I can't sleep.

I overslept this morning (technically, yesterday morning).  My alarm clock was originally set for 0500.  I pushed it back to 0630, but I don't remember it going off at that time.  It's possible that I snoozed right through it.  But more likely, I doubt my cell phone recognized that I reset the alarm.  My phone is nearly three years old and gives me trouble regularly.

Anyway, I didn't wake up until closer to 1030 this morning.  I haven't slept a wink since then.  But I cannot get to sleep tonight.

My head has been hurting since around 6 or 7pm.  And even though it's feeling much better now...in that I no longer feel the need to throw up...it's still throbbing.  My stomach is also a bit upset.  Again, it was worse earlier, but is still not quite right.a

I remember that a friend of mine asked about my blood pressure during one of my previous headaches.  So I checked my BP.  Sure enough, it was a bit high at 130/90.  That bottom number gets me every time.  I've since taken it and it's back down to 122/75.  But I wonder if the headache is a BP thing or if something else is the problem.

I've been getting random headaches for about a year now.  They hurt so bad, I feel nauseous.  They seem to come out of nowhere and I can't seem to get rid of them no matter what I try.  I guess they could be migraines; I have a history of migraines.  But I'm accustomed to getting the usual early migraine symptoms:  blind spots, aura, light sensitivity, not being able to find my words.  But these headaches don't start off that way, making me think it's something different.

But eventually they go, as mysteriously as they came.  I can't explain them and am just thankful that they've passed.

I bring this up tonight because perhaps it's the headache and upset stomach that are keeping me awake tonight.  I'm not sure.  But it's 0230, Wednesday.  My alarm is again set to go off at 0500.  And even though I can't stop yawning, I can't seem to settle in enough to fall asleep.  Insomnia is so frustrating.

Home Sick Today

I didn't sleep well last night.  At first, I thought that was what was making me feel so unwell.  But as the day goes by, and I've added a two-hour nap to my day, I still feel tired and not up to par.

• My head hurts a little.  It's not a headache as much as it just feels full and heavy.
• My eyes feel VERY dry.  When rubbing my eyes this morning, one of my contacts just popped out.  I didn't put it back in and removed the other one.  But still, I find myself rubbing my eyes all the time.  My eyes really only feel relief when they're closed.
• My body feels battered and bruised all over.  Every time I stand up, I feel like I've fallen down the stairs.  And unfortunately, it's keeping me from getting comfortable...whether I'm awake OR asleep.
• And I'm tired.  I'm so very tired.  Within an hour of waking up after my nap, I was tired again.  It's only 4:30pm and I already can't wait to go to bed for the night.  I'm forcing myself to stay awake until at least 6pm so that I can hopefully sleep all night long.  But forcing myself to stay awake is annoyingly frustrating.  My body is begging for sleep.

I felt perfectly fine Saturday, outside of being a little sore after Friday's workout.  And I think I felt mostly okay yesterday.  I didn't do much...sang at mass, grabbed lunch from the deli, watched basketball and NCIS all day, while reading and writing.

It wasn't until I woke up three times between midnight and dawn this morning that my body was really complaining.  I'm not liking it.  And I don't think I can last another 75 minutes before going to bed.  I'm yawning so hard, my face hurts.

I'm thinking another warm shower and another dose of Advil.  I'm not cold, but the warm water pulsating from the shower head feels really good on my sore body.  THEN I'll decide if I can stay awake for another hour or so.

Out Sick

I have been home from work, sick all week. This cold (or whatever it was) has totally kicked my butt. The last four days, I've split my time fairly evenly between figuring out how to sleep without being able to breathe...and actually sleeping. I've accomplished a whole heck of a lot of nothing...unless going through an entire box of Puffs if being productive!

Today, I actually got dressed. I went to dinner with a friend. One, because I was ready to eat, but not ready to cook. And two, just to get out of my apartment for awhile. The act of getting ready for dinner (showering, getting dressed, putting on a bit of makeup) was exhausting. By the time I got home from dinner, I was ready to go to bed. But I told myself that I wasn't going to bed until at least 8pm.

I plan to go to work tomorrow. I've been out so long, I don't even really remember what's on my to-do list. How sad is that?! I've been off work FIVE DAYS in a row!!! I'm totally out of the loop. I'm sure I have more than a hundred emails to get through. And I have this report to run that I do weekly. I'll peruse the to-do list a few times... and probably update it with things from my email.

But my primary goal will be to get through the entire work day before falling over to take a nap.

No Songbird Here

I was supposed to sing at mass this morning. I went to Lynn's (the organist) to practice on Friday. I still wasn't back to my normal singing voice, but I was TONS more improved than Christmas. We chose the songs and were fairly confident that it would go well.

But yesterday, while at our Mary Kay January Jumpstart Training at the Primo in Plainfield, my voice gradually degraded as the day wore on. I woke up with a sore throat and a headache. Except for the scratchy throat and an annoying dry cough, I felt fine. But it became evident to me by mid-afternoon, that there was no way I was going to be able to sing at the 10am mass Sunday.

So, I got a sub. Thank you, Gianna!

I'm so tired of being sick. I don't know exactly when this started, but it has to be at least a month ago. There were two full days a week before Christmas where I had no voice at all. None. No volume whatsoever. You can hear my voice today, but it's not pretty. It's not even sexy. I sound like a gravelly old woman.

In the last month, I have finished off two boxes of Nyquil/Dayquil, one bottle of Mucinex DM, one box of Alka Seltzer Cold and Flu (the plop-plop-fizz-fizz stuff), a handful of Zycam chews that a friend swore by, one box of Tylenol Cold and Flu, and two bags of Halls Triple Soothing Action Cough Drops...in cherry. I'm running out of ideas on how to whip this once and for all.

And I can't sing! I hate that. My eyes are all watery. I hate that too. Makes putting on mascara futile. I'm not sleeping well due to the cough. That's no fun either.

On the positive side, my stomach muscles (what there are of them) are getting a bit of a workout with all the coughing. Once I drop the spare tire, I should have washboard abs.