doesn't help me to sleep, unfortunately. I also avoid having a bath / shower before bed for similar reasons - don't find anything relaxing about getting out of a warm bath into the cold bathroom! :rotfl: That is guaranteed to wake me up. Reading very much depends on the book. If it's an interesting book I can quite easily ignore the need to sleep and carry on reading. As I don't go to bed at the same time as my wife (she's in bed reading at 10pm for lights out at 10.30pm!), I often read in the study before making my way to bed after reading, so it's not as relaxing as reading in bed sleepily.

Generally, my sleep habits are awful. Had a little bit too much to drink tonight, so will probably fall to sleep ok but be waking up - cannot win.

Been there with similar triggers for panic attacks.

It's awful but I've no real advice about how to prevent panic / anxiety, sorry.

badmemory · 26 March 2017 at 4:26AM

I don't know if this will help with night time disturbances but I've just read an article on the BBC news website (health) that says that reducing salt intake can really help when there is no medical reason.

newgirly · 26 March 2017 at 12:36PM

Would reading in bed help? Even if it doesn't help sleep wise its a good distraction from lying in bed worrying about not sleeping.

Hope you all enjoy Mother's Day today

AlexLK · 26 March 2017 at 9:32PM

badmemory wrote: »

I don't know if this will help with night time disturbances but I've just read an article on the BBC news website (health) that says that reducing salt intake can really help when there is no medical reason.

Thanks, badmemory. Unfortunately, I don't think it will help for me. I cook with very little salt / eat few foods with high salt content. I'm inclined to agree with the doctors I have seen about the causes. Whilst it's annoying, I'm glad to have (finally!) found I have nothing physically wrong with me. Cutting out caffeine and alcohol has helped. I only tend to drink very occasionally now. Last night my wife and I shared a bottle of wine and I had a (generous measure of) Scotch, a few years ago that would have been a light evening but since I hardly drink now it was quite a heavy one. Certainly don't have the tolerance I once had. :rotfl:

Didn't have a great night but got more sleep than I have in a few days.

Whilst I tend to get up more after drinking, I do seem to fall to sleep more easily after waking. Drinking of an evening is not a solution to the not being able to fall to sleep problem, though.

newgirly wrote: »

Would reading in bed help? Even if it doesn't help sleep wise its a good distraction from lying in bed worrying about not sleeping.

Hope you all enjoy Mother's Day today

Thank you, NG.

I do not want to wake my wife and am not sure reading on the ipad is a good idea, either. When my wife is away I read in bed and listen to music which seems to help me to fall to sleep.

Mother's day has been hectic. I cooked a roast for lunchtime at my parents' and this afternoon we visited my in-laws. We got my wife a new set of pencil crayons (she enjoys drawing and painting and the current set are very old and worn to almost nothing) and made her a card. For my mother we made a cake, I framed a photo of my son and made her a card. For mother-in-law we did the same. Son has had far too many sweets; mother-in-law could probably open a sweet shop. :rotfl:

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