I love sleep. But I can't do it.
For the past month or so, I've had a nightmare with sleep. It takes me hours to fall asleep, or I get up in the middle of the night and stay wide awake for hours.
During the summer months, I have a weird experience with dreaming. When I was younger, I used to sleep walk. But luckily, it’s just turned into insomnia.
I had established a pretty good evening routine, and it included pretty much everything the millionaires' self-help books suggest:
No screens
Reading
No sugar
No caffeine
These things allowed me to have a pretty good sleep from 9pm – 5am. So whilst I had the bedtime routine of a five-year-old, I loved going to bed at 9 and falling asleep before 10. But now, I just lie awake for hours.
Even if I do manage to fall asleep, I have super vivid dreams that wake me up. My dream self screams at me. I've had dreams about falling, teeth breaking, being stabbed to death, white walkers, and anything and everything. I've woken up sobbing multiple times this month, and just experiencing these dreams makes me feel even more exhausted.
I've tried drinking herbal tea before bed, but this makes me need to pee during the night. I've tried writing, but it does the opposite of sending my brain to sleep – I have so many ideas that I lie awake thinking about them all.
I apologise that this is more of a rant than a ramble. If anyone has any suggestions (that don't include sleeping tablets), I'd be much grateful.